As good as a hot cuppa joe is at home, fresh coffee on a crisp morning outside at camp adds a special something perfect to the brew. And believe it or not, there is no wrong way to make coffee. That’s true in your kitchen, but doubly so when weight, space, time, and other factors that come with a good outdoor adventure come into play.
Here’s a rundown of camp coffee brewing methods to suit everything from quick and easy to fancy and fun.
How to Make Coffee While Camping
Cowboy Coffee: Simplest Method
For the rugged and ultra-light minimalists, this one takes no extra equipment. Just heat up water, toss some coffee grounds into the pot, wait a bit, and then transfer to a mug. Filter the grounds if you can; otherwise, drink it right from the pot and enjoy your daily recommended intake of fiber!
Pros: Rich flavor, and you can bring your favorite coffee from home.
Cons: Chewy, gritty, messy cleanup, and strong.
DIY Coffee Bag: Steeping Method
This method adds almost no weight to a pack and is really scalable; you can make a single cup or a whole pot for a group just by altering how much coffee you add to the filter.
Bring along some paper coffee filters. When you’re ready to brew, put the desired amount of grounds into the center of the filter, draw up the edges like a coin purse, and tie it shut using any string. Dental floss works well, which you have thanks to your homemade camping repair kit, right?
As a general rule, you want to use 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces of water. For two full camp mugs and enough for seconds, figure 6–7 tablespoons of grounds.
Get your water to a boil and either drop the bag in the pot or pour water over the bag. Wait a few minutes, and drink away. If you tied well, you shouldn’t worry about drinking coffee grounds.
Pros: Clean, simple.
Cons: Have to pack it out, prep ahead of time, fragile bags can tear.
Hanky Coffee: Dirtbaggy Method
Same principle as the steeping method, but instead of disposable paper filters, use a soft, permeable fabric. Frequent hikers can save on trash by using a handkerchief (or if desperate and brave, a shirt or sock) as a filter. Be sure to wash out the cloth on occasion, as those coffee oils can get rancid and impact flavor.
Pros: Reusable, simple.
Cons: Dirty, more cleanup.
Instant Coffee: Quickest Method
So easy it’s almost cheating, instant coffee is the laziest, and maybe lightest, way to make coffee in the outdoors.
Is it good? That’s a matter of opinion. It’s certainly not as flavorful or rich as fresh coffee.
But for the simplicity and convenience, quality options like Starbucks VIA will get the job done just fine. Simply heat up water, toss your coffee in a cup, and then add hot water. Ready in an instant.
Pros: Super simple, super fast.
Cons: Micro trash must be packed out, not as flavorful as fresh coffee.
Coffee Paste: Technically Don’t Need Water Method
A newer entrant to the world of instant coffee, concentrated coffee paste offers the convenience of freeze-dried powder coffee with the (I kid you not) spreadability of a condiment.
I’m not saying slathering NoNormal’s “Sweet Black” on a slice of bread is the ideal way to get your coffee fix, but you have that option. In addition to the novelty, coffee paste is comparably light on packaging, great for dialing in the strength of your cuppa java, and in a pinch, it lets you have your coffee and eat it too!
Pros: Makes a strong cup, multiple cups per tube, great fix in an emergency.
Cons: Learning curve to perfect strength, can be messy.
AeroPress: Fancy Method
For an added bit of flourish and freshness, without a ton of hassle, the AeroPress offers a portable coffee brewing method with an added touch of class. Effectively a big plunger, the AeroPress uses pressure for a more concentrated, rich flavor.
Best of all, they’re both low-cost and easy to use.
Grind your favorite coffee fine. Place an AeroPress filter in the bottom disc and secure that to the steeping tube. Put this onto your cup, dump your coffee into the top, and then pour over hot water to fill the tube. Let steep for a minute or two (depending on how strong you like your coffee).
Place the plunger over the top and slowly but steadily press down until all the liquid is forced through the filter and into your cup. Enjoy!
Pros: Rich and flavorful, easy.
Cons: Extra equipment, must pack out filters and grounds.
Note: AeroPress does make reusable metal filters as well, though they are more expensive.
Pour-Over: Control-Freak Method
For the folks who are even more serious about their morning joe than the AeroPress crowd, the pour-over offers the pinnacle of precision and control. Just like it sounds, this system involves a filter that is placed over your cup and filled with properly ground coffee (this varies by filter type).
Believe me, you can go deep on how to make the perfect pour-over cup (and I encourage you to explore the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s guidelines). But we’re camping, so let’s keep it reasonably simple — you can always modify this according to your personal taste. These steps are for a 1-cup pour-over.
Grind: For lightweight, reusable filters like GSI Outdoors and similar, grind medium to medium-fine. You can also buy pre-ground pour, single-serve paper pour-overs (like Kuju or Coulée), and this will give you an idea of what to look for.
Dosing: Technically, you want to aim for a 16:1 to 19:1 water-to-coffee ratio (by weight). In simple terms, for an 8-ounce cup, you would use around 13 to 15 g of coffee (about a half-ounce of grounds). But you know what? Play around with it and see what you like. You decide what rules constitute your perfect cup.
Water temp: Don’t just dump boiling water over your coffee; it deserves better than that. Plus, you’ll scorch the coffee. After your kettle reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and let it sit for about 25-30 seconds, and then start pouring.
