Brewing Camp Coffee...

[articulate]

Guys help me out here - I have a stainless steel percolator but can never get really nice coffee out of it. Any tips - whats the steps you go through to brew a really nice cup with yours?

Typically you get "bad" coffee with a percolator because you got the water boiling - which is somewhat the point of a percolator. A catch 22, so to speak. Boiling water is the bane of good beans, while a percolator works with it. Anyway, you've got to work hard at keeping the stove temp as low as possible that it will still let the coffee "perc."

My experience, too, says percolators make better coffee at lower elevations than they do at higher ones. At 9000 feet it takes much longer.

 

[mrbishi]

Thanks guys - Ok I'll retire the peculator and stick to my billy for boiling water.

I have a big plastic French press that will come along in my kit from now on.

Have you guys ever tried making coffee with an Ibrik? A friend of mine brought his along last trip and made the tastiest, sweetest strong black coffee in it.

http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/coffeemaking/a/ibrik.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cezve

 

[SWDesertTaco]

Wow,
Started this thread to find out how other people brew their coffee and tips; but now it looks like instead of putting $$ towards my truck, I have some investing in more coffee brewers.

Now most days when I open the portal, I think turkish coffee, or if I'm thinking about a camping trip and needing the espresso maker.

Excellent job folks...really enjoyed this.

 

[Honu]

I have thought of putting my old pasquini in my trailer but would have to run the gen to get it going

I will stick to a moka or brika until then

 

[KSJeep]

Perk guy here, nothing fancy, just good ole coffee flavored coffee. grew up with it, before drip, Starbucks and the like. I do the drip thing at home, but good ole perk in camp is just darn good.

 

[NothingClever]

As I brew my cowboy coffee (this is probably typical)prior to serving I pour some cold water on top of the floating grounds and allow the brew to sit for 2-5 mins then serve. The cold water knocks the grounds to the bottom and then not as many grounds per mouthful. I don't mind the grounds but many folks I know do.

The other technique is to use eggshells. They're just the right weight to settle slowly to the bottom and essentially cap the grounds. The benefit is eggshells do not cool the coffee.

Yeah, roger....salmonella, blah, blah, blah.

 

[PhulesAU]

The other technique is to use eggshells. They're just the right weight to settle slowly to the bottom and essentially cap the grounds. The benefit is eggshells do not cool the coffee.

Yeah, roger....salmonella, blah, blah, blah.

Serve it as hot as Mickey D. that'll kill them germs:REOutArchery02:

 

[robertdarin]

i like my power inverter and my coffee maker it takes up a lot of room but my perculater like all of them makes a sub par product. cowboy coffee is not bad when space is a major deal.

 

[Antichrist]

I use one of these...

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...oogle&cm_pla=cabelas coffee pot&cm_ite=netcon

Same here.

 

[aslostasyou]

For what it's worth when I'm on the trail I've usually been up the night before late drinking Scotch or performing some sort of insane recovery... I need strong coffee...

I use my MSR or Jetboil with a small aluminum perk unit. Seperates in the middle, water in the bottom...you know the one. I know they say these cause alzheimers but at the rate we discover disease links these days breathing deep will cause cancer soon enough....

In under two mins I have a fresh cup of something between Espresso and regular coffee. I say in between because you don't have the same pressure you have on an Espresso machine but you still have the fine beans and you can pack it pretty tight.

I take that off when it's done and fill my enamel mug about 3/4 with milk and bring that to a slight boil. Pull it off and whip out my 2AA powered milk frother and whisk the milk while pouring in a fair amount of honey.
By the time this is done the coffee has cooled enough and you slowely pour it in while using the whisk.

Vioala! A quazi Cafe Conleche on the trail. I am yet to meet a person at a campsite who's turned it down....

:EDIT ADDED PHOTO: (Mine is flat black)

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

I have now reached the lowest of laziness: instant coffee. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to certain things with camping, and in the morning I just want my damn coffee! On our Colorado trip however, I discovered another issue: the need to use the perk for other things.

My other half Josh doesn't drink coffee, but the occasional hot tea when its cool out he enjoys. We ran into a couple of times where I'd already made a pot of coffee before he decided he wanted tea, so everything had to be cleaned out just to boil some water. I also like using the perk when I just need to heat some water up for something like instant oatmeal, etc. Well about 2 months ago I read a review in Backpacker mag on this new organic instant coffee. The review was surprisingly good! I stuck that in the file folder of my mind and went about my business. Then this last weekend I was at Whole Foods gathering stuff for a little camp out at the lake and there it was: the coffee in the review. I couldn't resist so I bought a jar to give my own review. It is actually pretty tasty! This is by far the best instant coffee I've ever had, and it was easy!

amazon.com

I am bit of a coffee snob around town, I have my favorite spots I like to go. But when it comes to being on the trail I was quick, easy, and minimal clean-up all with tasting good. This one fits the bill perfectly!

 

[Photog]

Mark's article in the OJ, on coffee making, was very interesting. It seems that no matter how you cut it, water temp is one of the keys to good coffee. Either don't boil it, and use some type of press, drip or soak system; or super heat the steam and force it through fine coffee dust (espresso).

So if you have water at the right temp, exactly what is wrong with the "Coffee Singles" (coffee in a large tea-type bag)?

They are quick, as many cups as you want, easy clean up, etc. Maybe Folgers could use better beans; but there are others on the market.

I started using these for backpacking, when they first came out. I drink one cup of coffee in the morning, at home, and this is what I use.

What say ye?

 

[spray]

For what it's worth when I'm on the trail I've usually been up the night before late drinking Scotch or performing some sort of insane recovery... I need strong coffee...

I use my MSR or Jetboil with a small aluminum perk unit. Seperates in the middle, water in the bottom...you know the one. I know they say these cause alzheimers but at the rate we discover disease links these days breathing deep will cause cancer soon enough....

In under two mins I have a fresh cup of something between Espresso and regular coffee. I say in between because you don't have the same pressure you have on an Espresso machine but you still have the fine beans and you can pack it pretty tight.

thats what I use


the coffee is better than instant, but not quite the same as home

 

[CSG]

We've used the same method for years, at home or camping - single cup filter holders and paper filters. We grind our own beans (French roast) at home and bring a small container in whatever rig we're using. Boil the water in a small stainless steel kettle, let it settle down for a few moments and pour over the grounds into thermal mugs.

Here's a link to a photo of what we use. No mess, no fuss, and superb coffee.
http://fantes.com/images/15681coffee-manualdrip.jpg

 

[graniterover]

aeropress

I bought the aeropress after reading about it here. Coffee from it is amazing, however, we generally camp with a group and I grew tired of making batch after batch with it.
One other issue is that after two scoops for one coffee, the bag of coffee seems to empty quickly.
Since I'm a coffee gadget whore, I expect I'll try a few more of these methods....except the instant ones!