Drip or Percolator?

Question

My coffee maker has seen its last days, thank goodness. Now, I am considering what to buy. Husband's biggest complaint is that it was never hot enough. Mine was flavour, no matter how much we spent on coffee beans and using distilled water.

We are considering many options and need advice:
~percolator (vintage Pyrex), stove top
~percolator (vintage, electric) plug in, GE or Farberware
~another electric drip coffee "maker"
~have a French press, not impressed (no pun intended)

Answer

It is generally agreed the percolator is the worst possible way to make coffee, because it violates two cardinal rules of coffee making, namely the coffee is reboiled as it goes around, and coffee is sent through the grounds more than once.

I have read in several places that of all brewing methods coffee experts generally prefer the french press. Take it FWIW.

The drip method is the most common. Cook's Illustrated Sept. Oct. issue,, which appeared in my mailbox today, does a rating of several and likes the Technivorm, expensive at $240. Apparently it has a copper heating element while the others all have aluminum, and the former delivers the water to the grounds consistently at the correct temperature. Check it out on your local newsstand. If not that, they like the Krups 10 cup next, at $95.

I have had several grinders and brewers in my days, and perhaps my tastebuds are shot, but I really can't see that buying super fresh beans and grinding them yourself is all that big a deal. I buy beans in the store and grind them there. I freeze the ground coffee at home except for a few days supply that I keep in a sealed Rubbermaid container. Works for me--coffee tastes fine. Again, take it FWIW. 

If you decide to go the grind-your-own route, I would avoid combined grinder/brewers myself.

Answer

When automatic drip models came along, many people switched to them because they felt they made better coffee. I've always used drip, earlier Chemex, now a Black & Decker auto thermal (keeping coffee on a hot plate very long definitely ruins the flavor, IMO),

There's a difference of opinion about grinders. Cook's Iillustrated tested ome models and decided a compratively cheap blade grinder made better tasting coffee than a burr grinder. Personally, I'm not about to spend $150 unless it also does the dishes.

Answer

First... I wouldn't recommend distilled water for anything besides chemistry experiments, in the words of Alton Brown "...it's too molecularly squeaky clean to work as a good solvent...". I'm not sure if the science of this is completely acurate (as I assume the polar nature of water is what does a lot of work as a solvent) but I think it might be affecting your coffee brewing experience. 

Second, I would agree with Johnb, percolators are just about the worse way to brew coffee. 

Third, I would completely and utterly disagree with Johnb, about having freshly roasted coffee beans and grinding them daily -- there is a massive difference. I can noticed the difference (especially when brewing espresso) between a few days out of the roaster, which is only exacerbated by grinding all the beans at once. 

I have heard very good things about the Techivorm brewers... it has much higher quality parts, as stated. But I think of the big difference is that the water must reach a boil before leaving the heating chamber, thus reaching 212, and then cooling a few degrees as it travels before hitting the coffee at the correct temperature. My favorite everyday brewer is a Chemex -- more body than any drip style I've tried, and there is something I prefer over french press.

Answer

I would certainly recommend a good-quality drip brewer, such as the Technivorm or the Bunn NHBX-B 10-Cup Coffee Maker, over any percolator. Comparing the wattage ratings of electric brewers can often (though not always) give you an indication of how hot they brew and how quickly they will recover to make the next batch. When in doubt, go with the higher wattage. 

You might also consider a large gold-cone filter that sets atop an insulated serving carafe. You can preheat the carafe with hot water and then brew directly into it. It’s simple, elegant, relatively easy to clean, and can brew an excellent cup if you start with good fresh coffee and get the grind and steeping-time right. Saves money on filters in the long run, too. All you need is a kettle and a decent grinder to make it work.

Here’s a link to a discussion of coffee grinders:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/526832

Regarding the water issue, distilled water is not recommended for brewing coffee (or tea), as it generally results in a duller, flatter flavor. As numerous taste-tests have repeatedly shown, a certain amount of mineral content is desirable for coffee brewing; it results in a better extraction and livelier flavor. (Desirable minerals include calcium, certain bicarbonates and chloride compounds.) If your tap water tastes bad or is excessively mineral-laden, try using a reputable bottled water, such as Volvic, Fiji or Panna. Or you might consider installing a simple taste-and-odor filter or a reverse-osmosis water purifier. Your water, and everything you use it in will taste better. Happy brewing!

Answer

It's too bad you don't like French press... that and pour-over is the best way to brew coffee imho. I've also had good results with a friend's Braun "vacuum" cofee maker in the past.

The burr grinder I bought was under $50, and has worked great. It's a Cuisinart DBM-8. like it much better than all the burr grinders under $200 I've tried so far.

Answer

I have a Technivorm drip coffee maker, and it is the best coffee maker I have owned, by far (and we have owned pretty much every major brand). The coffee comes out HOT, and that makes all the difference. 

The design is really simple, and the appliance is well made. There are only two controls, an on/off switch and a switch for the hot plate. We don't even use the hot plate switch since I don't think it's advisable to scorch the coffee once it has been perfectly brewed. No fancy timers or anything, but IMO that just means there's less to break. I was skeptical at first spending so much for a drip coffee maker, but I'm a convert now.

