Camp Coffee

Day 229: Thinking ahead to winter and the inevitable power outages, I've been gradually updating some of my emergency gear. It's all well and good to have a potful of yesterday's coffee on standby, but when that runs out, you're up the creek without a paddle unless you have another means of making brew. I decided to invest some of my hard-earned rewards points in a stainless steel "camp" coffee pot. Reading the reviews, I came to realize that the modern generation has no idea how to make coffee in a percolator, having become almost entirely dependent on technology in one form or another. The major complaint was that the coffee boiled out the spout. Well, d'uh! That's because you didn't turn down the heat after the first three "blurps" had chuckled their way into the clear knob. You won't get good coffee with the recommended three-minute brewing time, but a percolator isn't a timed process. When the coffee shows the right shade of brown in the clear knob, take it off the heat, but don't drink it yet. Another point about percolators is that you really don't need a filter, but...big caveat, here...you have to wait for the grounds to settle. Just to be sure I hadn't lost my touch, I made perked coffee this morning using some maple-flavoured grounds which were a gift from a friend. Although the maple took the brew beyond what I would normally call "coffee" (i.e, black, and strong enough to hold a spoon upright), it was far better than what comes out of my electric Mr. Coffee.