My New Morning Perk Me Up

I love my morning coffee and you can imagine how upset I was this past Christmas when I put my freshly ground coffee into the coffeemaker, turned it on and nothing happened. What?? Oh, come on. If there was ever a time I needed a cup of hot coffee it was Christmas morning before all of the hectic activity began. I had gotten up early before everyone else and just wanted to relax by myself before we opened presents and I had to cook the turkey.

I stood there staring at it, willing it to work. Please please please. The light went on but nothing happened. Not one drip. I even tried plugging it into a different outlet but the heating element seemed to have burned out. What timing! I briefly wondered if there were any stores open on Christmas morning so that I could rush out and buy a coffeemaker. I finally fished out a really old one-cup drip model  from the basement and used it three times. 

The next day I decided I'd had it with drip coffeemakers -  I never really liked them and was tired of replacing one every few years, no matter how expensive the brand. Plus, one thing I hate about all drip coffeemakers is that the coffee never gets hot enough for me or stays hot. Always lukewarm. And, after it sits for a bit, it burns and tastes terrible.  

It was time for a change. I did my research and settled on an old-fashioned percolator based on 500 (!) five-star reviews on Amazon. Can you believe it? I think it must be a new "retro" trend. I couldn't wait for delivery, however, so I went shopping. All the top brand stores were out of this particular one but the last store I tried before giving up - Sears - was the charm. They had a ton of them AND it was on sale! Good old Sears. Now I really felt like I was back in the 60s . . . . 

Isn't it elegant? Every morning I wake up and feel like I'm on the set of Mad Men.  It looks looks so cute sitting on the counter and wow does it give me that good old-fashioned coffee taste. This Presto percolator that I bought keeps the coffee at the perfect piping hot serving temperature for hours without overheating it or burning it.

I've owned both inexpensive drip makers and expensive ones.  The percolator seems to give me a really good, hot cup of coffee. My son is a big fan of the old TV show Twin Peaks and when he saw my new percolator he laughed and said "Oh, THAT'S what a percolator is!" I guess he never bothered to look it up.
                                                               

[Waitress pours Cooper's coffee:]

Agent Cooper: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! [sips, sighs blissfully] This is-- excuse me--a DAMN fine cup of coffee. I've had I don't know how many cups of coffee in my life, but this is one of the best.

    If it's good enough for Agent Cooper . . .

I'm not a coffee snob and I've heard that coffee "experts" will say that a percolator is about the worst possible way to make coffee. But, I'm sorry  - my experience is that it definitely tastes different from regular drip coffee and I think it's richer, hotter and stronger tasting. And I absolutely LOVE it. Reminds me of the old days. No plastic parts to a percolator and no plastic aftertaste. I read somewhere that perked coffee also contains less caffeine so I guess that means I can drink even more coffee! And it somehow stays hot without burning, unlike coffee sitting on drip burners.

Let's see, I've had my coffee. What stupid things can I accomplish today ?? Maybe I'll make myself one of those frilly aprons . . . or a cherry pie.