History of the Coffee Percolator

Coffee consumption goes back thousands of years and the methods of making a coffee beverage have changed greatly over the years. The coffee percolator was once considered a huge innovation in how to make your own coffee, now there are some people that do not even know that this device is or where it came from.

The original coffee percolator was invented by a British scientist/solider widely known as Sir Benjamin Thompson. He invented his percolating coffee pot after pioneering work with the Bavarian Army. His coffee percolator was unlike later models as it did not use the technology to form a continuous cycle of catching the rising boiling water through a tube.

In 1865 the first US patent for a coffee percolator was issued to James Mason. His percolator did not use the continuous method either.

It wasn't until 1889 that the patent for the coffee percolator that we are familiar with was issued to a Hanson Goodrich.

The design of the coffee percolator enabled coffee to be made on a stove top or over a campfire. Since it was created in a time that electricity was not well known, the coffee percolator did not rely on it to create coffee. To this day coffee percolators are popular with campers, outdoors men & women since it enables them to still be able to enjoy their morning cup of joe without needing to find a source of electricity.

Unfortunately with the invention of drip coffee makers the coffee percolator has nearly been eradicated as an ancient and outdated device. However, we still have people who look for the coffee percolator during power outages or before taking big camping trips.