The 4 Best Coffee Methods for Camping
Imagine being able to drink your morning coffee while out in the field. There’s nothing more comforting and energy inducing than having that hot beverage. In this blog we explore four methods on how people make their own cup whether they’re camping or in situations where supplies may be limited.
Coffee is a must-have for any camping trip. It not only wakes you up and gets your day started, but it can also help cure cabin fever or keep you warm on a frosty night. There are many ways to make coffee while camping, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
We made a video about these 4 Best Coffee Methods years ago, and this blog is a detailed explanation of these methods for making coffee in the field. You can watch the video HERE.
Methods
- Pour Over (Also known as Drip)
- French Press
- Tea Bag Method
- Cowboy Coffee
Pour Over
So, starting with the drip method, or “Pour Over”, you’re going to use a paper filter. The problem with the paper filters is that they will kind of carry with a little cardboard flavor. So, the first thing you want to do is just pour a little hot water onto the filter, and that’s going to take away some of the cardboard flavor.
Once that’s done, scoop a couple of tablespoons of coffee in. I usually do about three tablespoons of coffee for the drip method, and you just dump the excess water and that’ll get you a nice strong cup of coffee. Once that’s done, just pour it right over the filter and into your stainless-steel container.
You should be pouring the water over the grounds, and it’ll take about two minutes. That’s usually about the best time. You want to make sure that you have a nice froth over the top. That means that the coffee’s doing its thing.
Teabag
Next, we’re going to talk about the teabag method. For that you just need the standard circular paper filter, a rubber band, or a tie strip, whatever works. You just pour about two tablespoons into the center of the coffee filter. If you go more than that, it’s going to be hard to tie off and it’s going to make the bag a little bit too big. The hard part with this is that no matter how much you put in here, it’s going to be very tough for the grounds in the center of it to be saturated.
So, if you were to take the teabag out and open it up, you’re going to see dry grounds on the very center. So that means that you’re really not getting to it. This isn’t the best bang for the buck, but it is a nice last resort method. Fold it up, give a nice twist, and tie a rubber band to it, and then dump it into your hot water to steep.
It doesn’t really produce the strongest coffee, so if you’re a strong coffee drinker, this is not it. This is going to produce a very weak coffee. Not my favorite, but it is a good option to have if you have nothing else. Next up for the 4 Best Coffee Methods…
French Press
The third method is the French press. French presses are nice, and a lot of people love the French press. It doesn’t produce quite as strong coffee as the pour-over or the drip method, but it is a really nice smooth coffee.
You’ll notice with a French press cup, it’s very tall and slender. This is not the best for boiling water in unless you have some really deep coals that you can get just the heat coming from all sides. If you put this on top of a heat source, it’s going to take a lot longer to boil than a wider cup will. There’s a lot more surface area to capture that heat. A standard French press will hold about three cups.
After you pour the grounds into the press, they’re going to just sit on the top, which means they’re not getting soaked in the water, they’re not steeping. So, after you pour them in, you want to make sure that you stir the grounds in. Put the top back on with the plunger all the way up. Wait for three to four minutes. The longer you wait, the more bitter it’s going to be.
After three minutes are up just slowly push down on this until you hit the bottom. You can keep the coffee in here with the water for about up to 20 minutes, but remember the longer you leave it in, the more bitter it’s going to be. After you’re done pushing the plunger down, you want to go ahead and pour your cup of coffee.
Cowboy Coffee
The last of the 4 Best Coffee Methods we’ll talk about is cowboy coffee. Cowboy coffee is cool because it requires nothing except for coffee and a cup and water. You don’t need any extra equipment. Take your coffee grounds, dump them in your cup, mix them around with some hot water and then drink it.
You will get a lot of grounds in your mouth, so a trick to drinking this safely is to pour a little cold water over the top after you’re done steeping the coffee, and it’s going to cause the coffee grounds to really settle at the bottom, which will make it a lot more pleasant to drink. If you don’t use that tip, you’re going to get a mouthful of black grounds.
So, there you have it – the 4 Best Coffee Methods when you’re out in the wild. We hope this blog has given you some ideas and shown you that, no matter what your situation, you can always manage to brew up a hot cup of joe.
Now get out into the woods and put these methods to the test! Need gear for your next adventure? Check out our latest gear HERE
