Hi Boynton... Yeah...and yes I have had good instant coffee too. Then somebody served me some nectar of the Gods and I have been ruined ever since.
My grandad (my cloe friend and buddy growing up) was a wonderful ole geezer from Mississippi who drank the most delightful, delicious 'mud' (grandma's opinion and assignment) that we always shared on our weekly fishing excursions.
We also caught 'whales,' 'whoppers' and other magnificant specimens of aquatic dwellers that now looking back on it were simply bass, crapie, and other small to medium (yet tasty) average fish and not denizens of the deep.
His coffee was a pre-ground french roast laced with chicory ordered in one pound tins and shipped to Kansas from New Orleans.
Knowing what I know now, I sincerely doubt my previous rating system had merit or accuracy. It was more the experience - & false comparison to the instant we drank at home - of his coffee combined with the notion that children should not drink coffee that heightened my sensations and memories.
If perc coffee were to be good, in order to survive the torture it would need to be prepared with a courser grind than drip, and held in a pot that the heating element did not scorch the coffee as it brewed by continuously and repeatedly thrusting the coffee back up and over the grounds again...funny but when I did that in my drip pot (reused grounds), it did not taste very good.
Did your aunt make it with Folgers? If so, I think we may have a clue...
Posted Sat Nov 1, 2003, 9:44am Subject: Re: Have you ever had a good cup from a perculator?
NO. Maybe possible in the distant future. The year the Cubs play the Red Sox in the World Series, the Minnesota Vikings win their 5th SuperBowl to match their 5 losses and the sun rises west sets east.
Noel Mano dell 'operatore> Macinadosatore> Miscela> Macchina espresso
Posted Fri Nov 7, 2003, 12:06am Subject: Re: Have you ever had a good cup from a perculator?
I have a Corning Ware perculator. We got it as a wedding gift many years ago. At time I used to brew Yuban in it and I thought it was pretty good. I think the Yuban of that time was actually drinkable. I suppose that there is no way to test that, but one of these days I am going to put what I think is decient coffee into the Corning Ware and see what happens.
The Corning Ware perculators were recalled because the handles could detach, spilling hot coffee on the user. I decided to keep it because it was a gift. They offered other Corning Ware products to replace it and discontinued it. Mr. Coffee type brewers were starting displace perculators.
As I remember, it was able to perculate the coffee without scorching it. It may have been the best example of a bad idea.
Phil
BoyntonStu Said:
Are all percs awful? Is it possible that there are 'good' perc pots that do not burn the coffee?
I remember drinking a good (9 out of 10 rating) cup that my aunt brewed in a perculator. Has anyone else shared my experience with perculators?
Posted Fri Nov 7, 2003, 7:13am Subject: Re: Have you ever had a good cup from a perculator?
yeah, i think most could taste the difference. the only times i've tasted coffee from a perc is while camping. i think the first time i tasted coffee was as a tiny little dude hanging out with my mom in our trailer after dinner. she always let my pour a little cup and for as long as i can remember, i've liked the taste of coffee, brewed in any way. back then, i had no frame of reference. a few years ago, i bought a cheap aluminum camping percolator for tent camping. by then, i was roasting my own beans, and ground them coarse at home before sealing them in a plastic container. brewed in our kitchen, the results are heinous! scorched, thin, disgusting. brewed on my backpacking stove perched on a piece of sandstone at 6am with fingers numb from the cold, in a secluded desert canyon, with the emerging sun throwing pink and orange streaks across the sky, it's sublime. dan
Columbo Senior Member Joined: 24 Oct 2003 Posts: 35 Location: Lancaster, Ohio Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Isomac Venus Grinder: Rocky SS Doserless Vac Pot: Silex Anyheet Drip: DeLonghi 24/7 Roaster: Maybe Some Day...
Posted Sun Nov 9, 2003, 9:55am Subject: Re: Have you ever had a good cup from a perculator?
I have an old Proctor-Silex perc with the glass carafe and an avocado green base. It does a pretty decent job. I picked it up for $11 on eBay a few years back. It doesn't burn the coffee or overbrew (is that a word?) when adjusted properly. The coffee is much better than what you get in the average restaurant. Of course, fresh ground beans are always going to be better than the canned stuff you get there. Since I have discovered espresso and cappuccino, however, it hasn't had much use for making coffee. I did find out that it is truly great for making tea, though. If you like really good iced tea in the summer, you have to get one of these things. I really think that these old percs do a much better job than the new stuff. Maybe it's the glass that does it. Since the carafe is detachable, they are easy to keep clean, too. If nothing else, the price is right.
Posted Tue Nov 18, 2003, 7:41pm Subject: Re: Have you ever had a good cup from a perculator?
This morning I did the "brew-off" between the Corning Ware perculator and my Bodium three cup "freedom press".
Since the Corning Ware has been out of production for about 30 years and they were recalled I will describe it. It is a 10 cup vessel made of the same ceramic or glass as Corning Ware cookware. There is a cylindrical heater about 3/4" thick with a sort of well in the center the cylinder. It is made of stainless steel. There is a small conduit made of stainless which runs from the edge of the cylinder to the top of the pot terminated in a plastic electrical connecter with a ready light on top. The basket is attached to a tube with a one way valve at the bottom which inserts into the "well" of the heater disk. The basket, tube, and valve are stainless. There is a stainless steel cover for the basket. The cover is black plastic with a glass dome through you can watch the coffee perc. Overall the unit is nicely made and looks like quality.
I had some coffee which I roasted about two weeks ago to fill a need which went away. I have been trying to finish it so I can roast some new stuff. It is a blend of Sumatra, Costa Rican, and Colombian which I bought from Costco and some Uganda Robusta from Sweet Maria's. It was intended for espresso.
One mug fills my three cup French press. I decided to do one French press full and two mugs in the Corning Ware. Two mugs of water plus a bit more to be absorbed by the grounds came to just over the six cup mark in the perc.
I ground six measures of beans for the perc. and three measures for the press in my Starbucks Barista at the coarsest setting. ( finer than stock since I did the mod to permit grinding for real espresso machines).
After putting the coffee into the perc, I pluged it in and started boiling the water for the press. When the water started boiling I turned off the heat and ground the coffee for the press. I steeped in the press for two minutes then pressed and poured. There was a bit of bloom (press talk for crema) floating on top of the coffee. As I started to sip the coffee from the press the ready light came on in the perc. I poured a cup from it. No bloom on top. The coffee from the perc looked clearer than that from the press. The coffee from the press had much more body than that from the perc. The coffee from the press also had a more intense taste. At the end of the cups the coffee from the press had the usual sludge at the bottom and there was almost nothing left in the perc coffee.
The coffee from the perculator was drinkable but I can't see why anyone would bother given almost any other way to brew coffee.
If you want to perc coffee and actually drink it, I think the Corning Ware is the the unit of choice. If you do use one, don't pour the coffee near anyone. The Corning Ware pots were recalled because the handles sometimes came off while pouring the coffee.
I still can't figure what coffee brewing problem perculators were supposed to solve.
A darn good question there. Electric Percs came out before auto-drip, correct? Kind of in between the silex vacuum and auto-drip? Maybe just a natural progression between a fairly non-user friendly vacuum and throw away filter type electric drip?
Kind of the first set it and forget it type coffee brewer?
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