how to cut coffee weight

[Erik Basil]

The image of Tanner, trembling fingers, tearing open the Nescafe packet to lick the dust… not that we love our coffee!

My wife and I roast our own coffee at home and I really like a cup of "Vitamin C" in the morning, although I am a cream & sugar guy. For backpacking, we've found the "everything tastes better at altitude" thing to apply to coffee as well (ever try MH meals at home?) and we've tried several different methods of taking our own grounds with us. With all of those, I don't like the mess or the volume of grounds I have to carry — and I am not about to bury aromatic coffee grounds.

So, we switched to freeze-dried coffee and tried Taster's Choice, Mt. Hagen, Starbucks Via and Trader Joe's. With Trader Joe's, we tried the "black" version and the cream & sugar version (black appears to be discontinued), and found it to be the best of the bunch in terms of flavor. I love the price, I love the flavor and I make it a little richer than the recipe by using a tad less water, as one might with Mountain House…

So, it's the lightweight, single-serving TRADER JOE that wins for us.

[Ken Thompson]

Closet one is 150+ miles away. Good thing for the internet. I'll have to give it a go.

[Tanner M]

> I find this to be a happy medium between drinking commie via coffee and flossing coffee grounds out of my teeth. Total weight is 1.5 oz.

What is it? A light, plastic press?

It is hard to judge scale, I figure it is on a chopping block surface? Although it is a bit of illusion it could be on a wooden floor !?

[Erik Basil]

Tanner, I've seen that thing at REI: it's a gravity filter.

[Marko Botsaris]

I'm going to have to try some of these out. Over the past decade or so I have gradually drifted into total coffee snobdom. I have an expensive espresso machine, starbucks now makes me almost literally gag, and I even started roasting my own beans a few year back.

Fortunately everything tastes better eaten outdoors. I first realized this when I was 7 and noted that PB&Js at the beach tasted much better, even with sand added, than they did inside. Strange. Anyway, I don't bemoan the fact I am drinking some sort of instant swill while backpacking – must be distracted by the scenery. I have even sunk so low as to bring carnation "international" instant coffees – you know the ones with names like "Orange Cappuccino". Ugh! *shivers uncontrollably"* I had pretty much given up on the whole issue, but you guys make we want to try some new strategies – to raise myself out of the gutter. To be a better person!

[Jeff Sims]

I use the MSR coffee filter and just leave the cap at home. Without the cap the filter weighs .65 oz. (I can also use this to filter large particles from water for either the Sawyer squeeze or Steripen depending on the trip) I do carry an evernew mug that is 1.8 oz which I also use for tea at the end of the day. I grind my beans just as I leave the house and everything works out pretty good, much better than the Via stuff as I just do not like the taste of Starbucks. To each his own, but this is what works for me

http://www.campist.com/archives/msr-mugmate-coffeetea-filter.html

[Ken Thompson]

Mark. It is not too late!

[Marko Botsaris]

I recently succumbed and bought a jetboil. I was thinking of trying out the French press attachment, but one or more of the reviewers on amazon said it sucked as a French press. Has anyone tried this, and does it work OK? Would save some weight over the aeropress. Maybe it could be modded to make it more hard core. Then I could bring my own self-roasted beans!

[Christopher *]

You gotta watch out for the Crystal lite Energy. We called it crystal crack. I don't know if it was the caffeine or the sugar or some mystery ingredient but it reduced a group of relatively able bodied thru hikers into to a bunch of night-hiking twitchy tweekers.

[Eli Zabielski]

>Each pill provides the same amount of caffeine..?
>(The effects of 100×200 would make the paper)
>:^)

Presumably, each pill is 200mg of pure caffeine (that's what the product claims). A 16oz cup of coffee has about that much caffeine.

[Eli Zabielski]

>I was thinking of trying out the French press attachment, but one or more of the >reviewers on amazon said it sucked as a French press. Has anyone tried this, and does >it work OK?

I was pretty disappointed. The "gasket" to create a good seal between the attachment and the cup is just lame plastic that lets A LOT of grounds through. It's not like a rubber ring in most French presses.

[Tanner M]

The tear and tap on tongue method uses more energy. The wrench method is direct application.

[Tanner M]

> you know the ones with names like "Orange Cappuccino". Ugh! *shivers uncontrollably"*

I drank one of those Orange kind. It was mailed to our house as a free sample/promotion. This was when 3-speed Gremlins were new. Down the road, we had to pull that thing over so I could vomit. I don't think I was otherwise sick; after clearing my gut once, I was fine.

On another note, wouldn't the pictured gravity filter serve the same purpose as a press? Both trap grounds..?

