"A coffee percolator is a type of pot used to brew coffee. The name
stems from the word "percolate" which means to cause (a solvent) to
pass through a
permeable substance especially for extracting a soluble constituent. In
the case of coffee-brewing the solvent is water, the permeable
substance is the coffee grounds,
and the soluble constituents are the chemical compounds that give
coffee its color, taste, and aroma. There are two basic types of
percolator:
Coffee percolators once enjoyed great popularity but were supplanted
in the early 1970s by automatic drip coffee makers, and more recently
by the French press,
as well as a renewed interest in espresso coffee. Percolators often
expose the grounds to higher temperatures than other brewing methods,
and may recirculate already brewed
coffee through the beans. As a result, coffee brewed with a percolator
is susceptible to over-extraction. In addition, percolation may remove
some of the volatile compounds in the
beans. This results in a pleasant aroma during brewing, but a less
flavourful cup. However, percolator enthusiasts praise the percolator's
hotter, more 'robust' coffee, and maintain
that the potential pitfalls of this brewing method can be eliminated by
careful control of the brewing process." READ MORE.




