Do You Need Special Coffee For A Percolator?

Do you need a special kind of coffee for a percolator? If you're reading this, there is a good possibility you have just discovered a percolator style coffee maker. When you look at all those brands of coffee on the shelves, you may wonder which would be the best kind to use in a percolator?  We have done a little research for you, so read on for the answers to your questions. With a bit of know-how, a percolator can be a fun new appliance that makes excellent coffee.

There isn't any special coffee made specifically for percolators. You can use any coarsely ground coffee, ideally going for coarse to medium grind. Avoid fine-ground coffee though, as the grains are likely to dissolve and go through the filter.  

Please keep reading to learn all about the best coffee to use in our brand new percolator!

Do You Need Special Coffee For a Percolator?

This type of coffee maker makes a more potent, richer brew. With that in mind, the size of the coffee ground is the most important thing. A coarse to medium grind is the best. The way the coffee is roasted should be taken into account as well. It is suggested that light to medium roast works best with a percolator. The range of coffee ground sizes begins at 1mm and can be almost 3mm large.

Most coffee found in stores are drip coffees that average a medium grind of 1.5mm, but there are different ones as well.

Click here to see this percolator on Amazon. 

Can You Use Drip Coffee in a Percolator?

Drip coffee can be used in a percolator with a filter. It gets its name from the process used to make the coffee. Boiling water is pressed into the coffee with steam, and the coffee drips back down into the carafe. Two common appliances, the percolator, and the electric coffee maker, use the drip method of coffee making.

At one time, the percolator was the number one way to make coffee. It was replaced by the electric drip coffee maker in the early 1950s. This development led to an entirely new type of coffee. Drip coffee. Your major store brands of coffee all fall into this category. The electric coffee maker uses the same method to make coffee as a percolator. The holes in the grounds basket of a percolator are too large for a medium ground coffee, so the use of a filter is recommended.

Can I Use Regular Ground Coffee in a Percolator?

This is the same as medium ground and cannot be used in the percolator without a filter. Coarse and larger sized grounds are suggested for the percolator, but with a filter, regular ground coffee can work as well. Due to the heating temperature needed to brew the coffee, percolators make it stronger.

A coarsely ground coffee is the best to use in them. A medium or regular grind is the average size for a range of coffee brands found in your local grocery store. You can use these with a filter. Many different flavors of coffee are also available in the bean form, and you can grind these to the perfect size for your percolator.

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Can I Use Fine Ground Coffee in a Percolator?

The holes in the grounds basket are too large for finely ground coffee, and it will settle to the bottom of the pot. Eventually, it will find its way into your coffee cup. Filters can be used, but you will want to make sure the coffee does not get too intense or burn due to the heat. Use a different type of percolator called a Moka pot for finely ground coffee or espresso.

Can You Make Espresso in a Percolator?

A regular-sized percolator is too large to make small amounts of flavorful espresso. Percolators come in a range of sizes, and there is a smaller version called a Moka pot. The Moka pot was explicitly created to make espresso. The Moka pot version of the percolator is a popular stovetop coffee maker. They have been used since 1933 and can be found online and in some stores. These questions and answers are about the coffee, here are two more about the use of your percolator.

Can I Use a Filter in a Percolator?

 

Sometimes it seems no matter what size ground of coffee you use in the percolator, some of it may end up in your cup. When you add your coffee to the percolator, coffee grounds tend to fall through the holes in the grounds basket. This can also result in the grounds getting into your cup of coffee. Percolators have optional, specially made paper filters that fit into the basket to help prevent this. Filters for your percolator can be ordered online. You can also make them by cutting a ">regular coffee filter to fit the grounds basket of your percolator.

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Can You Put Milk in a Percolator?

Putting milk in a percolator is not recommended. Milk cannot be steamed in a percolator. Milk can't be run through the coffee in place of water. Due to the boiling temperature required for the percolator to work, the water used to make the coffee cannot be replaced with milk. Milk curdles or comes apart when boiled. A good alternative is to heat the milk slowly, on the side, in a saucepot.

Use a percolator to make excellent coffee with no particular kind of coffee required. While some coffee makers do need a specific type of coffee, this one does not. You can use any popular store brand that is drip coffee as long as you have a filter. With a percolator, it is the size of the grounds that is the most important thing to consider. Coarsely ground coffee is the recommended type and can produce the best results.

Accessories like filters, different sizes of percolators, and coffee bean grinders can help give you more flexibility with your brew. Over time you will find that some things cannot be used in the percolator, like milk or fine ground coffees. Now that you know the elements of making percolated coffee, you can succeed in creating your own unique and delicious coffee beverages.