Staff Videocast: Cowboy Coffee

Great stuff!! I really like the pot cozy idea.

Hey, NoDoze is a lot lighter than all those "luxury" caffeine fixes. What's next, backcountry espresso makers? How about a Starbucks every 10 miles on the PCT?

Cheers,

-Mike M. — The editor formerly known as "nameless" ;-)

So, those are "Melita" filters I'm using, and I like that they're "unbleached". Spoke a little too fast to be clearly understood there.

Fun to see everyone's methods, and that I'm not the only one who uses a cozy.

I don't have a cool theme song like Sam, though…

Where can I get a copy of the song that was playing during the video?

We'd love to see your techniques for backcountry coffee as well. Post your photos, ideas, or video links here and share with the rest of us.

There has been a great discussion going on about this in another thread here as well.

I agree the MSR Mug Mate is the way to go. Simple, easy to clean, and I can use the same organic, fair trade coffee that I use in my French press while not backpacking.

I think the important thing to note is how a person makes coffee wihle *not* backpacking. If you drink crap coffee on a daily basis, odds are good that I'm not gonna care what you do while in the backcounty. ;)

On the other hand, if you use NoDoze on the trail, then I have to wonder what you do for coffee when all the amenities of home are at your disposal. Well Mike?

There are lots of ways to make coffee. The question, it would seem to me, is less "how to steep coffee grounds in water?" and more "find a few optima on the coffee-taste vs. equipment-weight function." I'd love to see you recruit Chris Kimball to the BPL staff :)

The parts of an Aeropress that are strictly necessary (syringe and stirring rod) are 246 grams. Damn if it doesn't make fine coffee (in about a minute including cleanup; no cozy needed as steeping time is about 10 seconds), but I tend to take tea into the woods due to weight and simplicity.

Speaking of which, those "MSR tea infusers" (http://www.rei.com/product/726094 for $17) appear to be a re-branding of the Finum infuser (http://www.specialteas.com/Tea-Preparation/Permanent-Tea-Filter-for-Mugs-Sm-Pots.html for $7), and the Chatsford infusers (http://www.specialteas.com/Tea-ware/Tea-Pots/English-Teaware/CHATSFORD-INFUSER-RED.html) are at least as good and far lighter (one for the Chatsford 6-cup pot weighs 12g). That sounds competitive vs. the strainer, and may be more convenient for tea, albeit less versatile?

For those liking more of an espresso or Turkish/Greek coffee: Use a slightly higher mixture using darker roasted coffee grounds. Stir then boil over a gentle heat until about to overflow x three times. One final stir to get the grounds to sink, then pour. Although I use this method to make it on the trail using a FireLite 550, at home I use a copper and tin ten ounce Ibrik.

I made up a filter out of fine stainless steel mesh. Some dust gets through, but not much.

Coffee filter in cup, empty of coffee
.

Coffee brewing.

This is years old now, and went with me across France. It seems pretty rugged. An old face cream jar fits inside it neatly – that holds several day's worth of ground coffee.

Cheers

will there be an announcement if and when the song is available?

i fell for the simplicity of java juice last season when i bought the cup, fire starter and coffee package. my morning cup of coffee is no nonsense, fairly smooth, boil, pour, drink. BPL isn't getting rid of java juice are they? I saw it labeled as closeout in the store…

I used the GSI H2jo Coffee Filter. It fits on top of a water bottle. I use a 1 liter bottel with a home made cozy. Pour water in, close cap, let sit upside down for 3 min. +/-. Makes great coffee everytime, and with the cozy, even in winter it is HOT.

"Hey, NoDoze is a lot lighter than all those "luxury" caffeine fixes."

You're not alone, Mike. NoDoze is my recreational drug of choice when I go cold food.

For "Cowboy Coffee" I've found a finer grind to work better than coarser grinds, particularly at higher elevations where the water boils at a lower temperature. My hypothesis is that a finer grind exposes more coffee ground surface area to the water, yielding a more thorough extraction. Should work at all elevations, but increasingly important the higher I go. It also uses less coffee. Downside is that it takes a bit more effort to clean the cup, which is where I steep my coffee. I use a Rubbermaid cup(wrapped in 3 layers of Duct tape in lieu of a cozy) and after adding very hot(not boiling) water and coffee, stir, snap the lid on, wait 5 minutes, stir gently again to settle the remaining grounds, and enjoy. Aaaahhhh.