Making Great Tasting COFFEE Using a PERCOLATOR | Simple & Slower Living 

My grandparents drank coffee from a percolator every morning because my grandfather hated auto-drip machines. They didn't make the coffee hot enough he would say. Some years after he died I saw my grandmother was getting ready to put their percolater in a yard sale. I quickly grabbed it and said i would take it. 17 years since they have both passed and that percolator still sits on my stove as it sat on theirs for my entire life plus.

Nothing beats the aroma and sound of perking coffee!

This brings back fond memories of Mom percolating a huge pot of coffee on Saturday evenings before hosting bridge club. As a youngster, it seemed to me to percolate for HOURS. These parties featured 6 (?) guests + Mom & Dad. Us six kids were sent up to our bedrooms with stern instructions to stay there! Next morning we rushed downstairs to feast on the stale leftover chips, pretzels, and peanuts. 😭

It is so nice to find someone who makes coffee on their stove top that actually knows what they're doing. I make stove top coffee every morning for the last 55 years. The only difference between your way and my coffee is I was taught to not put the coffee basket in the coffee pot until the water comes to almost a full boil then drop it in and put the pot lid on. Once it starts coming through the tree and showering over the grinds turn my heat down and then let it percolate for 5 or 6 minutes depending on the coffee strength you desire. Anyway it's refreshing to see a video from someone who knows what they're doing and not just pulling out a new coffee maker out of a box and making a video like they know what they're doing. 😅

Percolator coffee...it makes drip coffee taste like plain water. When I was growing up in the 1950s, our grade school teachers would make their morning break percolator coffee at about 10 am each day. I remember that aroma as being like no other, and I longed to be old enough to have a cup. Now, I'm going to get an old fashioned percolator and make a pot of real coffee.

Update: I tried your filter trick and it worked perfectly! There were no grounds or sludge in my coffee. It’s a game changer. Thank you.

I swear I have that EXACT percolator! The exact same one! Perc'd coffee is the best, the coffee snobs would scoff but I swear by it. Made gallons of it on a camp stove in the Army, I was well known for being the coffee guy. You need a hand-cranked grinder, we had a power outage once when we only had an electric grinder. I had to pound the beans in a paper bag with a chunk of hickory then put the percolator on the camp stove. COFFEE! 😂😂😂

That's how we made coffee when I was a kid! My mom loved the coffee i made. She usually had me make it.

I've never owned a percolator or used one, but I seem to recall that when I was a kid in the '70s, a percolator was how adults made coffee, though I never paid attention to how they did it. I've only ever made coffee myself with drip machines, pourover drippers French presses and Aeropress. I clicked on this video because it's 7-and-a-half minutes long. I figure that should be plenty long enough to show me how to make coffee with a percolator, but no so long that I feel like I'm being dragged through in order to have to watch ads on th site. Now I think I'll go and order a percolator!

I Percolate every day. Love it black. Well water also. 4 cups a day runs about $60. A year.

It’s the way my grandma always made her coffee. I need to get a percolator and start making some grandma coffee.

My grandparents made coffee in The percolator and boy did it smell Good! 😀

My perfect morning would be to sit with my wife on a wrap-around porch in WY or MT looking out on the horizon with a delicious cup-of-joe and saying absolutely nothing...just soakin' it all in. Thank you for that video.

Love my percolator. Have the same one in the video. Only difference for me is i wet the filter before putting the grounds in to rinse the "paper taste" off and i will use a paper towel and pull the filter basket out before i pour the coffee to reduce the chance of grounds going in my coffee.

As a kid in the 1970’s we had an Electric Percolator, it still tasted better than todays drip coffee. But, on the Reservation where I spent some time as a kid, we made coffee over a wood burning pot bellied stove. It tasted so good, people balk at kids drinking coffee at an early age, but on the Reservation dried coffee lasted in storage. On the internet the closest thing to it, I’ve seen is Cowboy Rollins Chuck Wagon. Some of his recipes are close. Thanks, next time I’ll use the paper filter too.

We grind our own coffee with an antique coffee grinder then make it exactly as you do, My wife buys whole bean coffee. We prefer brands like Folger's 1850, Dunkin, 8 o'clock, etc. Perked coffee really makes a big difference.

The IS no better coffee - and the house smells amazing!!

That's a GREAT idea to use a filter in the basket. I've heard the filter removes bitter acid tastes and is healthier. I will give this a try for sure. THANK YOU very much !!!

