Various & Sundry

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irenennasshio wrote on May 4, '07

its complicated!!

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miraulam wrote on May 4, '07

irenennasshio said

its complicated!!

...but really cool to watch & then drink....I'm curious if this is done anywhere else in the world....

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1r1sh wrote on Aug 4, '07

Dude! It's a percolater! My mom made coffee this way, as did every other mom in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, before Mr Coffee came along. The only difference is the containers are glass instead of metal.

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miraulam wrote on Aug 4, '07

I've never seen a percolator like this before....ever....have you?

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washotow wrote on Aug 5, '07

For YEARS we had one of these. You can still find them in antique stores. They were made by, and called SILEX Coffee Makers. The steam in the lower pot forced the water up the tube into the upper pot, till there was only a half inch or so in the bottom pot. That water continued to boil forcing steam up the tube which kept the water boiling in the top pot and mixed the grounds well as it boiled. There was a glass insert that rested in the tube. It would lift to allow the water and steam to rise up the tube to the top bowl. When the coffee was done, you would turn off the heat and the vacuum formed in the lower bowl would literally pull the water back down into the lower bowl. (remember your high school physics?) The glass insert had a rough area around the seal that would allow the coffee to be sucked down into the lower bowl, but strain out the coffee grounds and keep those in the upper pot. A quick and easy pot of coffee and in my opinion it made the BEST coffee ever. The only draw back was the glass insert seemed to get broken too often and too easily.

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miraulam wrote on Aug 6, '07

washotow said

For YEARS we had one of these. You can still find them in antique stores. They were made by, and called SILEX Coffee Makers. The steam in the lower pot forced the water up the tube into the upper pot, till there was only a half inch or so in the bottom pot. That water continued to boil forcing steam up the tube which kept the water boiling in the top pot and mixed the grounds well as it boiled. There was a glass insert that rested in the tube. It would lift to allow the water and steam to rise up the tube to the top bowl. When the coffee was done, you would turn off the heat and the vacuum formed in the lower bowl would literally pull the water back down into the lower bowl. (remember your high school physics?) The glass insert had a rough area around the seal that would allow the coffee to be sucked down into the lower bowl, but strain out the coffee grounds and keep those in the upper pot. A quick and easy pot of coffee and in my opinion it made the BEST coffee ever. The only draw back was the glass insert seemed to get broken too often and too easily.

Yeah, antique store is right....as I said, these are not readily available.....I understand the physics but it's rare to see it so clearly demonstrated....Also, since I had the coffee at a store in Jakarta, I don't get there enough to know how often the glass is broken.

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jackal wrote on Oct 12, '07

it strained my neck viewing it lol, but its amazing coffee maker,i wanted to have one of those..i hope i can find one in an antique store available in the philippines..

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miraulam wrote on Oct 13, '07

jackal said

it strained my neck viewing it lol, but its amazing coffee maker,i wanted to have one of those..i hope i can find one in an antique store available in the philippines..

Yeah, well, at the time...I just wanted to capture the whole brewer...& yes, in the P.I. & in the U.S.....

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brilligin wrote on Nov 7, '07

We had one of these in the 50's. I was watching very closely as my dad put it on the stove, the water boiled, and the whole thing blew up. We were picking up bits of glass for days. I'm amazed I didn't get a scratch.