BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?

Subject: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 23 Dec 18 - 11:06 PM

Hi there folkies, Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays. I am throwing out a culinary question to you mudcats, as I always have had good luck with this type of request before. ( Some of you may even remember my last year's request for cooking a behemoth sized turkey; worked out deliciously well. )
P
Well, I have a glass stovetop perculator that I am very happy with. I always make a full pot of coffee, but need to know how to make a half pot; not sure if it will turn out ok if there's only a half pot of water to start with. Oh, and it's not that I' m cutting back on my coffee consumption - but in the rush to get some last minute shopping done, I forgot to buy a new batch of coffee. Only have half a pot's worth left.

Anyone else perc their coffee? Have you ever made a half pot? And how did it come out? Or did it? My fear is that the low
volume of water in the perculator won't even reach up to the basket to brew.

Not an earthshaking topic for advice, I know, but perhaps a diversion like this will keep our minds off the earthshaking topics that already exist ( and threaten the celebratory conversations at dinner tables all over the planet) A diversion that lasts , one hopes, at least through the New Year. And have a Happy one of those too.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 18 - 11:51 PM

Common sense would dictate that half the water and half the ground coffee will result in the proper taste of coffee. The time shouldn't change. But don't take my word for it, I'm a tea drinker. When coffee drinkers come over I give them the choice of making their own coffee in the electric coffee maker or with the French press.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 12:32 AM

SRS has it right but for a surer approach, use a chemex if you have access to one.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 12:54 AM

It doesn't matter if the water level reaches the basket. In a percolator, hot water rises up the central tube and the lid disperses it over the ground coffee. Brewing occurs as that water drips down through the coffee. Having the water level above the bottom of the basket may make for quicker brewing or stronger coffee, but it's not a necessity.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: robomatic
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 01:01 AM

Without seeing your perc'r I would venture as a rule of thumb to use half the water and half the grounds plus a flat tablespoon.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 01:23 AM

Thank you cats. The measuring by using 1/2 the water to 1/2 the coffee was the track I was on - makes sense. But I feel reassured by Bee-dubya-ell's description of how a perculator works. Tomorrow will tell. ( and so will I, after making my brew)


Btw what's a chemex?

And feel free, while you're here, to contribute any coffee stories or
preferences you may have - method of making, caff or decaf,,type of coffee you prefer
( mine's Columbian) , funny stories, or even coffee songs. I' m sure there must be a few, besides the Chock Full O Nuts theme. Which is, alas, as indelibly embedded in my memory as the national anthem.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 05:59 AM

I just make coffee in a jug. It's like a 'French press/cafetière' but instead of a plunger you just stroke the top of the coffee with a spoon and the grounds sink to the bottom. Sometimes I use a strainer when pouring but it isn't usually needed.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 06:15 AM

It's 'percolator'.
(With sincere apologies for lapsing into 'Nitpicking Nigel' mode).

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 10:45 AM

I keep a jar of ground coffee in my freezer for when coffee drinkers are here; I don't grind beans because I don't want to keep a dedicated grinder that is ever used about three times a year. (Here in Texas I often have people over for lunch and even coffee drinkers will accept iced tea during the day, so the actual breakfast or after-dinner coffee doesn't come up that often).

I grew up in Seattle when Starbuck was still the first mate in Moby Dick. Though both parents started out as coffee drinkers, they both migrated to the tea preference and I'm sure I imprinted on that. Coffee smells good but I don't like the taste.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Stanron
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 10:55 AM

I fully agree on the tea drinking. I've got it down to two types. Long grain black Ceylon tea and gunpowder green. No milk, both go really well with, would you believe it?, lemonade.

I'll do the occasional proper coffee, I've even got a hand grinder, but real tea is amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 10:59 AM

I live with a coffee hound who can't decide which technology he likes best, so we have them all: pour-over filter cone, French press (in three different sizes), percolator, plain pot for boiling it the cowboy way, even an insanely expensive espresso machine. We don't have a Chemex, so for God's sake don't say it too loud or we will.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 11:00 AM

Agree re the spelling tho' strangely, quite a few people seem to pronounce it as if it had a u in it!
Agree that to make it with half the quantity of coffee, you'd just use half the quantity of water (or maybe a few ml more, as some will be soaked up and retained by the coffee grounds).
For a single cup, we used to use one of those plastic cones, with a filter paper in it, which will balance on top of your cup or mug.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 01:00 PM

"I grew up in Seattle when Starbuck was still the first mate in Moby Dick."

You made me chuckle, SRS. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Helen
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 02:01 PM

I prefer a percolator. We have an induction stove now and it took a while to find one which works on that. We used to have a gas stove and an old enamel percolator. Easy peasy.

Sorry to bring unsightly health issues into this lovely discussion but I find that if I have the French press coffee or café coffee I tend to get cold sores after a while, but by using the percolator and giving it a bit of extra time to do its thing, I tend to not get the yucky things.