Years ago when I lived in Texas some old boys showed me how to make " cowboy coffee" on a fire. They put the grounds in the pot and boiled the water till the grounds made the water dark, brewed then let it settle for a couple minutes and opened the lid and and put a little bit of cold water on top and it made any grounds settle to the bottom! It was great tasting in the outdoors camping but when I tried it i didn't do so well..lol

my old vintage percolator is about 60 years old, copper bottom, and still brews perfect coffee !!!!👍👍Just as good as smelling fresh made biscuits and bacon while 😛😋camping outdoors !!!!

You must be very young, perc coffee pot you have is very modern. I have many many perc pots from as early as the late 1700’s up to today. I can honestly tell you I have used drip coffee makers & nothing absolutely nothing compares to percolators! I’ve been using percolating pots since I was 17 years old(62 now) yes I drink lots of coffee. Living “off grid” I have found this to be the best way for myself to enjoy my home here in the woods. Good video even though I found it a year later ! hahaha

Yup, most coffees today are drip grind which is much finer or smaller than a grind needed for perked coffee. (My father-in-law said his parents re-used the grinds during the depression by adding only one new scoop of coffee because coffee was rationed). We remove the stem and basket before pouring.

My parents and grandparents always had percolate coffee pots. We have one that we take camping with us, and we always look forward to our morning coffee. My wife says it's her favorite part of camping. 😂 The flavor really is so much better than drip machines.

Mi mamá retostaba en un sartén los granos de café con un poco de azúcar lo molia luego destilaba el café tenía un aroma que los vecinos se invitaban solos

This is the only way my mother made coffee. I still own a 30 cup urn we got as a wedding gift 43 years ago.

Putting a filter in the basket is a smart idea. I remember drinking coffee from a percolator and there would be lots of grounds in the bottom of the cup.

I just bought one of these coffee pots because I wanted to simplify, get another appliance off my countertop, and be able to have coffee if the power was out. I am enjoying the coffee it brews! Thanks for the video.

Oh my goodness my favorite part is SEEING the coffee in the glass!

I also use a stovetop percolator to make my coffee. I add cinnamon sticks into the grounds, not powder. I make a delicious pot of coffee every time. I love the paper filter suggestion because I do put the grinds into the compost. I really like your coffeepot, much nicer than mine. Thank you, I'm glad I watched your video.

Thanks - just got my first percolator

I use my percolator on the weekends on the stove then during the week I use a mocha pot. It makes delicious coffee but I don’t need 3 cups and then go to work and drink three more cups.😊❤

Thank you for your video! I didn't know what this coffee maker was called. My mom used one for many years, and it made the apartment smell amazing! I would help her prepare it on Sunday mornings 🌄 😊

We have a percolator almost exactly like yours. I've not added a paper filter before, but not a bad idea. I agree, the coffee really does taste better than from a drip coffee maker. Wish we had a gas stove like you have; it takes longer to come to a boil on an electric range, but it still works. Great tip to let it sit a couple of minutes to keep grounds out of the cup. I tend to be impatient, but I don't mind a few grounds.

I'm 74. I remember being very young and riding in my Mom's shopping basket while she shopped at IGA. She always got a bag of coffee beans and ground them at the end of the aisle. I love the smell of that freshly ground coffee. I love d the smell as my mom or dad would get up and start a pot. My dad liked it black. My mom like it with milk and sugar. They had 8 boys and 2 girls and that time with their coffee was just about the only time they had peace. I think it was Chock Full of Nuts. Big steel can. No plastics back then.I was oldest, 14 year spread in kids so I had them to myself a lot.

I think percolator coffee is the best kind. Thank you for a great video ❤

I love percolator coffee!!! Drip coffee tastes so weak and lifeless. A percolator can last a lifetime whereas most drip pots are glass and they break often

My grandmother always had a pot of coffee on her stove, ready for family and neighbors who stopped by. The absolute best coffee!!

One of my relatives (most likely my grandfather) had one of these and would bring it to family functions. As a kid, I liked watching the coffee bubble up into the glass on the lid. I remember it made a neat noise too.

I'm English and up until recently had never owned an American style stove-top percolator. The closest we had was an electric version that one of my aunts brought back from the US in the late 60s, that she gave us (unused) about 20 years back. It was good but eventually packed up. This Christmas my daughter bought me a big american pot made by Haber (I think that's right) and having used it a couple of times just couldn't get it right. Having watched this video, I have now been properly educated on how to use it, and I have to say I much prefer it to the filter machine I can now (happily) recycle. My whole life I've been a tea drinker that likes the occasional cup of coffee, but I'm probably more 50/50 now. Thank you for this great video.