[Marko Botsaris]

So while lurking on the REI and Amazon reviews – which are unfortunately not so specific and obsessive as ones here – I have been able to determine that press from the Bodrum "8-cup" french press filter is a perfect fit for the jetboil. Now I've got my micrometer out on my jetboil and hoping I can get the measurements on the Bodrums somewhere. Perhaps that would be an ideal solution – buy a different, high quality french press and cannibalize the press portion for use in the jetboil.

At any rate, FP is the closest I'm going to get to my beloved espresso I think – unless someone know of a titanium mocha pot maker.

Edit: humm looks like inner diameter 3 3/4" on my sol ti.

Muhaha! Here is the relevant part: http://bodum.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/01-1508-16-613/

Looks at all the presses it fits! Also the filters are replaceable!

Here we go 94 mm inner diameter. Perfect. I'll try to find one to cannibalize and let you know how it works.

http://thecoffeemachinelondon.co.uk/webshop/?k=7&t=36&p=840&Produkt=Reserve%20glass%20for%208%20cup/1l%20French%20press

[Brian Johns]

For years now I have taken coffee pods and boiled two or three to make about 16-24 ounces. They work well. But SB's Via, it's just so … well … easy. It's the new norm. If I roasted my own beans (who has time?) I would probably bring just the screen portion of the MSR filter.

[Eli Zabielski]

>You gotta watch out for the Crystal lite Energy. We called it crystal crack. I don't know if it was the caffeine or the sugar or some mystery ingredient but it reduced a group of relatively able bodied thru hikers into to a bunch of night-hiking twitchy tweekers.

The stuff I had is 5 Calories, so there is only artificial sugar.

[Ken Thompson]

http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content/crystal-light-energy

[Marko Botsaris]

You might be right about the MSR. I'm not sure if it would seep as well as I would want – possibly I would end up stirring the grounds for 4 minutes.

As for the via, I'm sure it is far above average, but instant is instant.

[Ian]

This contraption is called a Tea Spot. It comes with a lid which is unecessary and has been excluded from the weight which is 1.5 oz sans lid. As the name would suggest, it is designed for tea but works fine for coffee imo.

Here's a picture of it collapsed (similar to S2S collapsible cup:

.

Next to my SP 700 for scale:

.

Seen from above. Tea spot has one scoop of coffee in it; enough for a very strong 8oz cup (forest crunchies in SP700 for added flavor):

.

Steeping in 8oz of water:

.

It works fine in the SP700 with up to 12oz; anything more than that you would have to hold it. The only negative against it is that it is designed for tea so the coffee grounds can clog up the holes. I just hold it for about 15-30 seconds and swirl it to allow for the coffee to drain out.

Final product quality is indistinguishable from coffee made by a French press. I'm sure there is a similar product out there made specifically for coffee that might drain better but this works fine for me so I'm not in the market to replace it.

[Cole Crawford]

If you're not interested in the taste / coffee experience, caffeine tabs or powder is the way to go. By far the lightest solution, it's also much quicker. I take one with breakfast and then another a bit after lunch when the food coma sets in. Just make sure to always take it with some food or water because it can mess with your stomach otherwise.

[Marko Botsaris]

Your post reminds me of an evaluation of white chocolate I once read – "perfect for those who want the texture of chocolate, without all that intrusive flavor".

@Ian – ouch, now I want to try one of those too! Looks very packable.

[Andy Anderson]

Just use a cheap small funnel and put a paper filter in it. Pour hot water over the grounds. When finished, throw the filter in the fire.

[W I S N E R !]

It may be dirty, it may take a little skill, but it's the lightest way to get a proper cup.

Caffeine tabs? Where is the joy?

[Marko Botsaris]

sure, if you like drip coffee you probably have simpler options. I carried some filter around with me years ago.

As for me, if I can't get an espresso with a good head of crema I at least would want if to *seep* for several minutes a la french press, and I definitely don't want to ever filter good coffee with a paper filter which removes a lot of important stuff, and would ruin it from my perspective.

I expect the posters above who are into french press feel the same. Still if I had nothing else I would still drink drip coffee. Not sure about the pills however.

@craig I agree, I think with minor variations all the (non-drip) methods come down to the same thing (seeping, then separating the grounds), with how to separate the grounds being the only substantive difference. Mike Clelland did pretty much cover it in his article.

There is a thing called a Mocha pot that can be used on a stove or fire that does a passable impression of espresso since itis actual pressure that forces the water through the tightiy packed coffee. If I could find an ultralight version of that I'd be ecstatic. But they are heavy, complicated, and take a bit of skill to use. I'll keep it for car camping I guess.

[Kevin B]

Paper filters aren't so bad. Just give 'em a rinse to knock off the loose fibers. French Press for me is all about convenience; you can make a big batch of solid coffee easily. A good pour-over tastes better though, in my opinion. In any event, ground coffee goes bad so fast that unless I'm carrying a grinder, I'll just drink Via. No sense in grinding up good coffee days in advance.

[Author]

Posts