I like a cup of the brewed coffee in the morning and the afternoon at work, so I brew up a large amount at home and put it in little bottles in the frig and take one to work each day. I put about a third of a mug of milk, some of the coffee and top up with boiling water and then heat up for a minute in the microwave. A perfectly good substitute for mucking about making real coffee in work time and then the resulting clean-up, or buying coffee at the café twice a day.

(I work for the state government. They monitor how long we are out of the building on tea breaks. Café visits usually entail phoning the shop to place the order, leaving the building, walking to the shop, collecting the coffee, walking back, drinking the coffee at the desk. Some people do that twice a day. Too much bother for me. I'm not a coffee connoisseur. I just like the taste and a bit of a caffeine hit.)

I am primarily a tea drinker, and will prefer to drink tea at parties rather than alcohol. I take my own Earl Grey tea bags to parties. (Am I a boring old biddy, or what??!!) I make leaf tea in a mug sized tea infuser first thing in the morning as I am reading the news, checking emails & Mudcat etc, and I will have Earl Grey later in the day at work or when I come home from work. I haven't really tried iced tea. I should. It would work well in summer here.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 04:58 PM

Well my coffee turned out just fine. Thanks for all your input. Turns out I had a little more coffee than I thought- about 2/3 a pot's worth, so I used 2/3 pot of water. So now I still have coffee for Christmas. I thank you all for your coffee related comments, and
here 's a few more of mine:


SRS - I 'd probably also want nothing but iced tea if I lived in Texas; whenever I travel south, I have a sudden and unstoppable yen for iced tea, hardly ever drink it here in the northeast. Coffee is a bit heavy on the palate for those steamy ( or even arid) hot southern days. But I do really like to taste of fresh brewed coffee, and can't start the day without it, even tho I' m drinking more decaf these days.

I also save the coffee in my fridge, and drink it cold the next day. Like it either way;
anywhere, anytime, but for me, tea is only for below the Mason Dixon line. Which doesn't explain the Brit preference for a daily dose of tea , but then, I am resolved to try to avoid all arguments of a political nature, at least til after the holidays

Ah... the correct spelling of percolator. I don't know why that d##n auto spellcheck didn't catch that one; it usually manages to correct and/or mangle half my posts on a regular basis.

Finally Charmion - you are too funny !! You ALWAYS manage to make me burst out laughing , especially with your observations re: your better half's adventures. I don't know if you remember, but a year ago or so, you were talking about some point of possible contention with yr other 1/2 and you said you were going to drop it b/c "this was not the hill you'd choose to die on" Hilarious !!! I've been using that quote ever since, and may have to call on your wise and witty philosophy at the musical Xmas party I hope to be attending this holiday.

Finally dare I ask again - what is a chemex? Or perhaps I should just wait til after the holiday to google what sounds like what may be the Rube Goldberg contraption of coffee makers.

Have a merry one folkies!

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 25 Dec 18 - 02:25 PM

Also no idea what a Chemex is/was, so Googled it: seems just slightly mor sophisticated than my plastic cone and filter paper. Has its own Wikipedia page indeed!

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Dec 18 - 02:59 PM

I love coffee ice cream, I guess for the sweetener.
But in order to drink my caffeine,
I avoid coffee and look elsewhere. Kind of odd.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 Dec 18 - 04:56 PM

I do it the Bosnian way. Use a conical copper pot with a long handle. Add coffee and about 2/3 of the water (quickest if it's boiling), put it on the heat (gas or electric both work), whip it off once it boils up, sprinkle the rest of the water over the top to wash the grounds down. Wait a minute for the grounds to settle properly and pour out slowly without shaking the pot. This scales to any quantity, but it ONLY works with very finely ground coffee. Coarse grounds (as from percolator coffee) float and the result is a disgusting cupful of grit.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 02:06 AM

Chemex is getting to be a generic term for the cone shaped filter and holder, of which there are several varieties. When I make coffee, I prefer the paper filter, as it is easier to keep clean than the fancy wire mesh cone. It is a pretty idiot proof way to make a decent cup of java.
Personally, I am primarily a tea drinker.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Ed T
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 09:37 AM

Freezing coffee beans I prefer dark roast, (Swiss water method) decaf, use a French press at home, decaf Americano when at a coffee shop. My wife, prefers french roast, and
Americano (caffeine).

I do like chocolate covered coffee beans.

Coffee purists have advised me not to freeze coffee beans.
I suspect the jury may be out on that one? (One such linked advice above).

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: JennieG
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 06:58 PM

Himself doesn't drink coffee at home so I use a one cup French press. I enjoy my coffee (made from beans ground in our kitchen by my own fair hand pressing the button on said grinder) while he sips on tea, something I dislike. Don't like the taste, can't stand the smell. Shudder erk.

But coffee, even though I can now only drink two cups a day or it affects my sleep.....ahhhh. Nice.

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 11:13 PM

So, Chemex = Melitta= pourover???

I use a plastic Melitta cone with a paper filter. Works perfect every time, but I can only make one cup at a time.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: How do you perc 1/2 pot of coffee?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 11:52 PM

The coffee in my freezer is ground and is in a vacuum sealed jar. And guests know that the "beggars can't be choosers" rule applies - if they didn't bring their own fresh beans, this will work in a pinch.