The Lowly Percolator

Kevin Sinnott

The percolator has served as coffee brewing's whipping boy for the past twenty years. It has been accused to driving consumers from good coffee and into evil colas. The percolator has such a bad reputation that few coffee enthusiasts that I know even own one, and these are collectors whose self-defined worth depends upon owning one of everything.

Is the percolator really that bad? I decided to test it. I realize at that, to some, that attempting to reexamine the percolator is equal to taking a second look at Richard M. Nixon. No revision is necessary, you might say.

After all, the percolator:
Boils that water, which then comes in contact with the grounds at above the recommended temperature range (195-205)

Boils the freshly brewed coffee as it cascades through the grounds and returns to the bottom, where the heating element shoots it up again.

Maintains the coffee after brewing at a piping hot temperature using the same heating element, rather than a thermos.

Sounds pretty grim doesn't it? Well, I have the following challenges to suggest:
The range of acceptable brewing temperatures was determined by observation, not unscientific, but hardly definitive by science either.

Mild boiling using coarse ground coffee for a not-too-long time does not necessarily result in bitter coffee and in fact can result in a very pleasant tasting cup.
Manual percolators, removed from the stove immediately following brewing, are equal to other manual coffee brewing methods (French press, Chemex, Melitta) at storing coffee, and have an advantage as the freshly brewed coffee is hotter, therefore keeps for longer unheated. Automatic percolators can simply be unplugged following brewing to hold the coffee. Also, there's always the option of pouring the brew into a thermos following brewing.

Actual test results -- Using a thermometer inside the filter basket, I found the manual percolator to brew at just under boiling for most of the contact time. I kept the contact time at eight minutes, once the water reached boiling and the first water arrived in the grounds basket. The temperatures virtually matched the well-regarded Krups Moka, a now-discontinued French-built brewer referred to by my Dutch colleague Robert DeVries as a slightly pressurized automatic drip machine. I realize that my temperature measurements do not cover the time the water/coffee as it lies at the bottom and is reheated to boiling in order to shoot upwards through the tubes and through the ground again throughout brewing and, according the industry wisdom, this will add bitterness, but, frankly, I found little evidence of this in my cup results. I added little spikes in broken lines to project the likely (but not proven) temperature spikes during brewing.

I used an electric percolator. I got similar initial results, but found significant bitterness when the coffee was held using the unit’s onboard heating mechanism.
Recommendations – If you like a really hot cup of coffee, you won't do better than this machine. I have observed that various coffees, particularly according to roast, taste their best at different brewing temperatures. I've hardly catalogued my findings, but as a general rule, I find darker roasted coffees brew best at medium to substandard temperatures and lighter roasted coffees are the best candidates for above-standard brewing temperatures. If you're looking to extract the best from a light roasted coffee, and are willing to grind coarse (Err on too coarse and go finer if you find it too weak), and to carefully monitor your contact time so that is eight minutes after brewing starts (the glass at the top shows the boiling water as it splashes against it, you might just find the percolator to be a first-choice among your collection.

Cautions: Since it is a high-resolution brewing method, it will highlight any bean flaws. The percolator is not to be paired with substandard coffee, as it will exaggerate the flaws.

The percolator's brew basket must be kept very clean. It is critical to rinse it with a mild fragrance-free detergent following every use. Even so, a build-up of coffee oils may result, just as with a French press. Then, consider an occasional soaking in one of the various heavy duty solutions on the market.

Conclusion -- The percolator has gotten a bad rap. While I personally prefer most coffees brewed at slightly lower temperatures and, in particular served at lower temperatures, I'd easily take a manual percolator over most currently available automatic drip machines, most which subject your grounds to less hot water but often for twelve or more minutes, which to my taste buds, adds more bitterness than I got from any eight minute percolator brew, boiling or not. If you like medium to light roasted coffee served piping hot and own a grinder that does coarse grinds, the percolator should be part of your coffee brewing arsenal.