Coffee onthe Trail

get a tin coffee cup, fill it with water, bring to a boil and drop in one of those Senseo coffee packets-steep it like tea. Works awesome, coffee is a wee bit expensive but the simplicity is worth it.
 
Bushman5 said:
all right, here is low tech.

bring water to rolling boil in a billy can (use an old #10 coffee can and add wire bail). Throw in coarsely ground dark roast coffee and remove from fire. Let sit until its strong. Stir and let the ground settle. Pour off the top 3/4 of the coffee and toss the rest with the grounds.


just like the gold rush guys did it.
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I have found that adding a dash of cold water when the brew is done will settle the grounds just fine. Or if the weather is cool, just set the metal pot on a cool rock. I never have grounds in my coffee and can drain the pot down to the last few teaspoons without getting grounds in my cup.
 
knarfeng said:
A few paper filters and a plastic cone holder don't weigh much of anything. Melita makes a 1-cup version of their filter system. The coffee will weigh more.
https://shop.melitta.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=64+007&Cat=
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+1 this is the best solution I have found. If I am car camping I'll lug along a french press and use that. I found Folgers singles to be a great concept but I can not stand the coffee they make. Go with the single cup filter and use that and enjoy good coffee. They make a product that incorporates a built in mesh filter that does not require the paper filters but it is more mess to clean up and deal with.
 
How light and easy do you want to go?

After years of backpacking, I have tried it all. Cowboy coffee, (works better with a campfire, which I haven’t done in decades), French press, (messy and heavy), freeze dried, (yuck), instant, (double yuk), and Folgers bags, (see instant).

I finally found a product called Java Juice. It is a liquid extract coffee. I think the stuff is actually pretty good. It comes in .5oz packets. You simply add it to boiling water. It is simply a coffee extract syrup.
Waste disposal is negligible, and you don’t waste water cleaning up coffee grounds.

It used to be hard to find but several major outdoor retailers carry it now. REI and Sportsmans Whse are two.

If you don’t care about bulk and weight, I see that Brunton now sells a propane/butane coffee maker….

Oh, I miss Durango / Silverton. It is very pretty there.
 
You're as likely to find me without quality ground coffee in the bush as you are to find me without a knife.

Over the years, I have tried a range of methods, with varying degrees of success. Lately, I have been fond of this:
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It's an MSR 'Mug Mate' coffee / tea filter. Coffee goes inside. Filter goes in cup. Hot water is poured over the top. When it has settled, you have a nice cup of 'joe and an easy-to-clean filter. It packs up nice and small and is pretty durable.

Also, it allows me to hoard my good coffee for myself. Ever been on a camping trip where your buddies pull out their instant 'I can't believe it's not coffee' (TM) mix and then look longingly at your pot of fresh-ground dark roast? Well, this way I don't have to share. ;)

All the best,

- Mike
 
Anybody ever done the cowboy/camp coffee recipes that call for eggshells in it? Heard it makes the best coffee but seems weird to me.
 
my grandmother used the eggshell bits to "force" the grounds to the bottom
only coffee she ever made
what i grew up on
she'd just keep adding water and ground beans as the day went on
man that was some stout stuff by the end of the day
she also carried fresh roasted coffee beans(they always bought green beans and roasted them in the oven) in her apron pocket while working round the farm/garden etc
she woulda loved the choc covered espresso beans i often carry...
 
akthor said:
Anybody ever done the cowboy/camp coffee recipes that call for eggshells in it? Heard it makes the best coffee but seems weird to me.
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Norwegian egg coffee
10 cups water
1/2 cup This is Most Certainly Brew Coffee grounds
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Directions
Bring 10 cups of water in a kettle to a boil on the stovetop. Combine coffee grounds, egg and 1/4 cup water in a bowl. Add egg/coffee mixture to the boiled water. Boil 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of cold water. (This will settle the coffee grounds to the bottom of the kettle) Serve hot.
 
In addition to the Senseo coffee packets you can buy the el cheapo packs of coffee filters at the grocery store and fill with coffee grounds to steep with-good for making a cup at a time but if you want to make an entire vat not very reasonable.
 
A.L. said:
I've been thinking if anyone has ever made espresso in campfire? :D
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yes, steep like tea with these.
http://www.senseo.us/Products/Coffee Pods/Pages/Espresso.aspx
It's what I do every morning and night, spiked with a little bit of canadian mist when backpacking. Extremely proficient, lightweight, and you don't have to risk melting a coffee pot. Just bring the coffee pods with you, bring water to a boil in the soup can from dinner last night and steep. Each pod usually makes 2-3 big cups for me, so I guess it isn't all that expensive really.
 
At home, we just use one of those melita filter cones and manually pour hot water through it into a thermal carafe. I like that better than what the coffee machines make.

Another one for the starbucks packets. Its not as good as what I can brew at home. However, drinking a hot sometha in the bush compensates adequately and easy of carry of those little tubes is worth it. I even like making a hotchocolate package and dumping in one of those tubes for a little kick!

The folding filter holder is the coolest thing I seen on this thread. But the last thing I need is another camping gadget. I'm accumulating a whole garage full of camping gadgets and few of them ever see trail time.
 
JCavSD said:
I like the last gulp...knocks something loose and keeps me regular.
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BAHAHAHAH

Bushman5 said:
all right, here is low tech.

bring water to rolling boil in a billy can (use an old #10 coffee can and add wire bail). Throw in coarsely ground dark roast coffee and remove from fire. Let sit until its strong. Stir and let the ground settle. Pour off the top 3/4 of the coffee and toss the rest with the grounds.


just like the gold rush guys did it.
Click to expand...

Pretty much how we make coffee on pack trips. One trick dad always used to settle the grounds was to grab the billy by the bail and twirl it in a a big circle, the grounds get forced to the bottom of the billy. That description might not be adequate, just think of doing arm circle's when you were a kid getting warmed up for gym class and you have an idea of what it would look like.

Another trick was to pour in just a bit of cold water, that seemed to settle the grounds.
 
ukknifer said:
doesn't coffee dehydrate you?
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No, that's an old wives tale about caffeine being a diuretic (it does change your fluid balance, just like eating a lot of salt would, but if you are a regular user it has no more effect on urinary output than any other stuff you ingest regularly). The myth is reinforced by people who make claims like "I have to piss like a bear after I drink coffee." Well, drink a quart of anything and you'll have to piss like a bear.

Back to the topic, I though about one of those GSI H2Jo things on a Guyot bottle, but decided it's too heavy and will probably stick with something like those Folger's singles. I hadn't heard about the Starbucks VIA before; my daughter just got a job at Starbucks (starts Monday), so I'll have to grill her on them in a few days and report back.
 
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