Updated on December 10, 2022
One aspect of the coffee subculture is the comparison of various brewing techniques. It appears that the percolator is finally having a moment right now. You don’t require particular coffee for a percolator, so you can get one regardless of the type of coffee you already drink.
In a percolator, you can use ordinary ground coffee, but if you discover that the sieve is too broad for the grounds, you can also use a round paper filter or coarse coffee grounds. Generally, a percolator filters fine enough to keep medium grounds from falling into the coffee.
Can I Use Regular Ground Coffee in a Percolator?
This is equivalent to medium ground, and using it in the percolator without a filter is not an option. The percolator calls for coarser, larger-sized grounds, although standard ground coffee can also be used with a filter. Percolators make coffee stronger because they raise the temperature at which it must be heated.
The finest coffee to use in them is one that is coarsely ground. The typical grind size for a variety of coffee brands found in your neighborhood grocery shop is medium or regular. These work well with filters. The bean form of many different coffee tastes is also available, and you can grind these to the ideal size for your percolator.
Can I Use Fine Ground Coffee in a Percolator?
Coffee that has been ground finely will sink to the bottom of the pot because the holes in the grounds basket are too large. It will eventually make its way into your cup of coffee. Filters can be used, but you should watch out that the coffee doesn’t burn or get very intense from the heat. For finely ground coffee or espresso, use a Moka pot, a different kind of percolator.
How Do Regular Grounds Affect Percolated Coffee?
Because a percolator is designed to extract coffee deeply, regular grounds provide stronger coffee when used in one. Understanding how a percolator functions is important because it may either produce the perfect, tasty coffee you’ll swear by or bitter slop you’ll never touch. The secret is to tweak the roast level and coffee ground size.
To produce a somewhat darker shot of brewed coffee, use coarse grounds and a medium roast by default. You might choose medium grounds with a medium roast if you want to make the dose stronger. You can choose a mild roast if you want more caffeine potency. You can use medium grounds and a light roast to increase bitterness.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is that unless you use a filter, you cannot utilize fine grounds with a percolator. The maxim that the deeper the extraction, the finer the coffee grounds, must thus be halted at normal grounds. After that, you must rely on the principle that the coffee has more caffeine the lighter the roast.
Of course, a disk paper filter can make it easier to utilize fine coffee grounds, but that would still be counterproductive. Because of the filter’s twofold barrier and the lack of pressure during extraction, pulled espresso-style coffee cannot always be produced.