The percolating coffee pot was invented by the American scientist and soldier Count Rumford, otherwise known as Benjamin Thompson. However, the first US patent for a coffee percolator was issued to James Mason of Franklin, MA, in 1865. Go figure. An Illinois farmer named Hanson Goodrich is generally credited with patenting the modern U.S. stove-top percolator as it is known today.
How to percolate coffee:
- Just don’t.
Seriously, it’s about the worst thing you can do to coffee. You’re running the same boiling water through the grounds over and over and over until you’re left with something that resembles coffee the way a strip mall resembles the Taj Mahal.
The only thing the percolator has going for it is its convenience — it’s almost easier than auto-drip. Only its cleanup is more involved, and I suppose it’s better than having no coffee at all. But only just.
The percolator’s detriments are too many to list, but they include horribly high temperatures, terrifying brewing time, hideous extraction rates and utter damnation of flavor.
If you want to send your beans to Hell, put them in a percolator.