Ultralight Coffee Options

What about cowboy coffee? Hot water and grinds in your pot. Filter it through your teeth.

I never understood why they're arnt coffee teabags. You could make one of sorts out of those filters. French Press Style coffee, but instead you fliter it with the coffee filters would be a step up from instant but not quite grinder level…. I dont think you cant bring a grinder man haha

I'm not sure what to do about a grinder. I usually just grind enough for the trip shortly before I leave and that seems good enough for up to a week.

I recommend going the cowboy coffee route. Grind your beans ultra fine and toss lots into hot water just removed from a boil. Stir and let brew for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Not all the grinds will sink but most will. There are tricks for getting beans to sink, but the best approach in my experience is just to transfer the coffee between pots/cups. Pour it out of the pot, dump the grinds, pour it back into the pot, dump the grinds in whatever 2nd vessel you used and repeat a few more times. After 2-4 transfers there will be virtually no grinds. With that said, if you grind the coffee super fine it'll pretty much all sink with a bit of stirring. The challenge is just getting it to sink before the coffee starts to get a bit cold.

I've usually done the pregrind before the trip and cowboy coffee thing myself as well. Works fantastic and makes a great cup of brew.

Add ground coffee to cold water. Bring to boil. Let boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Let cool two minutes and grounds will settle. Pour in mug. Enjoy.

This method lets the grinds sink while the coffee is too hot to drink anyway. 99% stays in the pot, the other 1% settles in your mug. Never in your teeth.

Recipe from the legend himself:

For home brewing beer I have often used nylon mesh bags during the brew process. Did a search on ebay and there are tons for sale for 1.50 that would work great as a reusable "tea bag" for coffee and probably weigh a quarter ounce.

Just another idea if you are not into the cowboy coffee thing.

Outdoor gear lab has a test of camp coffee makers.

A simple plastic drip system can be had for a few bucks or a few ounces.

The aeropress would get you there for about half a pound. It makes amazing coffee.

As for the grinding – that is just a step too far for me.

For me, Starbucks VIA (Italian Roast flavor) is awesome; I'm pretty particular about strength, and I find it makes the grade if put in just 10oz of water.

For me, the tougher problem is cream, which I gotta have. I used to bring those "no chill" half'n'half creamers, but found I needed 3 per morning, and they're are delicate and a general pain. Found out about Nido (powdered *whole* milk found in Hispanic markets, also great in oatmeal packets) but didn't like the taste. Then someone suggested mixing it up in water the night before, and that makes a big difference (for reasons I do not understand).

Best method I've found is cowboy coffee but I could never stand even the slightest amount of grinds. Picked up a msg mug mate and no more issues with grinds and it weighs an ounce. I just pour the ready coffee through the filter and enjoy my morning coffee..

– I now normally use the Starbucks VIA instant….easy and pretty good flavor. I use the relatively new Coffee-Mate-2Go with it.
– If I were to grind my coffee and opt for a filter vice cowboy coffee, I'd look at Coghlans Filters for Coffee (can find them on ebay)
– Another option is Vinacafe which is a Vietnamese brand of instant coffee that has cream and sugar included in the package and has a nice strong flavor.

That MSR Mugmate looks like a winner, and weighs only an ounce.

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/cookware/cookware-accessories/mugmate-coffee/tea-filter/product?

Thanks!

Just started using this last year and love it.

Reasons:
-Light
-Simple
-Tastes good (enough)
-Light
-Total control over strength
-Fast to make
-Light
-Even tastes good in cold water
-Easy (no) cleanup
-Light

Instant coffee in a protein powder shake or chocolate coated espresso bean candy work pretty well. No paraphernalia to carry, no disappointment. And if coffee is your last reason for bringing cooking gear, maybe you can now go no-cook, too.

Otherwise, cowboy coffee isn't bad. Most of the grinds do fall to the bottom and if you pour carefully and stop a couple inches before the bottom, you won't get many in your cup. Also, black coffee isn't as bad as I thought it would be, especially if the coffee is half-way decent.

