How to use your glass coffee percolator.

How to use The Nonna Borosilicate Glass Coffee Percolator

By Mackenzie Bowes

We included a video explaining general use, some basic tips, and responses to criticism on this page. If you’re not able to watch the video, scan through the following text to get all the same information available in the video.

How to use a coffee percolator

Coffee percolators work by continuously cycling boiling water through coffee grounds, so the way to use a coffee percolator is to set up your ingredients to allow this process to happen.

The Nonna Borosilicate Glass Coffee percolator has 3 main components: the water reservoir, the coffee basket, and the glass stem.

Adding Water

Insert up to 6 cups (48 US fluid ounces, 1.5 litres) of water into the water reservoir - on the glass stem there is a slight bulge that supports the coffee basket that you can use as a fill line.

This step can be done before or after preparing the coffee in the coffee basket.

Adding Coffee

There is no set ratio for how much coffee to include in the percolator - I personally try to use 1 tablespoon (15ml) of ground coffee per 2 cups (500ml) of water, but you can use more or less depending on your desired strength of flavour.

Use a scoop to move the coffee into the coffee basket, and use the back of your scoop to even out the coffee into a layer of uniform thickness - the water comes out of the glass stem chaotically, so even coverage is important to ensure all the grounds are used in the percolation.

Place the coffee basket onto the glass stem, which can either already be inside the water reservoir, or you can combine them outside of the water reservoir and insert the stem and coffee basket both together.

Percolation

Place the entire Nonna Borosilicate Glass Coffee Percolator onto a heating element set to high - at the moment, due to the fact that this item is composed of Borosilicate Glass, this item is only compatible with electrical resistance heating elements, not the newer magnetic induction style that requires some ferrous material like Steel, Cast Iron, or Copper to function. Electrical resistance heating elements radiate heat diffusely, and that heat can transfer to the Borosilicate Glass, whereas induction elements radiate oscillating magnetic waves that do not interact with the Borosilicate Glass.

Theoretically, you could also use open flame to heat The Nonna, but this would likely leave carbon deposits on the glass and blacken the material, reducing the aesthetic appeal.

The process takes a varying amount of time depending on conditions like elevation, strength of your element, and how much water is included in the water reservoir - less water heats faster.

Ensure the lid is on the water reservoir to increase the internal pressure of the water reservoir, this helps the water boil faster.

After a few minutes, water will boil and drip through the stem into the coffee basket and deposit coffee back into the water reservoir. When this starts to happen, wait 5-10 minutes depending on desired strength to allow the coffee to cycle through the stem multiple times.

The cycling action is what gives The Nonna Borosilicate Glass Coffee Percolator the superior flavour it’s famous for compared to more modern brewing methods.

Pouring Coffee

After the coffee has cycled enough times for your desired flavour, the water reservoir and lid will be hot. The attached glass handle rarely gets hot, but use caution when touching the handle as it may be hot depending on the size of your electrical resistance heating element.

Use a cloth to hold the hot lid in place while pouring coffee - failing to hold the lid in place may result in the lid falling off the unit and breaking due to its glass construction. Additionally, the lid connects to the central glass stem, keeping the coffee grounds out of the path of the coffee, leading to less grounds in your mug.

Cleaning

Borosilicate Glass is resistant to the acidic effects of coffee, but the coffee basket uses stainless steel which is sensitive both to acid and water. You can leave leftover coffee inside of the water reservoir, but it’s recommended to clean out the coffee basket as soon as the unit has cooled.

Remove the coffee basket from the stem, and dump the wet grounds into a garbage bin or compost. Clean the coffee basket with hot soapy water, and manually dry the steel - allowing it to air dry can introduce rusting.

Do not leave the stainless steel components in the sink or in wet areas.