I guess I'm a collector of various types of coffee makers. Over the years, I've had the stove perc, drip, electric perc, moka pot, french press, keurig, cezve for Turkish coffee. Do you think we might enjoy coffee? But nothing beats the aroma of percolator coffee wafting through your home on a cold morning!

One of my early childhood(early '70s) memories is my dad making coffee on the stove with an aluminum percolator.

I have the same percolator. A couple things I do with mine. Grind the coffee just before using. Turn down the heat to low after it’s starts percolating After brewing wait 6 minutes remove the basket. Pour the coffee through a fine mesh filter into a thermal craft. It tastes great, it’s smooth and give you a better caffeine boost

Note: It is NOT recommended to overfill because the grounds in the basket will then sit BELOW the water level! There should be sufficient space between the water level and the coffee grounds.

When you're camping you learn to appreciate basic things. There is nothing like dragging out the percolator to make coffee on a Coleman stove on a cold morning when you didn't even think you would get a cup of coffee that day.

The aroma is wonderful on the stovetop. It is hotter and you get more bean flavor.

I also have decided that percolator coffee is best and my pot is very much like yours. I add just a light sprinkle of salt. Very little salt to take out the bitterness . I like the sound, love the taste, . This was a soothing video... a nice companion to my cup of perc coffee!

Thank you for the easy steps to using a stovetop percolator. The nostalgia for making coffee the old fashioned way is unbeatable! 😊

My Mom had a stovetop percolator. It was perfect for my family in NJ during power outage durung hurricane Sandy. I now have a stovetop percolator!

I just noticed that we have the same crock for our utensils....the dark brown/cream colored crock 😊

Reminds me of when my grandmother would make coffee for us when I was a kid

I recently found my mom's old coffee maker and decided to try it out this morning. Thank you for this video.

I love my percolator. The way my family has made it for ever. 😊

Yum!!!!!!!!

Great vid😊, they are great. I can't afford to slowdown.

Had every kind of coffee maker, then I remembered how my grandparents did it so we bought this exact percolator. My wife now will not make it any other way because the taste is so much better.

If you hard boil the water (boil rapidly) it tends to make the coffee bitter.

nice video,THANKS

I think my Mom's stovetop and electric percolators are still in a kitchen cabinet somewhere. Inherited my parents' house after they passed away. I remember the handle on Mom's looking different than this one in the video.

❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you for showing me how to use my percolator that I bought today to go camping with.

I am 69 years old and started drinking coffee around the age of 10. When I was in the 6th grade, there were always 2 students assigned to cafeateria duty. There on the teachers table was an electric perculator going while we set out the deserts and milk on the tables. Oh it smelled so GOOD and if there was any left after lunch, we could drink it. Later when I was 19 and lived at home and working, I bought an electric perculator. Each night before bed I would fill it up and plug it into a timer, so it would be ready when I got up at 5:10 am. I could smell it upstairs when I woke up, and if I woke up early, I could hear it too. Of course my Dad would have a cup with his breakfast and I would have some too and we would talk before I filled my Thermos up and left for work at 6:00. Oh to have a few of thoses mornings back.

That's my percolator! Love it! Mostly use it to heat water for tea, but it is our back up for a black out.

BTW my grandmother also put a few grains of salt on top of the grounds before perking. she said it would help with any coffee bitterness. I don't know whether it does or not but I always do as she said. I never taste the salt.

Thank you - Slow down is probably what Ive been doing wrong with this 🙄

I love coffee made this way……..love the sound it makes, the steam, and the beautiful smell…………so much better than the electric mess

Excellent idea to use the paper filter. ❤

My father switched from a percolator to a brewer with a timer on it. I wake up ready but I do like coffee. I'm off-grid and everything that cooks or heats other than microwave is done with propane. Thanks for the video. I'm shopping for a stovetop percolator now.

I have one thts alot older and it still makes delicious coffee

My paternal grandmother had one of those on her stove. Someone in the family, I've forgotten who now, had an electric one that was white with a cornflower blue pattern on the front. Now I have a Keurig and a traditional coffee maker on my kitchen counter as my ancestors roll in their graves lol

This was the way we made coffee when I was a kid. Our preferred coffee back in the day was MJB. After seeing this I'm going back to using this! New subscriber.

I make Cowboy coffee almost all of the time, but I do break out my percolator, which by the way is just like yours, and will make a couple of pots, then wash it up and put it back up. I also use the brown coffee filters even though I do grind all of my coffee, just to keep the coffee cleaner, and for easier clean up. Great video and it is nice to know I have been doing it right for the last 50 years.

