Chye Isuel:
damned percolater coffee pot
Ugh. Very apt description. One of the worst possible ways to make coffee.
Pour-over drip is best, in my opinion, followed by automatic drip and espresso. Given automatic drip machines are inexpensive, usually available locally, and can be had with internal clock/timer (so my coffee is ready when I stumble into the kitchen about 4:05 on a weekday, and the machine will automatically shut off the warmer after an hour or two), that method wins in my house.
I have a little espresso machine (fully manual, pump fed) that works well, but due to space it's "put away" and now I'm afraid the insert for the filter has gotten lost (filter's in the dish rack, the insert isn't in it; hopefully it's in there too, or in the sink). Without the insert, the whole machine is useless, as there's no way to tamp the coffee and the machine is a long discontinued model.