Gifts for the Devoted Coffee Drinker

RT Cunningham — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:51:09 +0000

When you're thinking about buying a gift, do you think about what they drink on a regular basis? Of all the beverages consumed around the world, I think coffee ranks as number one. I also think the only drink consumed more than coffee is plain drinking water, good tasting water or otherwise. Anyway, it makes sense to buy gifts for devoted coffee drinkers because they tend to appreciate them as they use them.

Coffee Cups and Coffee Mugs

I'm a devoted coffee drinker. I drink more than a couple of cups per day. I can never have too many coffee cups or coffee mugs in the house. I also like to share my coffee with friends and relatives and I never force them to go and get their own cups or mugs.

When I spotted the beaker mug at ThinkGeek's page for mugs & glasses, I immediately thought of this:

That's a picture of Austin Powers in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me NOT drinking coffee. Well, when I saw the beaker mug at ThinkGeek, I knew I had to add it, or one like it, to my coffee mug collection.

Coffee Makers

The automatic drip coffee maker is so commonly found in homes nowadays that buying one as a gift, especially for a coffee connoisseur, would probably be received as an insult. The recipient may or may not display their feelings to spare yours, but I'm sure he or she wouldn't be too happy about it.

A pod coffee maker would be a better choice, as would a coffee press pot. The press pot is something I've only seen on TV so far (in an episode of Rubicon).

A collector would surely appreciate an old-fashioned glass coffee percolator which still works and would probably appreciate a supply of the right kind of grind to go with it. If this is what you choose to give, good luck finding one.

Other Gifts for Coffee Drinkers

There are more gifts for coffee drinkers out there than you can shake a stick at, if you just look in the right places. If you're buying for a senior citizen (quite a few years older than I am right now), you can't go wrong with a novelty gift like the "Over the Hill Starter Kit" from Spencer Gifts.

For lesser occasions than full-blown holidays, you can get by with giving edible gifts or coffee drink certificates. Coffee candy, coffee cake donuts and coupons for Starbucks come to mind without any real effort.

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The Coffee Percolator, An Old-Fashioned Coffee Maker

RT Cunningham — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:40:57 +0000

I shouldn't really say "old-fashioned", but I couldn't think of another way to describe coffee makers that most people don't use anymore. The Pyrex coffee percolator pictured is the exact style of coffee pot that my mother and older sisters used when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s.

Pyrex

"Pyrex" is a word that was made up by Corning Incorporated in 1915. Although they sold the consumer products division in 1998, "Corning Incorporated" still appears at the Pyrex web portal. They no longer sell any kind of coffee pots, from what I can see.

Pyrex is a brand name that was synonymous with glass. It didn't matter what type of glass they used although they originally used borosilicate glass. I believe they now use soda lime glass. I also believe their glassware is tempered and heat resistant. I'm relying on memory, but I never saw any glass coffee percolators crack.

Operation

The glass coffee percolators that I've seen operate in the same ways. I understand there is another kind that operates a little differently, but I've never seen one in person.

Coffee grounds are placed in a basket at the top of long cylindrical tube which almost reaches the sides of the basket. I've never seen any baskets made from anything besides aluminum. The tube for a glass coffee percolator is also made of glass and the pedestal at the bottom, which rests against the bottom of the pot, is made of glass as well. In fact, the only other metal part of this particular coffee maker is the band that goes around it. I don't remember if the band served to secure the handle or not.

After the coffee is brewed to the point of completion, usually when the coffee is dark brown, the heat is lowered enough just to keep the coffee pot warm. I can remember many times when the coffee sat long enough to be considered burnt. It tasted nasty at that point. I used to watch the liquid percolate; I could see it hitting the inside knob of the lid. I think the lid was designed the way it was for exactly that reason.

During times of little money, my mother and siblings used to re-use the coffee grounds. It took longer for the coffee to brew the second time and it usually never got as dark as the first time. A third time was out of the question. I think automatic drip coffee grounds can't be used in the same way, but I've never tested any to find out.

Metal Coffee Percolators

A cursory search using Google Image Search will reveal coffee percolators of all kinds still in existence, though none quite like the image I found that matched what my mother used. There were others that I remember, like the metal coffee pots that were used during camping trips. They operated in the same way, but brewing time had to be estimated because the liquid couldn't be seen.

Some of the images I found on Google were misleading. Some younger people might be fooled when they see an image of a coffee decanter versus a coffee percolator. The decanters are only used to keep coffee hot for serving. They can't be used as coffee makers in any way, shape or form. Some of them appear to be metal and aren't — they're made of plastic that looks like metal.

Image Source

I spent hours going from website to website looking for the particular model to use as a thumbnail for this article. Trust me when I say that I only found one site that had it displayed and it was with a message that said "out of stock". It was a Japanese website, but for the life of me, I can't find it again. I'll be happy to credit the image to the appropriate source if someone can point it out to me. Because I believe in "fair use", I did not provide the larger, original image and the image used is at a much lower resolution.

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