I love this, The Aroma The Taste and the warmth of a wood stove best feeling ever

Wow. I thought I was the only one out there using a percolator. I bought mine with intent many years ago to try to capture more moments of slow living. Smelling the aroma of the coffee as it brews creates anticipation and appreciation for that first cup of the morning. I have never once regretted giving up my modern coffeemaker. Best wishes!

I have the same coffee pot and use it while camping in our RV on the gas stove. I enjoy making it and watching it perk while I try to wake up. I use a good fresh grind and a round paper filter disc in the basket, it prevents most grounds from going into the coffee. I perk it 5 minutes after it starts to perk. Great coffee!! and video.

Thank you for this vid, coffee looks delicious and easy to make. No more drip style coffee makers for me, going with percolator from now on.

I have one to!! Mine is glass but the inside parts are SS. I add a stick of cinnamon to the water.

My grandmother made percolated coffee. It was the best. Still make it today. I like the wooden handle on that percolator - Don't have to worry about it melting, especially if you make the coffee over coals.

We grew up on percolated coffee. Enjoyed your video.

A blast from the past

Stove top percolator and I grind my own beans. Best coffee ever! We have well water, too!

Thanks for the vid

I have the percolate and makes good coffee. Had drunk gallons of coffee from it.

When the Coof had us start working from home, instead of constantly using the Keurig my roommate started making pots of coffee in a steep percolating coffee pot... full pot, tastes great... our Keurig's now in the closet and we have TWO percoators (one large, one regular) - plus a glass one for fun. Love it!. We DO like our coffee strong, so we put in 2 HEAPING Chinese soupspoonsful of grounds and turn the heat down when the coffee starts hitting the glass bubble. Let percolate 9 minutes... good STRONG coffee. We've tried the filter thing, but it seemed to give it a papery taste, so we stopped. I have old schoolfriends in Ethiopia and Haiti who send me beans that I grind and we enjoy immensely (about 2x a month I'll even pull out my Djezva or Moka Pot... but that's a tale for another time LOL) Great video!

I have the same percolator and that's how I've been making coffee and your right, it's a lot better. Thanks for the video.

Yes those coffee pots are the best I have an old vintage Liberty, growing up I loved to hear the coffee pot perk nice sound and always great coffee, thanks for the video

👍👍👍 Those 'old style' Percolators take me back to the '50's 😊. No longer have one but the Aluminium Jug only, from the since-passed Mother-Law now resides out on the enclosed back 'stoep'. Battered and dented, it serves to keep, inter alia, the Pooches Water Bowl and Pot Plants topped up. Methinks 🤔 .. maybe I should look to getting another .. Thanks for the share and 'blast from the past' 😊.

Nothing beats percolator coffee! It adds richness and depth of flavor that drip can never be. Also is hotter! ❤

I got one of these for a camping trip and hands down makes some of the best coffee ever.

Good idea putting in the paper filter. I grew up with these, and I still have percolators for backup. Eight O'Clock Coffee was the coffee we used. I still use it.

Your video here is great! When I was a kid I woke up everyday to my mom and dads old steel percolator coffee pot. They loved it and so did I. Great video, thanks for sharing!

I have the exact one in my camper! I've started using the paper filters as well, makes cleanup a breeze.

We have an electric coffee percolator and use it every morning. But I like the idea of your model so we can use our grill to heat it during a power outage.

The best smelling coffee pot ever............

Oh my, this brings back memories how my parents made coffee like this for years. Have one for myself & use.

It looks wonderful!

Reminds me of the 1970s when my mom would percolate coffee in her autumn yellow electric coffee percolator for events and holidays, otherwise, the adults just drank instant sanka!!!! Remember folks, you'll need to use coffee that is coarsely ground and not fine. I love italian stove top espresso (very finely ground) but I also love a cup of coffee from an old fashioned perkolator. Keep your eyes open when out at thrift stores where you may be able to find stove top and electric ones.

Love your sweet voice, it’s putting me to sleep. Nice video.

I bought mine over a year ago mostly to put in my camper but I drug it out. Learn how to use it and I love it better than my regular drip pot coffee it’s smoother I drink a really strong coffee and chicory, Love my pot

Love my percolator coffee out camping, smells so good.😊

We have one almost exactly like yours. We perk quite a bit slower, directions that came with the pot recommends one perc about every 2 seconds and we go 15-20 minutes.