The recirculation of the coffee is not strictly necessary. Sure, it wouldn’t be a classic American percolator but there are other coffee makers that work by very similar principles but without burning your coffee (like drip brew filter coffee machines or my favorite, moka pots). Percolated in general just means “filtered” or “strained”.
Are there other types of percolators? I thought the recirculation and constant heating of the reservoir were required features.
The recirculation of the coffee is not strictly necessary. Sure, it wouldn’t be a classic American percolator but there are other coffee makers that work by very similar principles but without burning your coffee (like drip brew filter coffee machines or my favorite, moka pots). Percolated in general just means “filtered” or “strained”.