I’ve been considering buying a drip coffee pot. These days they aren’t really that expensive and for a few bucks over the base model, I could have one with a timer that would ensure by the time I got out of bed I would have hot coffee every morning – assuming that I bothered to set the timer, fill the machine with water and fresh grounds. Then again, all except the automatic switch, I could do the same with the camp percolator I currently own.

Right now, I use a camp percolator for all my coffee. It works fine, but it sure gets dirty and it’s somewhat messy dumping out the grounds and washing out the filter every morning. I ended up with coffee grounds all over my kitchen, accumulating in all the places that aren’t real easy to clean. In many ways, drip coffee machines are less messy, especially with the disposable paper filters that commonly used with them.

Drip coffee pots use less electricity and make much better coffee then the percolator, especially with my tendency to put the percolator on it and boil the heck out of the coffee until the grounds are incredibly bitter. I don’t use sugar or cream, just one percent milk, which ensures the coffee is as bitter as it can be. Maybe I should watch the percolator more carefully, and not walk off and do other things.

Part of my problem with drip coffee pots is they use a lot amperage – even if it’s temporarily – to heat the water. Sure my electric stove does too, but sometime I envision living off grid without a high amperage electricity supply. I guess one of those high-tech drip coffee pots probably won’t last that long, but then I got to throw it out – which is a pain, because I don’t have trash pickup and would have to take it to the transfer station. Not to mention all those coffee filters and grounds, which are a wet mess, especially because I don’t have a compost bin where I live.

Most people a long time ago would have bought an coffee pot. But I think the percolator pot works fine for my purpose, no matter how grimy it gets or how awful bitter the coffee it makes. I don’t need excessive technology in my life that really serves no real purpose that some point I’ll have to pay to dispose of later on.