Having just read Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow, a beautiful fictional memoir of small town and pastoral life in rural Kentucky, I was inspired to do away with my plastic coffeemaker. Berry’s extolling the virtues of community and connection made me want to go back to the old days.
So my husband and I dug out our percolator that we had bought for camping trips. Probably, when we purchased this coffee pot for next to nothing, I had just read something by Aldo Leopold who sat by his campfire each morning and drank coffee as he wrote about nature.
Then, to my surprise, I realized that I am not alone in choosing percolated coffee over drip coffeemakers.
The stainless steel components of a percolator are better for you than plastic—especially plastic that is warming up. Stainless steel is a good alternative to plastic.
The coffee tastes richer. Even the Coffee Detective commenters say so, unless of course, according to the Coffee Detective you spend big bucks for a professional taste. This is not what most people do when they buy a drip coffeemaker. Also, most of the people commenting on this website disagreed with the Coffee Detective anyway. I don’t think I read a single comment that stated that drip coffee tastes better.
The coffee is hotter. I used to warm up mine in the microwave after it was done in the drip coffeemaker. It just never seemed hot enough. I thought it was my imagination, but small amounts of liquids heated in the microwave really do cool off faster.
I have more counter space since the percolator is on the stove. I don’t have a huge kitchen and counter space is at a premium. Not having a drip on the counter frees up about a square foot. Plus, it just looks cleaner and less cluttered.
When I was growing up, my mother fixed the coffee in the mornings for herself and my father. She always bought ground coffee in a can – usually Folgers or Maxwell House – and it really did smell great when you opened the can. I definitely remember this percolator ad from Maxwell House which was so popular that it spawned these old ads and even the Percolator Twist by Billy Joe (not Joel) and the Checkmates which came out in 1962.
So, thanks, Wendell, for the reminder that some old things do not pass away, but are rebirthed as simply a better product. What started as my suburban environmental statement has ended up a revelation.
Note:
Maxwell House coffee got its start in Nashville in 1892 and was named for the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Read more about this here.