# Whatever happened to Brim coffee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [June 20, 2018, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433 "2018-06-20T08:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/41 "2018-06-22T12:12:41Z")
I remember the smell of the machine and looking down the shoot as the beans went in to the grinder. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/42 "2018-06-22T15:04:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The orange handle is a ubiquitous way to identify a pot of decaf coffee. It’s possible that every pot with an orange handle is decaf. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a pot with an orange handle. Most decaf pots these days are either identical to caffeinated except with a label or use a different coloring scheme. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/43 "2018-06-23T02:28:02Z")
I used to make percolated coffee for my mother (she had an old electric one from Sunbeam or some such company). I considered it a Godsend when the drip-coffee-maker hit the market; the time savings in preparation was significant. Of course, that all went out the window with the introduction of home-grinding of your beans… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/44 "2018-06-23T03:05:14Z")
My name is p-man, and I drink instant coffee almost every morning. I usually get either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s brand. Why, you may ask? I want the caffeine, but I’m too lazy to get it any other way. Also, I don’t like the taste of any coffee. If I didn’t like the taste of any beer and just wanted the buzz, I’d get a 6 of Milwaukee’s Beast (which seems to now be the go-to beer in our neighborhood for people who drink outside and throw their cans in the park). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/45 "2018-06-23T04:19:36Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I remember the smell of the machine and looking down the shoot as the beans went in to the grinder. Do these not exist in other supermarkets anymore? One of the two supermarkets I typically frequent still has the coffee grinding machines there. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/46 "2018-06-23T05:27:56Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Percolator coffee is wonderful. You just have use a coarse enough grind, and preferably use an electric model that automatically ramps down to “keep hot” when it’s done brewing, rather than one of those old fashioned “cowboy” percolators that you put on the stove. None of this is relevant to the kind of percolators that were available in the 1950s and 1960s, and that were replaced by the drip coffee makers in the 1970s. Like I said, it is possible to make a decent cup of coffee with a percolator, but almost nobody made coffee that way in the 1960s. Like I said, I grew up on percolator coffee and it mostly produced a thick black sludge. But we didn’t know any better, since like cowboys that was what we were used to. At least it gave you a buzz. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/47 "2018-06-23T10:34:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Do these not exist in other supermarkets anymore? One of the two supermarkets I typically frequent still has the coffee grinding machines there. Of coutse they do. My point was that coffee grinders were ubiquitous in the 1960s and ‘70s. A&P was famous for them. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/48 "2018-06-23T11:02:06Z")
Costco by me has a coffee grinder ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/49 "2018-06-25T02:52:42Z")
My very first job, in 1983 was at Arby’s. We had both regular and decaf fresh-brewed coffee. And packets of instant Sanka too, because some older folks would specifically order “Sanka coffee”. After reading this thread, I’m now wondering how many of those people actually specifically wanted Sanka. Maybe they were just using “Sanka” as a generic term for “decaf”? (On a side note, that was 35 years ago, and now that I’m sort of an “older person”, I still don’t understand ordering coffee as your only beverage with a restaurant meal. The idea of trying to wash down hot food with a gulp of hot coffee just confuses me.) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/50 "2018-06-27T02:38:17Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s possible that every pot with an orange handle is decaf. A. Decaf sucks B. Some orange-rimmed coffee pots are used for decaf C. Ergo, do not come near me with an orange-rimmed coffee pot. After all, why take chances? Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/51 "2018-06-27T02:45:57Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I had assumed the ads drove someone postal and they murdered everyone associated with the brand. Should’ve stuck with decaf. What? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/52 "2018-06-27T02:54:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > Freeze-dried coffee was a trend that ended when home coffeemakers became ubiquitous. > > Yep. It’s probably still used for camping trips though. Instant coffee reminds me of camping when I was a kid. I like to have it every so often, even though my camping coffee is made in a moka pot nowadays. I know there’s some instant coffee in the cupboard. