New is not necessarily better......

Lately, in my experiences, I have discovered that NEW is not necessarily BETTER.  I will explain how I came to that conclusion - but first, I want to make known a few things.  For my job as a REALTOR, when I go into homes, I love to see wood burning fireplaces and gum wood molding, claw-foot tubs, built-in hutches with leaded glass, pocket doors, ceiling medallions and especially hand-blown glass windows with all the delicious little air bubbles and wavy appearances.  All of those are old fashioned, and I have always held a special admiration for the way things were built and designed in yesteryear.  In this day and age, a touch of the old coupled with the everyday conveniences of the new, is what is attractive in a home, and makes it charming.  But, that's not what I'm talking about today.  We are going deep and taking it down, down, down.....to the kitchen.
Today, I want to discuss the coffee maker and its loyalty until death mentality.

Each morning, when my alarm jolts me out of bed, my consistent routine begins;  Once I come downstairs to the kitchen, with the dogs at my feet and the cat meowing non-stop, the first thing I do is pour eight cups of cold water into the coffee maker, measure out the coffee and hit the button.  Only then do I feed the wailing cat, bring the dogs outdoors and hook up their leashes, run back upstairs and uncover the squawking bird and then proceed to wake up the sleeping child, all while the delicious black gold is brewing.  Then, I fix myself a cup, take a sip and carry on making lunch for the little one and preparing an awesome breakfast which always includes apples and peanut butter.

All pretty normal stuff, right?  Right.

Now I ask;  "What happens when the coffee maker breaks?"

This is where my story truly begins.  After coming back inside, and not smelling any gorgeous aromas, my antennae went up.  Upon inspection, I unearthed the truth.  The coffee maker was lame.  No brew....no aroma....no coffee....no nothing!   Ugh!  As much as it stunk, and skewered my morning, I am a resourceful gal, so after we walked to the bus stop, I stopped in to Home Market, the convenience store on the corner, and watched in horror as the man picked up a quarter-filled glass coffee pot and poured me a large styrofoam cup of morning jolt.  He asked me what I wanted and I said cream and sugar please.  As I walked toward home, I took a big sip.

 BLAH.  It was terrible. I therefore discovered an even deeper appreciation for the easy push button coffee maker that created the lovely nectar.  I promised myself a trip to that coffee store that has the really strong stuff, muscled through getting ready and off I went.

This particular day had me hopping from morning until evening, so I asked Joey to please stop off somewhere and get a coffee maker.  Oh boy.  You have to know Joey.  When he moved in with us, he came with cast iron frying pans, a pressure cooker, and all kinds of gadgets that none of us knew how to operate.  They were cool gizmos, a lot of As-Seen-On-TV things like the advocado peeler/cutter and the no handle can opener that nobody but Joey knows how to use.  We found room for everything, but half the time I would pick something up and stare at it with a blank expression on my face not really sure what its purpose was. 

Flash forward to the coffee maker day.

I came home from running all over creation to a big peanut looking thing sitting on my stove.

My little girl was laughing hysterically and Joey, while trying to keep a straight face said "What? It works the same and it makes 18 cups!"

O.M.Gosh.

I said "Absolutely not.  No. No. No." I may have even stamped my foot simultaneously.

Joey, trying desperately not to laugh, tried to plead his case that this peanut looking thing would fit perfectly in the spot where the old coffee maker was and that it makes coffee just like the other one.  He was explaining that all we have to do is boil water and pour it over the coffee and whalla - coffee.

Okay, I know I said I like the old stuff, but this is ridiculous.  Just looking at this beast-like silver lump, all I could think of was making coffee for a get together for a wake, or a stake out;  not for every day use.
Where did it even come from?  How was this thing around and I'd never seen it before?
 
My heart sank in my chest. This was not a joke.  He truly did not buy a coffee maker.

I refused to use the giant peanut.  I put my foot down.  Joey couldn't even argue with me because he was laughing too much.  It's pretty hard to argue your case whilst laughing.  Imagine? 

