So you're shopping for a percolator coffee pot?
If you haven't ever used one before I'm here to help you get started. When you first get your new percolator, the first thing you should do is wash all the parts very thoroughly. You want to make sure that everything is clean and fresh and you don't want to be exposed to any chemicals that might have been used in the manufacturing process.
Now that you have your new percolator all clean and ready to use, you get to prepare your coffee. At this point you will load your percolator with coffee that you've either purchased pre-ground or that you grind from beans yourself. Most people would recommend that you use a coarse ground coffee when using a percolator coffee pot. One reason for using a coarse ground coffee is that if your beans are ground to finely you will have grounds in your coffee.
Now that you've cleaned your coffeepot and have your ground coffee ready to use, you need to assemble your percolator coffee pot and prepare it for use. First you'll want to fill the container with the proper amount of water. Next you will fill the brew basket with the proper amount of coffee. As a good general guideline, for each cup of water that you put in the container you should use approximately 1 tablespoon of ground coffee in the basket.
The next step is to place the basket containing the ground coffee into the percolator coffee pot. For home use, the two most typical types of percolators are either electric or stovetop percolators.
If you have an electric coffee percolator, all you need to do now is make sure the lid is on top of the container and plug the power cord into the wall. At this point the brew cycle will start and soon you'll be enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee from your new percolator.
If you have a stove top percolator, you will want to set the percolator on the stove with the burner set to medium heat. Again, once you have done this, you will soon be enjoying a hot, fresh cup of coffee.
I'm going to warn you here that if you've been used to drinking coffee from a drip coffee maker, you may find that the coffee from your percolator tastes somewhat different. The reason for this is the method which is used to actually brew the coffee. With a percolator coffee pot, basically the water is boiled, forced up a tube, and allowed to drip back down over the coffee in the brew basket.
Coffee purists will tell you that this is not the best way to brew coffee. One of the rules that they would tell you is that you should never allow the water to boil when making coffee. To me, that is simply a matter of opinion.
Growing up, I always remember waking up in the mornings to the sound of the percolator brewing the coffee and the wonderful aroma in the room. I drank many, many cups of coffee from a percolator and to this day it is still my favorite method of brewing coffee. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a drip coffee brewer or a French press but I still prefer the percolator myself.