Vintage Coffee Makers

[PrettySquareGal]

I bought this gleaming beauty for only $5 at a flea market today. I don't think it had ever been used and it works!

For more on percolators, see this thread:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=17621

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I have finally acquired a vintage percolator (see it here) and my report is that the coffee is superb! It's not at all burned tasting or lacking in flavor and the temp is very HOT but not boiling which I love.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Dear Aunt Martha,

Thank you for the lovely coffee maker. We shall use it every day of our married life and think of you every time we have a delicious cup of coffee. You simply have to come over and see our adorable apartment and share a cup with us.

Love,

Dierdre and Robert

 

[panamag8or]

For the last few weeks, I have been using one of those "cold-brewing" systems. It makes about 6 cups of a coffee concentrate that I just add near-boiling water to, in a 3:1 ratio.

Talk about some good coffee! The cold brewing doesn't allow the bitter acids to leech out, so it is smooth, and easy on the stomach. With as much coffee as I drink, that is a good thing. The caffiene level is also reduced, but it's still enough to kick-start my morning.

Several leading coffee and tea houses, including Seattle's Best, Barnie's, Gloria Jean's and several hundred others throughout the world, have used Toddy's cold brew coffee system to develop and make their best-selling iced coffee drinks.

Here is the system I use:http://www.toddycafe.com/shop/product.php?productId=67

 

[ITG]

Percolators make the best coffee!

 

[scotrace]

Howzit work?

 

[PrettySquareGal]

It works perfectly!

I love the sounds it makes and watching the coffee in the clear bubble. It emits the coffee steam (I know, that's flavor loss technically) into the kitchen as it percolates. Pouring coffee from this beauty makes it seem somewhat formal and more of an occasion.

 

[Josephine]

Howzit work?

Wiki explains it rather well, better than I could. And here's a diagram.

Edit: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I though you wanted the mechanics of it, not if it works well or not! heh

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Wiki explains it rather well, better than I could. And here's a diagram.

Edit: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I though you wanted the mechanics of it, not if it works well or not! heh

Oh, I didn't realize he may have been asking about that aspect of it. Thanks for posting those links in any case!

 

[ScarlettTurner]

I have a couple that work well, stainless steel percolators, also some metal ones you sit on the stovetop.

 

[scotrace]

Yes, I was wondering how one operates such a contraption.

 

[Ecuador Jim]

I'm fascinated by the roast-it-yourself process. How do you avoid what I think they call "quakers"; those beans that ruin the mix? I was watching a cooking show recently, and they were claiming better brews had fewer quakers.

Your experiences?

 

[PrettySquareGal]

What I like about the vintage percolators is that you don't need to use store bought filters. The inner chamber is designed perfectly so that not one coffee grind makes it into the pot.

 

[scotrace]

Do you have to chose/use a specific grind?

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Do you have to chose/use a specific grind?

I use auto-drip grind and it is perfect.

 

[RetroToday]

Hi there and welcome, RetroToday! I have to agree with you on the "antiques that 'do' things"! Old radios, jukeboxes, kitchen appliances, you name it- if it works, it's for me!

Thanks for the kind welcome to the forum Sweet Leilani.

I just picked up another Vintage item that "works" today. It's a 1930s or early 40s coffee percolator. Yes, it's in working condition, just needs a good cleaning. Built by Renfrew Electric, a popular appliance manufacturer back in the day.

It was $5.00 at a thrift shop too - a pleasant surprise when something you like doesn't nail you in the pocketbook too hard.

Here's a pic of someone else's RE percolator - mine has a nicer glass top than this one, but I haven't taken pics yet to show.

(PSG note: Moved from radio thread.)

 

[PADDY]

Any retro espresso makers?

In chrome, art decoish?​

 

[KY Gentleman]

What I like about the vintage percolators is that you don't need to use store bought filters. The inner chamber is designed perfectly so that not one coffee grind makes it into the pot.

I grew up when perculators were the way to brew coffee. I bought one a while back. Great memories there...

 

[sweetfrancaise]

I use something like this, an Italian stovetop percolator (first introduced, at least this one, in the thirties) that makes a delicious, thick coffee, almost like espresso (you have to forgive my ignorance on this--I don't know much about coffee, other than I like what comes out of these little pots!). I bought one after watching Green Card for the billionth time (le sigh...). And you can buy them at CostPlus World Market cheaply!

 

[dhermann1]

When I was a kid, percolators were universal. There were electric, plug in ones, but there were also ones you put on the stove. You had to be careful not to forget a percolator on the stove. Since it didn't have a thermostat to shut itself off when the coffee was done, it could (and frequently did) boil itself dry, creating a nasty mess. Supposedly coffee is best made with water just below boining temperature, like 205 degrees. Percolators give 212 degree water, which can make some of the acids in the coffee come out, giving it a more bitter flavor. I don't think anyone found this a problem back in the day. The aroma of a percolator just can't be beat. The smell of coffee and toast and bacon wafting through the house is enough to wake you up on its own.
I've tried those mocha makers, and had very little success. This post makes me want to try again.
On the subject of caffeine, the espresso maker gets more caffeine out of the coffee, but espresso roasts, and any dark roast, destroy the caffeine with heat, so it starts out as less strong.