Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Drip-o-lator

I inherited an old coffee pot from my mother.  It was called a "drip-o-lator".  This was before the days of automatic coffee pots and paper liners.  I'm not sure how it came into my possession, but I remember my parents using it when I was a little girl.  So, folks, this thing is definitely over 50 years old.  Here is a picture of it showing the various parts:


It is made of aluminum.  The piece in the lower left position is the grounds container.  Here is a better picture of it.


Notice the small holes in the bottom.  They are big enough to allow water to drip through, but are small enough that the grounds would stay in it and not get in the coffee.  This piece fits on top of the pot itself, like this.


After the coffee grounds were added, the next piece was assembled on top.


This piece is the water container.  Water was heated in a sauce pan and when it got to boiling, it was poured into the water container.  The container has small holes in the bottom that allow the water to drip through to the coffee grounds underneath.

There is also a lid that fits on top of the entire assembly.


The lid also fits on the pot.  So, I assume the idea was that once the coffee was finished, you could remove the top part and use the lid on top of the pot to help keep the coffee warm.

I also recall they had a "perc-o-lator" at some point.  It was electric and was one step up from the drip-o-lator.  Apparently, the name stems from the fact that the water was put into the bottom of the pot and as the water heated to a boil, it rose through a tube and dripped or percolated over the grounds at the top.  Percolators were once state of the art, but were supplanted in the early 1970s by automatic drip coffee makers.

I'm not sure what happened to the percolator.  Maybe it broke and was thrown away at some point.  At any rate, I've never actually used this old drip-o-lator.  I'd like to try it out sometime, but I usually steer clear of aluminum cookware because of concerns over its safety.

In September 2008, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released Public Health Statement CAS# 7429-90-5.  You can read a copy of it here:


It makes several alarming statements regarding the dangers of aluminum in the body.  It also states that the average person ingests about 7–9 mg of aluminum per day in their food and that many everyday foods and products contain it.  For example, all of the following items contain aluminum:


• astringents
• buffered aspirin
• food additives
• antiperspirants
• cosmetics
• flour
• baking powder
• coloring agents
• anti-caking agents

I'd rather play it "safe" than be "sorry".  So, for now, I'll just keep the old drip-o-lator as a memento of my childhood and display it where others can enjoy it was well.

2 comments:

  1. I used this old drip ole later for years, this is what I learned to make coffee with. It makes the best tasting coffee because it never causes that over heated or burned tasting coffee that is so annoying with todays coffee makers. Plus it is a very energy efficient method for making coffee, you can use a lot less coffee and get a much fuller flavor. I would recommend the newer version of this made in stainless steel because I do agree with your information abut aluminium.

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  2. We inherited the exact same pot when father passed. All I can say is BULL. We get so much crap every day from everything made, a lil' aluminium...big deal. We threw out our traditional coffee pot & use this every single day...makes the best tasting coffee ever! And could compete with Starbucks...no joke. My dad used this pot his whole life and he died in his sleep at 89 years old...

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