lightweight coffee

[patrick walsh]

Will i be able to pick this thing up after i had it in sitting in a fire boiling with just a doubled over sock or something?

I assume the folding rubber coated handle version of this mug will just melt and offer little insulating value after sitting in a fire?

[Paul Bates]

For tea or coffee I've been using the Finum Brew Basket medium size. Weighs only 1 oz and has an extremely fine mesh. Only $8. It's the exact same thing as the MSR Mugmate for much cheaper:

[Laural Bourque]

Patrick, do a google search for "cold brew coffee" or "toddy coffee." Basically you make an extra-super strong liquid, then add water to it. It's supposed to be cold so you don't need the stove.

[Andrew Badenoch]

Just noticed that Starbucks sells a "New" iced version of Via. If price is an issue, it's only available in the 5 (regular) or 6 (caramel) serving packs so it's a bit pricier per cup than the hot versions that come in a 50 pack.

[Erik Basil]

Laural describes a (somewhat wasteful) but really cool way to make excellent coffee, the cold-brewed "toddy" style. Because of the very low tannins in the resulting concentrate, it's very, very smooth and heats up (charge it with hot water) to be great, aromatic coffee. That's "heavy" though, because it's got all the water in it.

I like the Finium/MSR item because it's reusable and lets one make cowboy coffee and just strain it. I wish I'd known about the Finium before I bought the MSR!

The last option I've gone with is a ziplock full of Maxwell House International coffee…that creamered,sugared,flavored instant stuff. I tell you what, the toffee flavor is incredible at 10,000' on a chilly morning. I can't drink it at home but it's sure good out of a tiny plastic cup in the mountains.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

On cold brewed coffee….at certain places that carry espresso bar supplies one can get cold brewed espresso in quart jugs. We buy this for home use, in the frappes I make from scratch. Not light but amazing tasting.

Oh you all don't live in the PNW where espresso supplies are everywhere? Bummer ;-)

[Erik Basil]

Hey, good point. One can buy cold-brewed coffee concentrate in SoCal, also, from the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain.

Heck, drink it straight and it won't matter what it weighs.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

And you can walk all day…slightly shimmering ;-)

[Kristin Fiebelkorn]

I just finished two back-to-back weekend trips (both 3 day/2night) in places under a burn ban, and could not use any stove or make a fire whatsoever. I brought VIA and used cold water. I thought it was wonderful and it hit the spot. Yeah, it might have been nice if hot, but it's good quality and tastes good enough black and cold that I'd never carry a stove/fuel just for that. I use it almost double strength (2 packets in a 12oz cup), and if too strong, I add more water as I sip. It's so easy to make when you first wake up and you aren't quite coherent yet – I found I didn't miss the hot part.

The first time I used a jcx paper cup with top (Java City disposable cup from work) – 16g. Held up ok – would get a little squished in the pack, but not bad, popped back into shape and held the lid ok. Second trip I brought a "tall" Starbucks paper cup (also 16g). Significantly more fragile, hard to keep the lid on, and I doubt it would have made it another day – won't use that again. I should add that both times I used the little green stir stick thing that they give you with your coffee in the Starbucks drivethrough to stir and to keep the hole in the lid shut when I set the cup down or hiked while holding it. As I knocked the cup over once or twice (when still sleepy), I found that this works pretty well.

As we were trapped in the park on the last day of the second trip (the Colorado River had flooded the only road out), I didn't get out until *very* late and stopped at a gas station on the way home for coffee so I'd be awake and safe on the road. BY FAR this was the sturdiest of the "disposable" coffee cups, and the lid has a little tab that closes the opening. I saved it and I'm using this one next time.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Did you get iced via or the regular stuff?

[Eric Blumensaadt]

My own home ground combo of Costco(Starbucks, really) decaf and Trader Joe's 100% Kona coffee.

I pit it in sealable tea bags and it brews very well in about 5 mins. of sitting in recently boiled water W/ a lid on the cup.

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