The bloom: Not only is the bloom the coolest part of a good pour-over, but it’s also functional. This isn’t a chemistry lesson, but blooming is the process of allowing carbon dioxide to be released from the grounds, and it will allow for a more uniform extraction (aka a better-tasting cup). Best of all, the bloom is easy to perform: Start at the center and slowly spiral your pour until all the grounds are wet and you see the coffee begin to “bloom” upward. Let this do its thing for 30-45 seconds, and then proceed to add more water.
Timing: It ain’t a race, cowboy — your pour-over should take you about 3 minutes to complete. Don’t let your grounds dry out, but also don’t keep drowning them all at once. Coat the grounds gradually and completely, and keep that slow flow of water going just enough to keep the grounds a little agitated and covered.
Pros: Complete control over the perfect cup.
Cons: Labor-intensive and requires cleanup.
French Press: Set It and Forget It Method
Because my peak coffee-snobbery days are behind me, the French press is my favorite method for camp coffee. Not only can you choose your favorite beans, but it’s also an incredibly low-hassle method of making coffee at camp.
Grind your coffee medium-coarse, add not-quite-boiling water, and let it do the rest! Generally, you want it to brew 3-4 minutes, and then agitate it and let it sit another minute or two. Then, plunge that sucker down and enjoy!
What’s more, this is an outstanding option for groups of three or more (or one if you enjoy multiple morning cups). There’s no shortage of options to choose from when it comes to camp-friendly French presses: YETI, Stanley, and Hydro Flask all make burly options. For a more robust option, Jetboil has the Flash Java, which also gets you a versatile cook system.
Pros: Easy, makes multiple cups.
Cons: Have to clean up a bunch of grounds.
Automatic Coffee Maker: The RV Method
For all you shore-power and battery-equipped folks, why not just have a machine do all the work for you? New to the outdoor scene Coulée Coffee has an automatic system that’s part of a mission to supplant the K-Cup industry.
Coulée’s single-serve coffee “flying saucers” are plastic-free and compostable. The system brews a carefully tuned single-cup pour-over, so it’s great for home or on the road. And as an added bonus, campers can buy just the coffee discs to take backpacking; no coffee maker needed.
And the brand even sells blanks — empty pour-over discs you can add your favorite grounds to!
Pros: It’s an automatic coffee maker.
Cons: Requires power (unless you just buy the coffee discs).
Percolator: The Rustic Method
These are about as old-school as it gets, but percolators are proven coffee systems. Fill the carafe with water, pour your coffee grounds in the basket (just fill ‘er up), and bring it all to a boil. If, unlike the rest of us, you don’t have a Depression-era percolator handed down from your great-grandparents, GSI still makes a stout little pot.
A negative point of percolators is that they need to keep boiling to brew, using the force from boiling to push water up and into a basket of grounds. But if fuel (and weight) aren’t an issue, the humble percolator is a great way to make a large pot of coffee outdoors.
Pros: Simple, large capacity.
Cons: Tends to make burned coffee, heavy, lots of cleanup.
Moka Pot: The Espresso Method
If it’s less quantity and more sheer concentrated caffeine you’re after, a moka pot is a relatively simple way to mimic the flavor of a real espresso shot. It’s similar to a percolator, but instead of bubbling over a basket at the top and continually boiling over the grounds, a moka pot forces water from the bottom chamber, up through finely ground coffee, and comes to rest in the top basket.
The biggest concern with a moka pot is having the proper grind size. For a truly concentrated flavor (and to ensure the rate at which the water is moving through the grounds), you want a fine, but not too fine, grind. You can always ask a coffee shop to grind coffee for you, as their industrial grinders will usually have a moka pot setting.
To properly brew a moka pot, fill water to just below the valve on the bottom chamber (don’t cover it). Put the basket over the water and fill it with ground coffee. Screw on the top and place the pot over your burner. Important: Keep the pot somewhat offset over the flame so as to not melt the plastic handle — this happens somewhat frequently.
Turn on your heat, but leave the lid of the moka pot open. Once you see coffee start to flow into the top chamber, close the lid and remove the pot from the heat. Let it do its thing for another 30 seconds to a minute. Pour and enjoy!
Pros: Strong flavor and a little slice of fancy for your campsite.
Cons: Requires attention and specially ground coffee.
Camp Coffee Accessories
In addition to your preferred camp coffee brew method, there are a variety of accessories to enhance your morning joe. Some of these are nice-to-haves, while others are no-brainer necessities — do not forget your mug!
Here’s a quick rundown of some of our favorite camp coffee add-ons.
Insulated Mug
There’s almost no wrong mug to have when it comes to camping — just make sure it’s durable and not breakable. Also, for a hot cup of coffee, your best bet will be a double-wall, vacuum-insulated option. Not only will this keep your hands from scalding, but it will also help keep your coffee warm on a crisp, cool morning.
Frankly, there are too damn many options to list here, and brands discontinue and launch new mugs all the time. So your best bet is to look at everything REI has on offer.
Filters
If you’re opting for an Aeropress or pour-over coffee method, odds are you’ll want some coffee filters. Let’s start with Aeropress: If you want a low-waste option, the brand makes a reusable metal filter. Most folks, however, will use paper discs. Both are available on the AeroPress site.
Grinder
Ah, the fun part! Not too many people are interested in hand-grinding their coffee, but that’s their loss. I’ve been a devout hand grinder ever since I got my first job as a barista and eventually a roaster (and, you know … then an editor).
Plus, grinding right before brewing preserves the maximum amount of flavor in your coffee — and a proper grind size for your specific brewing method will bring out everything your coffee has to offer. Once a novelty, hand grinders have become increasingly common for outdoor and camp use. Two brands I recommend are VSSL and MiiR.
Read the full article here