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/53 "2018-06-27T03:09:01Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > (On a side note, that was 35 years ago, and now that I’m sort of an “older person”, I still don’t understand ordering coffee as your only beverage with a restaurant meal. The idea of trying to wash down hot food with a gulp of hot coffee just confuses me.) That was a generational thing, not an age thing. Thirty five years ago, when I worked in fast food restaurants , it was not uncommon to see “senior citizens” order a coffee with their burger. They probably did not start doing that when they turned 65 but had been doing so all of their adult life. But at some point, tastes changed and you don’t now see 75 year olds ordering coffee with meals. Something similar seems to have happened with milk - judging by the books, TV shows and movies I saw as a child, it seemed that at some point before my childhood, kids commonly drank milk with every meal but it didn’t seem common when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/54 "2018-06-27T04:18:06Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > That was a generational thing, not an age thing. Thirty five years ago, when I worked in fast food restaurants , it was not uncommon to see “senior citizens” order a coffee with their burger. They probably did not start doing that when they turned 65 but had been doing so all of their adult life. But at some point, tastes changed and you don’t now see 75 year olds ordering coffee with meals. When I was in my early 20s, I dated a girl who had coffee with hot meals. We’d go out for pizza, and she ordered coffee. I’d have a Coke (our favourite pizza place had no liquor license; otherwise, I would have had a cold beer). I never understood hot coffee and hot pizza, but she liked it. > [@](#): > > Something similar seems to have happened with milk - judging by the books, TV shows and movies I saw as a child, it seemed that at some point before my childhood, kids commonly drank milk with every meal but it didn’t seem common when I was a kid. It was when I was young. My sister and I always had milk with meals, and so did our friends. Our parents might drink water with meals, or occasionally, a soft drink, but we kids always got milk. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/55 "2018-06-27T04:25:44Z")
Yep, Daddy made us drink milk with supper. We had milk at school for lunch and in the afternoon after recess. At breakfast we had juice. No soft drinks in the house. My Daddy drank beer or coffee at supper. Altho’ we were in the south, we never had sweet tea. I’ve never drank it much as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/56 "2018-06-27T05:14:01Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > We had milk at school for lunch… My middle school offered a choice of three beverages for lunch: milk, chocolate milk, and orange juice. Nothing else. You could bring whatever else you wanted (soda pop, apple juice, tomato juice, etc.), but all the school would supply for lunch was milk, chocolate milk, and orange juice. We should end this hijack, and get back to discussing Brim. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/57 "2018-06-27T05:41:08Z")
I barely remember the coffee. I went and looked at some of the ads. I do remember those. Crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/58 "2018-06-27T14:41:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > some people say Sanka to mean any decaf coffee. Their color was orange and even now a lot of places use a pot with an orange holder for decaf. This may be a generational thing. My grandparents used to refer to decaf coffee as Sanka, in much the same way that Scotch tape, Xerox, and Kleenex brand names have been used to refer to a product type. > [@Jasmine](#): > > “Instant Coffee” like Brim and Sanka were horrible. Do they even sell that kind of stuff anymore? If so, I don’t know anyone who drinks it. I’m partial to Medaglia D’oro or (in a pinch) Café Bustelo instant espresso on weekends. Seems like K-cups have largely replaced instant coffee here in the states, but I understand instant coffee is still heavily marketed in South America and other regions. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/59 "2018-06-27T20:09:57Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The other major brand of decaf was [Sanka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanka). Apparently it’s still around but like Brim I haven’t seen in years. Both brands in the 1980s were owned by General Foods, which also owned [Maxwell House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_House). In the mid-1980s, General Foods started marketing a decaf coffee under the Maxwell House brand and it seems that the other two brands were de-emphasized. I buy Sanka all the time. I have a jar in my desk. It is sold in the Northeast is most major supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433/60 "2018-06-27T21:59:02Z")
About drip coffee replacing percolator coffee: Melitta Bentz patented her paper-filter drip coffee maker in 1908. So this is all about marketing and availability. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-brim-coffee/816433.md?page=4)