Farberware FCP240 4-Cup Coffee Maker

When this former night owl wannabe rocker started real world Nursing School classes, coffee became an essential. Long before the heyday of Blue Mountain and designer blends, and while places like Starbucks and the local favorite, Jitters were mere twinkles in the idea guys' eyes, there was bachelor girl/guy coffee.

Reporting for hospital duty at the mind numbing hour of 6 AM
required massive infusions of java. The high octane stuff.
Carefully positioned so as to be handy even when this bleary-eyed zombie shuffled about the high gloss yellow kitchen, a large mug, spoon, sugar canister and instant coffee container created the breakfast du jour.
2 scoops of freeze dried crystals, (Maxim, thank you!), along with a goodly stream of lethal white sugar responded nicely to warm tap water and a minute's nuking in the microwave.

All this changed, in the not-so-distant past decade, when 1 became 2, (as in couple), and nervy friends started expecting, nay, demanding after dinner coffee. Would my now-gauche coffee powder fill the bill? Ought I borrow my sister's espresso-capuccino-steamer-truffle maker? The one that required a year's apprenticeship at the Cordon Bleu to maneuver?

Farberware 2-4 Cup Percolator FCP240

The familiar, stainless steel and bakelite black of Farberware was known to me through a myriad of aunts, Grandmothers and parents' friends, who owned these venerable percolators seemingly forever. Through the 50's, 60's and 70's Farberware was the sine qua non of middle class style. No planned obsolescence here, just heavy metal, polished to a fare-thee-well, and a streamlined Tuckeresque kind of tactile symmetry.

You simply plugged the percolator into your wall outlet after placing the basket and plunger in place, adding the requisite amount of water to the bottom, and ground coffee to the sieve-like basket, and popped on the lid. Almost instantaneously the perking began, with little pssfft! noises, and the coffee was nearly done. One minute per cup was the brewing time, and I could have my nonfat
Entermann's lemon crunch strudel heated up by the time 2 cups were ready. One smart feature I really like: the percolator cycles from brew to keep warm without any human intervention. Cool.

This percolator makes 2 to 4 cups, enough for a single or couple, or for 4 cups of perfectly acceptable after dinner cafe. Other people have mentioned filters, but I've done just fine without, having challenged my taste buds with the previous spoon-melting batches of bachelor coffee. It's very nice to be able to use the Chocolate Macadamia Nut, or Sam Choy's Special Blend Kona grinds from recent Island adventures, in addition to more prosaic supermarket blends.

Sturdy And Cleanup's A Snap

I don't waste money on coffee filters, and truly enjoy the fact that stainless steel is much more forgiving than the more fragile glass carafes of the typical automatic coffee makers. I can soak the small inside parts, though the outlet connection on the side of the percolator itself does not tolerate immersion.

Since I use bottled water, I haven't noticed much lime build up, but as most savvy coffee slurpers will tell you, it's the coffee bean oil that is often the culprit in off taste and plain nastiness. Because this will regularly build up an (eventually) rancid film inside any coffee pot, it is reassuring to know I can soak and then scrub away to my heart's content, when a random cleaning frenzy overtakes me.

In the almost 10 years I've had mine, there is one tiny ding on the sleek stainless steel housing. And even when it seems I am the only one imbibing, clean up is easy enough that I don't mind making that solo pot, while Mr. Fabulous reclines in the front room with his own rocket fuel of choice: Mountain Dew, Big Red or Jolt, all which are guaranteed to make a 40 year old feel like 30 again, at least until the caffeine and sugar rush subsides.

In Conclusion

These Farberware percolators are nearly indestructible, low tech but pleasing to the eye in a sort of retro 50's way. The only small negative, is the fact I cannot make the type of power drink I made so many years ago.* I consider them dependable soldiers in the war on fatigue, and likely to be worth every penny you pay for them. Although the retail is $50, I have seen this model advertised at larger department stores for at least 30% less.

*Power Drink: 2 rounded teaspoons instant coffee, 1 cup milk, (less than 2% will not give proper creaminess), 1/2 cup water, 4 teaspoons sweetener, (I use sugar). Combine all in over-sized mug, cover, and microwave on high about 1 1/2 minutes. For variety, add dash peppermint or almond extract, small amount unsweetened cocoa, dash powdered cinnamon or flavored coffee creamers. Truly breakfast in a cup. Cheers.