West Bend 58002 12- to 42-Cup Automatic Party Perk Coffee Urn

Great coffee maker

I am pretty particular about coffee. I like to gind my own beans and have never used a perc coffee pot in the past. But we were having a huge family gathering and I needed a lot of coffee.I ordered this Party Perk machine and when it came in I almost returned it because it seemed so flimsy, but I figured I'd give it a chance.I'm glad I did. All the information I read on the Internet about coffee said that perc'd coffee is not very good because the water is boiled and constantly recirculated through the grounds and this does not equate to how to achieve the best tasting coffee.Well, while this was not the BEST coffee I have ever had, the coffee was none-the-less very good. I used Berkley and Jensen ground coffee (available at BJ's Wholesale club)and I could not have been more pleased with the results from this Party Perk. I used a little more than 2-1/2 cups of ground coffee for the full 42 cups and the information I read about expecting the pot to brew the coffee at one cup per minute seemed pretty accurate.There were a lot of compliments on how good the coffee tasted. It did not taste burned, even after being kept warmed in the pot for a few hours.I cannot comment on the durability of the machine as I haven't had it that long. My parents saw this pot and remarked that they had the same one for many many years before they gave it away and never had the first bit of trouble with it.

Coffee urns are almost all the same. Some look better, some not so much. I would put the west bend’s looks on the more drab side, but the polished aluminum is ok. It’s industrial but easily recognized by anyone in the room as the dispenser of sweet caffeine in a meeting environment.What I like about this unit is the capacity, the valve mechanism and the quality of the coffee (if you get the right coffee). The capacity was just the right amount for a brunch with 20 people, not all coffee drinkers. I ended up making a second pot for late coffee drinkers. The dispensing valve is a simple toggle, not a “cup push the valve open” version. I think that a simple toggle valve is far superior even though it can require two hands if you hold the cup versus place it on the surface. People can get confused by the “use the cup to push the valve” versions, and the mechanism can collapse foam and paper cups when you press against the mechanism, very messy. Finally, I use Costco Columbia’s coffee, preground, in this machine and it tastes great. Note that I don’t like this coffee in my drip machine, only in this percolator. I think Folgers would also be good, but recommend the Colombian from Costco or alike.

This was very easy to use and let you know how much coffee to put in. Would recommend.

I purchased this for my daughter’s baby shower. I made hot chocolate and it stayed hot all night long. It didn’t leak at all. Cord is short but that can be fixed with an extension cord. Good price, great product.