Percolators did have one advantage, they are great fun to watch! However running water directly over the grounds more than once doesn't really create the best brew of coffee.

In the 70's the way we made coffee changed for the better. A new method, the drip method could be used. This was fast, and produced a better tasting cup of coffee. All you needed to do was place a cup full of coffee grounds into a filter paper, then when boiling water drips over the grounds you get fast coffee delivered in your glass jug.

After this you could then purchase pods of certain blends of coffee. There were numerous improvements in brewing techniques including the introduction of internal spouts that ensure the water is evenly distributed. You should brew coffee at around 200F for best results.

In the 1990's there was a new rage to take coffee by storm, espresso machines made their way over from Europe. Us Americans found a way to make this style of coffee for cheaper without affecting the flavor. This process involves pushing water through the ground roast coffee beans at high pressure. In a matter of minutes your coffee is ready to drink.

If you add frothy milk then you can create a latte or a cappuccino depending exactly how much milk you decide to add. This is a vast improvement on the ways we used to drink coffee! Making coffee is now like an experiment!

Another European innovation for brewing coffee was the coffee plunger. This is a glass container that has a plunger on it. The filter is attached to the plunger, so it is very easy to strain your coffee beans out of the delicious coffee.

All you need to do is add coffee grounds to the glass jug and then pour boiled water inside. Now leave the grounds to steep for the desired time, when you want to finish press the plunger down to remove the beans. This is great because you only need one piece of equipment, plus it's manual!

There are more extravagant methods of , I'll bet you've never heard of a vacuum brewer. This is a complicated looking machine that has two glass bowls (although these can also be metal) on top of each other. The heat applied causes the water to move from the lower bowl into the top one. This works similar to a percolator. When the heat is removed the water comes back through the beans.

Using vacuum brewing is great at a dinner party because you can be pretty sure none of your guests have seen anything like it before. Plus it can be done at the table.

None of the methods to brew coffee are actually new, most of them go back at least a couple of centuries. The oldest is thought to be the Ibrik from Turkey. This is where a brass container is used to heat up water which has a long handle and a groove in the tongue of the container. Very finely ground coffee is then added and then poured, there is no need to filter this. It is extremely strong!

All of these methods will produce a lovely cup of coffee, but you should try them all! They all produce slightly different flavors which can be a delight.

More coffee brewing ideas can be found on the internet.