Our burr grinder is a Cuisinart. I think it was $25 at Costco. It has held up well for years, and is just as good as the pricier one we used to have. And worlds away from the regular blade grinders.

I think grinding your own beans makes a huge difference. But we roast our own beans, too, so I may be pickier than some about freshness.

Answer

Setting aside the issues of the water, the coffee, and the way the coffee is roasted and ground, we've settled on a $13 Melita cone for brewing, and only brewing one cup (for each of us) at a time. When you're retired you can do that sort of thing.

Answer

As others have mentioned, the keys to good coffee are good beans, good grind, good water, proper temperature, proper saturation time, and best storage of the finished product.

I use a KitchenAid Proline drip coffee maker and KitchenAid Proline burr grinder. I like the grinder because with one unit I can get perfect grinds for french press, drip, and espresso without muddling around with it. Plus it looks great.

The KA Proline drip machine is also excellent. The 1350 watt heating element gets the water up to a consistent 204 degrees and it's got a built-in carbon filter to make sure I've got good water. Most drip machines have a crummy little hole in a tube to drip water onto the beans; my KA has a showerhead design to evenly saturate ALL the beans. It's also got a basket style grind chamber instead of a cone, so the bottom isn't overly extracted like on a typical cone. I use a gold filter basket (about $8) instead of paper which allows more oils to come through and gives a more complex flavor. The only thing I don't like is that the glass carafe sits on a hot plate. I do like that the KA comes with 2 glass carafes and a second carafe hot plate, which would be good for entertaining or parties, or just brewing a fresh batch while finishing off an old one ( :) ).

Based on the features set, I liked this machine better than the Technivorm, but by all accounts the Tech. is a wonderful machine. The icing on the cake for me however: I got the coffee maker and grinder together for $120, open box, at a local store. I'd never have paid regular retail ($600) for them, but for that price, I leapt on it and love 'em.

Answer

The extra cost of the Technivorm coffee maker is worth every penny. There simply is no comparison between what it delivers and all the pretenders. I bought mine 18 months ago and would buy it again in a heartbeat. There is no substitute for excellent coffee.

Answer

I have a feeling you want simplicity but an Aeropress is an inexpensive coffeemaker that makes one of the best cups of very flavorful coffee. As to water pass on distilled, it has too flat a flavor. Do you normally drink distilled? Use a good filtered water or spring water instead. Regardless of the instructions you can use as hot of water as you like. The Aeropress will allow you to make coffee that resembles espresso, an Americano or diluted to a regular cup of coffee

Answer

I love my Technivorm!

Fill it with filtered water, some fresh-ground beans (I have a KitchenAid burr grinder -- great for drip coffee & press pot grinds) and watch the coffee goodness come out. We use a SwissGold filter instead of paper; the metal filter allows more oils to flow through. And the thermal carafe means no more baked coffee.

We bought ours from Sweet Maria's:

www.sweetmarias.com/prod.technivorm.shtml

They have a great explanation at that link and a tip sheet to get the best coffee out of your Technivorm:

www.sweetmarias.com/Tip-Sheets_PDF_files/Tips_Technivorm_SM.pdf

Answer

I just recently found a vintage glass pyrex stovetop percolator--what fun to watch it percolate! My husband and I are still fiddling with it--there's definitely differences with the temperature control and the amount of time that you let the coffee percolate. Generally, we think it tastes better than drip and the coffee is hot! BTW, some posts were concerned that the coffee would not taste good because the coffee would be boiled while it percolates; however the coffee is never actually boiling, more like a slow simmer which is probably closer to the 205F ideal temp.
I just found a Corningware electric percolator and a Farberware electric percolator--haven't tried them out yet, but it'll be interesting to compare. The electrics work a lot faster but there'll be a lot less control, no adjustments to temp or time.

Answer

What "generally" happened is that manufacturers thought of a way for you to use MORE coffee and perhaps a disposable filter to get the coffee flavour. This was done by the few shortfalls of a Percolator, which is the auto off switch most didn't have once it came to boil, and this was perfect timing in the 70's for the transition. The auot off would help it NOT "violate" the reboil and recirculate problems that SOME people may have. (its really the reboil that makes a bigger difference)...

So this was simply seasoned over with commercials showing how dirty grounds are a mess and the 70's wife or household need not spend time cleaning when there is other work to do (Think of any cleaning commecial from the 60-70 and you got the picture). And so OUT went the percolator. You can call it corporate, media use, combo greed on how to make MORE of a buck, to convince you of the drip being the "better" way to brew coffee. 

Now you will have experts recommend the French press, or the drip coffee, but that underlying reason is that they can't sell you any other machine as most percolators are unavailable....AND mainly that you would use less coffee and less consumables with a percolator ....Even if they personally don't want to sell you a machine...at least they have you in their playing field. And I am sure comapnies can show statistics of what ever they want. to "prove" otherwise.

So yes, a percolator WILL get you far better flavor than a drip coffee machine would simply by DESIGN alone, BECAUSE... besides temp and other factors. French press is very much a Percolator, HELLO!! It is just manual, so it is force "filtered", and you likely won't get a hot enough cup as the steeping an stirring often cools things down just enough for a couple hot sips.

THIS IS THE REAL ANSWER! ENJOY YOUR COFFEE

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