+2

my "secret" brew is one packet of Via (Italian or Columbian) and a half packet of their Via Mocha Latte- perfect, of course that is followed up w/ another Via packet and the remaining half packet :)

I used to take Via's but they are expensive and don't compare to real coffee. I'm taking my son backpacking this week in Yosemite and I spent $10 on the GSI drip coffeemaker pictured above. it weighs .5 oz and packs down flat and small. I haven't tried it yet but my friend and camping guru at the Berkeley REI said it makes really good coffee. I'm a little concerned about durability but the starbucks VIA packets were $8 for 8 so I figured it was worth $10 to try it out and have some real coffee for a change. You do have to pack out the grinds and there is some cleanup but for more leisurely trips this seems like a good tradeoff.

I'm not fanatical enough to bring a grinder though…I just put the ground coffee in a ziplock bag to keep it fresh. I measure out just enough for the # of days planned.

I'm surprised I never see anyone mention these filters when people talk about how they make coffee. They make really good coffee, you can use a little stick from the bush instead of the plastic one, and they weigh so little that a few probably won't even register on a scale. The only issue I've had is that it takes a couple minutes to make a cup because you have to pour just a little water at a time and you have to be able to pour pretty accurately from your pot.

http://www.coghlans.com/products/coffee-filters-9570

If only for one reason: no sodden grounds to pack out in your trash bag.

I'm a pretty hardcore coffee snob but in truth there's just no compelling reason to use anything other than Via. It's good enough (better than Starbucks' in store coffee, which says more about their store coffee than it does the Via), it's light, and it's simple.

Mike is correct

Except that Via is expensive instant coffee in annoying individual-use packets. I have found instant coffee that is as good or better than Via for far less money. I can measure it how I want. I can pre-mix it with coffee creamer in a baggie, too.

And to the person who wondered why there aren't tea bags for coffee, there are. Look in the coffee aisle of a big grocery store for coffee singles, I think that's what they call them.

If you've found better, by all means let us know what brand and where to buy it. Trust me, I've spent years of my life drinking Nescafe abroad and I have yet to taste an instant coffee that's better. Most of it is acrid garbage. Though that's damning with faint praise, it's really not that bad. And the expense isn't that bad either. You can get it for cheaper than a dollar a packet. Starbucks sells 50 backs for 38 dollars shipped. If you're drinking 2 cups a day, that's 25 days worth of coffee. I spend much more than 38 dollars every 25 days on beans at home.

"I never understood why they're arnt coffee teabags."

Jed's Coffee Co. in New Zealand makes a coffee teabag which is absolutely stellar. Should have brought a lot more back to the States. The bag is a fat pyramid shape and is made from a slightly finer mesh. So it can be done.

I drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day when at home/work… love it. Fresh grind every morning, roast my own beans some times… work out of snobby cafe a lot in the winter, the whole deal. Hopeless addict. That said, in the backcountry I just take tea. It's nice, quick, clean, easy. I just use loose leaf. Try it before you knock it. Cheers

Daniel,

For loose leaf tea, do you make it "cowboy" or use a filter like the MSR one mentioned earlier?

Thanks for replies guys, lots to think about. I'm going to try out the cowboy method to see how that works, although it seems the largest dilemma is the lightweight grinding method, as the MSR Mugmate or GSI Java drip are both acceptable to me in terms of weight — once I get the coffee ground. I might try reducing the weight of one of those grinders I mentioned before, I'll let you know what I come up with!

Ben F. brings up a good point I hadn't fully thought out, the used coffee grounds. Obviously packing them out is the true LNT method (hopefully sun-dried at some point to make them lighter), but would it be looked down upon to bury them in a cathole or sparsely distribute them among the ground? I'm assuming they would break down rather quickly, but perhaps I am wrong here.

If I end up finding a method and lugging around the extra weight of the kit, I'll be sure to bring extra beans — surefire way to make new friends on the trail!

Hmmm…..

You really can't go lighter than this.

I have tried the Starbucks crap and its…crap.

So….. price, weight, convenience, ect…. this is the way to go:

You can also get the grocery store brand. Just as good. Yeah, I know its not fresh ground. Deal with it. You are up in the hills. Everything is good up there.

Bring along some powdered creamer if thats your gig.