I started to open cabinets, to look for some other gadget that was tucked away gathering dust. " AHA!"  I exclaimed as I picked up this contraption to the right and asked "What about this one?  It's small and it doesn't look like we are hosting some sort of function!"

"That's an expresso maker."  Joey deadpanned.

Seriously?  Why?  Why do we have an espresso maker? I silently shrieked.
My expression made him laugh again. 

Determined not to be thwarted and begin my day angrily staring at the newly acquired enemy;  I rummaged through some more cabinets and came up with this elderly percolator.

"How does this thing work?"  I asked Joey.  He gave me a quick run down - first you boil water (only two cups) and then when it starts to boil, you put the coffee in the filter-type thingy, three table spoons, and then watch the top and when the water turns to rotating coffee, it's done.   Okay fine.

The next morning rolled around and I figured I could have the water boil while I made lunch and breakfast.  It went off without a hitch.  The coffee was super hot, so it took a little bit to get the full taste of it.....but, when I did....it was GOOD.

Wow.  Really good.  Have you ever made a pot a coffee and sometimes it comes out as the best cup of coffee ever?  Well, that happens to me sometimes, so I chocked the whole percolator thing up to one of those experiences and I went on with my day.

At some point during the day; I stopped and picked up this beauty plug in coffee maker.  Excellent.  Our days with the Pilgrims were over, we were back in this century.  One day lost, no biggie.....back to normal.

The next morning arrived.  I put eight cups to brew in my new, easy to use, plug-in coffee maker and continued with my rituals.

When I fixed a cup of the dark liquid and added my touch of this and touch of that, I was very excited to drink it.  It was convenient and familiar and smelled good too.

The moment of truth arrived and I drank.

To my astonishment, and incredible dismay, the percolated coffee was far superior.

Yes, I said it - Old Percolator Coffee was Far Superior than the Fancy Shmancy easy plug-in one.

I quickly made a batch in the percolator to compare.  It was a no-brainer.  The Percolator made better coffee.  Way better coffee.  Even a seasoned Barista with Starbucks commented that she could taste the different notes of the coffee.

O.M.Goodness.  How Ironical. 

Wasn't that a great opportunity to learn?  Right?  Because that's the first thing I thought of too.  (heavy sarcasm intended).  But, learn, I did.  Learn what, do you ask?

Humility, Truth, Admitting I was wrong for starters.  Most especially, since it's the one I went with, embracing the fact that women change their mind on a whim and since I am a woman, I am perfectly within my rights to choose the percolator.

Now, how to tell Joey?  Imagine the smugness.  The gadgets that will appear out of thin air.  All the new things I will have to try because "maybe it's like the percolator......"  That's right folks, I imagined it all.  I asked myself....."is it worth all the hub bub?"  My answer was and remains; Yes.  It's worth it.  It's deserved.  Like gum wood and pocket doors, the percolator was better.  The turtle with his slow and steady wins the race .....had won again.

Seeing as the next morning was a Saturday, and Joey usually makes coffee and breakfast on the weekends, I knew there was a full pot of freshly brewed coffee in the plug-in easy maker.  Since I had made such a big stink about the coffee maker and all the ancient gizmos laying around, I was finding it a little difficult to save face AND get myself a big cup of percolated coffee.  I really didn't have a plan.

So, casual as you please, I sauntered into the kitchen, poured some of the machine coffee, fixed it appropriately, took a big sip, looked Joey right in the eye and said "Actually, I like the percolated coffee better."

He burst into a hearty laugh, and then still chuckling, he took the percolator and started to fill it with cold water. 

He is still laughing.  Every time I say "Percolator", he laughs.  I'm sure he is imaging my using the funny looking can opener thingy next or cooking our entire meal in the pressure cooker in five minutes! 

Meanwhile, I have now integrated the percolator and all it's glorious black gold into my morning routine.  #oldfashionedstyle 

Don't knock it til you try it.

Me and my coffee are out. :)