Ok, so I love my coffee, can't beat it first thing,..
So, what's good in coffee making that's small enough to take on an overnighter.
And no, instant won't cut it!
Make Steve bring his Aeropress, super light when someone else is carrying it...
I had this chat with him when we were riding out to meet you the other week, snowpeak dripper is alright but has a bit of a big footprint when packed, ti cafetiere works but is empty space when packed and a pain to clean.
I've got a GSI ultralight Javadrip filter which is great. Very light and collapsible and makes great coffee. I also bought a GSI grinder but it's too much of a faff for taking away so I use it for work.
However, Starbucks Via is my lightweight coffee of choice. No extra kit required and it makes a surprisingly nice coffee.
Bearbonesnorm wrote:What's up with it? It's alright.
Bad Stu!
I make do with coffee bags when going lightweight, I can tolerate them. The next stage when car camping is the portable gravity fed filter. Aero press etc is superior though, I'm just a bit lazy really...!
I have a GSI French press/mug thing, which works well. Starbucks instant coffee is surprisingly good too (as suggested above), doesn't take like instant coffee does
Go Turkish! The very finely ground coffee is available from most middle eastern corner shops and a sachet of sugar from wherever is essential during the boil up to get the frothy head. You can do it all in your ti mug so no extra equipment needed. We first used it on the Lycian Trail and the habit has stuck.
If i'm solo & traveling light I will just take the press out of a cafetiere and unscrew the parts so it packs down then screw it back together and use it with a myti mug, which it fits perfectly. When i'm out with the missus we tend to use a small 3 shot espresso mocha pot which isn't the lightest option but if you enjoy/need your fresh morning coffee you soon forget about the extra weight !
For bikepacking I'm with Stu. Tea or instant is fine. Dare I say it, packing an Aeropress is one of the tells that differentiates a cycle tourist from a bikepacker (and I do take an Aeropress when I'm cycle touring - damn fine coffee!). If you really can't cope with instant then Ortlieb do a 30g filter holder that makes use of two tent pegs (or twigs). I expect it'd be simple to make your own:
Turkish/Cowboy coffee? Good brew, weight-free. Just get the right grounds and it works well. I have the Ortleib filter holder, it's ok but tends to make either a weaker or colder coffee (colder if you filter 2x to make it a bit stronger).
Yes, cowboy coffee is good if you get the grind right (so the grounds sink before the coffee gets too bitter). And if you don't get the grind right you just need to perfect your Outlaw Josey Wales spitting technique, to fire mouthfuls of watery grounds onto the camp fire. Drip/filter coffee needs quite a fine grind otherwise it's too weak. Packets of ground coffee are usually too coarse, I think they're made for the cafetiere folk.
Normally I go by the easy satches of nescafe.
But my local gear pusher send theese instead of Skittles. They are a bit pricey (but you can purchase many for the price of aeropress, which also have, and decent beans and a quality grinder). https://growerscup.coffee/ Packs small before use, and even smaller when used.
I do like a good coffe, but I often wonder why people go into Seattle hipster mode on this when outdoors ?
Lars
Dammit, I posted on this thread last night... I thought, never showed up
I drink decaf in the evenings, caf till the afternoon
I use sachets most often as it's the least faff. My outdoors coffee options in order of descending use and ascending effort
Starbucks VIa, sometimes Kenco Millicano. Via comes in decaf flavour. Piece of cake and takes up no space
GSI Ultralight Java Drip. Caf or decaf coffee. Needs an extra pot to make this (i.e. I can't just take a mug as my only pot)
Aeropress. Same coffee as the Java drip. Without question the most faff so rarely used unless it's a special trip
My wife likes her coffee and made a pour over type by using a cheap plastic cup that came with some cooking set and using the "tool for extracting boy scouts from horse's hooves" on a Swiss army knife made a few holes in the bottom. Not stylish but it works.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
I can never be bothered to get the stove fired up in the morning, I just want to pack up and be on the road/trail. However I do like a morning hit of coffee so usually I just stop in the first place I come to that will sell it to me, job done!
*I have had to resort to those iced coffee drinks you get in supermarkets at times.
ctznsmith wrote:I just go to a cafe/shop/garage/pub*!
I can never be bothered to get the stove fired up in the morning, I just want to pack up and be on the road/trail. However I do like a morning hit of coffee so usually I just stop in the first place I come to that will sell it to me, job done!
*I have had to resort to those iced coffee drinks you get in supermarkets at times.
I've tried this method, but not many coffee spots open at 6 am My preferred method is to wake up, pack up and then get going and somewhere down the road, 30-60 minutes later, stop, brew up and have breakfast
I've have resorted to cans of coffee, the Starbucks double shot one is actually on, if a little sweet but saves on carrying a stove etc on single night trips