REASONS TO BUY
Affordable
High yield
REASONS TO AVOID
Heavy
Has lots of pieces
Inconsistent flavor
Brew recipe hard to dial in
Farberware Yosemite Review
While this 8-Cup percolator can indeed accommodate a lot of people, it is overly complicated to use and doesn't produce a very good or consistent flavor
Farberware Yosemite
Credit: Farberware
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Our Verdict
The Farberware Yosemite 8-Cup Coffee Percolator is a large stovetop percolator that can boil enough coffee for a pretty large crew — up to 40-ounces at a time — and it will only set you back $25. There's even a larger 12-cup version available! But, while we sometimes got a good cup out of this brewer, overall we found the entire process difficult to dial in and keep consistent. There are a lot of small parts to keep track of, and you have to keep a watchful eye on the glass knob up top to see when the pot starts percolating so you can start a timer. If you don't, you are guaranteed a very bitter cup. We walked away feeling frustrated or disappointed more often than not — an emotion you don't want to feel over your morning cup of Joe.
Our Analysis and Test Results
If you're heading out camping with a large crew, the well-priced Farberware Yosemite 8-Cup Percolator is a viable option. Brewing up to 40-ounces at a time, it will fill a lot of cups. However, there are easier and better options for the flavor-minded camper.
Performance Comparison
The Farberware Yosemite can definitely brew up a large amount of coffee, but overall we didn't enjoy the brewing process or the final flavor.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Brew Features
This stainless steel percolator is made up of 6 components: the main pot, percolator stem, a small spring, the filter basket and cover, and the lid with its see-through glass knob. After filling the pot with the amount of water you desire, the stem, spring, coffee-filled basket, and its cover all stack inside. Clip the lid on, place on a burner, and keep an eye for when water starts bubbling up into the glass knob on top. Once this begins, percolate for 5-7 minutes, depending on your desired strength.
The Yosemite getting loaded up with grounds - unlike the Bialetti Moka Express, you will need to measure the coffee each time to ensure you have the proper water-to-coffee ratio.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Taste
Percolators are a classic brewing method that many people love — though there's a reason coffee professionals don't use them. Coffee acidifies when it is boiled or re-heated, so the drawback of a percolator is that it's very easy to end up with a burnt, sour, boiled flavor. Conversely, if you don't percolate long enough, you get a weak and watery under-extracted cup. While we sometimes got decent flavors out of this brewer, more often than not we ended up missing the mark in one of the ways described.
The flavors that we received from the Yosemite were inconsistent and often not very good. Under boil and you get weak coffee, over boil and you get... boiled coffee flavor.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Ease of Use
The Yosemite falls short in this category for several reasons. There are a lot of parts to keep track of, so this brewer isn't very conducive to traveling around and car camping. The water measurement marks on the inside of the pot are hard to see, finding a good-tasting brew ratio is difficult, and brewing requires having a timer to time the percolation. It's very easy to under or over boil, so it's hard to keep things consistent. Finally, when cleaning up, the filter basket on the Yosemite is rather hard to clean, and the curved lip of the pot makes getting all the water out almost impossible. Long story short, this is not an easy brewer to use compared to all the other options in this review.
Once the top of the Yosemite starts percolating, you will need to start a timer in order to not destroy the flavor of your brew.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Group Cooking
Top marks for the Yosemite in this category, no surprise. With a maximum yield of 40-ounces (five 8-ounce cups), this is a worthy option for a small army of sleepy campers. However, the Planetary Designs French Press is easier to use, available in both 32 and 48-ounces, and far more pleasant to drink. It will cost you more, though.
Line up those cups, this brewer can fill them all.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Portability
Tipping the scales at 27.7-ounces, the Yosemite is wide and takes up a lot of room. It also has a lot of pieces, and the top percolator knob is glass and could get broken (though it is quite thick). While this is perfectly acceptable for car camping or RV travel, it's not an option that we would turn to for adventures where space is limited.
The Yosemite percolator has a lot of parts to keep track of, something that generally isn't very conducive to traveling and camping.
Credit: Penney Garrett
Weight
As mentioned above, this brewer weighs a whopping 1 pound, 11.7 ounces, making it one of the heaviest in our review. If you're in a car, van, or RV with a lot of space, this may not be an issue, but there are still better options to consider based on flavor and ease of use.
Value
This percolator is the cheapest large brewer in our review. It gets the job done but, unfortunately, the coffee doesn't taste great. If you care about flavor and ease of use, we think your dollars are better spent on another device.
Conclusion
We wanted to try this percolator out because it's cheap and can produce a lot of coffee at once. Unfortunately, it fell short for us in a lot of ways, and we walked away with the assessment that, across the board, other items in our review are easier to use, more conducive to camping, and able to produce a better flavor.
—
Penney Garrett
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