This may sound a little odd but I don’t know how to make a cup of coffee. I can brew you a delightful cup of tea that will put a pep in your step but when it comes to making a cup of bean water, I’m at a loss. I’m not a coffee drinker, I love the smell of coffee but as for consuming the dirty bean water, no thank you. I have had at least 2 cups of coffee in my life (one which was a pumpkin spice latte because I had to see what the chaos was all about) and a second which was given to me by mistake and having anxiety, I just accepted and drank it despite me originally asking for a cup of tea. Alas, that entire story aside, I was cleaning out my brother’s house and I came across his 1970s coffee maker. It had never been used and still had an original box of coffee grounds that came with it so I thought, it’s about time it got put to work.

On this episode of Testing Vintage, we will be testing out a vintage Breville Melitta Coffee machine from the 1970s. I was lucky enough to find the original ad which I’m grateful for as it shows me exactly how to use the machine. After a little bit more research, I found out that this coffee machine can also be used for making tea so once we finish making some coffee, we will then try making some tea.

If you’d like to watch the original advert, I found it here for you: https://youtu.be/7eWZQ9aBk9E

Making Coffee:
The only instructions I had to follow came from the original advert so I sort of made it up as I went along really. I purchased some coffee filters which I put into the funnel and low and behold, it was the perfect fit. Now I wasn’t sure what kind of coffee would be best for such a machine so I borrowed some from my parents and it’s what they use in their little on the stove percolator. I used the scoop the machine came with and put one scoop of coffee into the funnel with the filter already inside. I poured some cold water into the water container on the side of the machine. I didn’t pour in enough water for the 12 cups the coffee machine can handle and instead only filled it up halfway (about 6 cups). I was ready so I turned the machine on.

It took about a minute for the machine to start giving me any indication that something was happening but it suddenly started making little gurgle and bubbling noises and coffee became coming out of the funnel. Within a few minutes all the coffee had come out and was ready to go. Now I need to say that I only used one scoop of coffee for this experiment as I’m not really wanting to waste coffee as I don’t intend on drinking all the cups I make. So, how did it taste? Like coffee I guess. The machine did a great job, the coffee tasted fine (I’m not an expert) and it didn’t taste weird or plastic-y which is what I was worried about when it came to such an old machine.

Making Tea: Whilst researching this machine, I found out that it also has the ability to make tea as long as you use loose-leaf. I’m much more comfortable making tea than coffee so I figured why not give it a go and see if it works out. Following the same steps as above, after a quick rinse out, I added a new filter into the funnel, poured in some loose leaf tea, added fresh water, put a teapot under the funnel and turned the machine on. Well, I certainly had a delicious cup of tea after just a few minutes. When making tea, some people like to do a quick brew which they discard to reduce bitterness but this machine didn’t really give me a chance. Regardless, I think my tea tasted fine and I’m kind of glad to have a new way of making tea in the house.

Overall, this little machine worked and functioned great. I liked the ease and simplicity of the whole process and I think if you have a bit more of a retro kitchen vibe, it would fit in nicely. I would recommend this coffee maker and if you see one in a vintage or thrift store, it’s certainly worth picking up if it appeals to you. Ah, another great experiment for the books.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.