Easy Coffee drinks??

[dhuff]

I've had to cut back my caffeine but like to have one, nice, hot drink, maybe 2 if I keep the caffeine to a minimum. I'm trying to figure out something that would be easy to fix/brew in the tiny camper I'll have on my truck.

Hopefully this isn't too far off-topic, but how about hot tea ? I had to cut back on coffee as well when I got older, so I go for a hot mug of Irish Breakfast Tea with sugar and milk in the afternoon (not too late, it'll still keep me up at night then). Tea has 1/2 the caffeine of coffee and is super easy to make. Good tea bag in a mug, boiling water, and time. My wife switched to tea full-time when coffee wasn't agreeing with her anymore.

Here's what I use: a Barry's Gold Irish Breakfast teabag, steeped 5 min in a mug (I like my tea strong), then a spoon full of sugar and enough 2% milk to lighten it to my taste. Anything over 2% is just too "rich" for tea in my book, YMMV. In the UK, this is often referred to as a "Builder's Tea," as it is a colloquial term for the typical cup of tea drunk by contractors and laborers during a break.

The key is to use a good quality tea, like the aforementioned Barry's Gold or Yorkshire Gold, and steep it long enough (4-5 min) to get the flavor extracted.

 

[Malamute]

I previously drank more tea than coffee, my usual was Twinnings English Breakfast tea. It still hits the spot when the urge strikes. it wouldnt be difficult to get back in the tea habit. Only downside, tea seems to make you need to pee more than a similar amount of coffee.

 

[pnwnative]

We do pour over coffee with a Melitta cone contraption. Only organic, any other coffee makes me sick.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I've done cowboy coffee when I had to. But it's hardly as easy to clean up as some make it sound.
Personally I will want to make sure 100% of the grounds are out of the pot/pan so that I get no unpleasant surprises when I make my next meal.
Things like pour over cones, and aeropress take one or two seconds to clean. Much easier.

Also, one of lifes sublime pleasures is an extraordinary cup of coffee when you are camping in the middle of nowhere. Cowboy coffee I'd be more inclined to describe as functionally coffee than as good coffee. It's akin to convenience store coffee.
French Press is the worst though. Those things always start off peachy, but after a month or two of usage, the mesh screen starts to get deformed until the ragged edges find their way out.
Then there is the annoying habit of those press gadgets to hold on to ground no matter how much water you dump in.
I prefer methods that take a minimum of water to clean.

 

[Malamute]

...Also, one of lifes sublime pleasures is an extraordinary cup of coffee when you are camping in the middle of nowhere. Cowboy coffee I'd be more inclined to describe as functionally coffee than as good coffee. It's akin to convenience store coffee.

Im curious how you make cowboy coffee?

First time I made it camping with the ex, she watched all the grounds in the pot while brewing it, then said she didnt want any. After i was enjoying mine, she succumbed to the caffeine urge and had some, at which point she said it was the best coffee shed ever had.

I see a number of different variations mentioned here and there, I do it very simply, and it makes very strong but very smooth coffee. I make it at home now and then just to enjoy it, though its not as easy to clean up as the drip coffee machine and wastes a bit of coffee due to the extra water and spoon of grounds.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Im curious how you make cowboy coffee?

First time I made it camping with the ex, she watched all the grounds in the pot while brewing it, then said she didnt want any. After i was enjoying mine, she succumbed to the caffeine urge and had some, at which point she said it was the best coffee shed ever had.

I see a number of different variations mentioned here and there, I do it very simply, and it makes very strong but very smooth coffee. I make it at home now and then just to enjoy it, though its not as easy to clean up as the drip coffee machine and wastes a bit of coffee due to the extra water and spoon of grounds.

just like Turkish coffee but with regular ground coffee, not super fine.
The problem with cowboy coffee is that it's hard to get the temperature right. It's far too easy to let the ground get too hot and then the result is more bitter.
One of the benefits of using a pour over. aeropress or other filter, is that it also removes acids.
This and you have the heating of the water separate from the decoction and extraction.
This is also why I don't like moka pot stove top things or percolators. You don't want the hot water, or the coffee to ever get boiling temp. 165-170F max.

 

[NoOvernightParking]

This is also why I don't like moka pot stove top things or percolators.

Same here. As a gadget geek, I really wanted to love the Moka pot I bought. But it always tasted way too bitter.
I'm going to check out the AeroPress that was mentioned. There's no way I can take my Saeco Aroma espresso machine on the road.

 

[Malamute]

just like Turkish coffee but with regular ground coffee, not super fine.
The problem with cowboy coffee is that it's hard to get the temperature right. It's far too easy to let the ground get too hot and then the result is more bitter.
One of the benefits of using a pour over. aeropress or other filter, is that it also removes acids.
This and you have the heating of the water separate from the decoction and extraction.
This is also why I don't like moka pot stove top things or percolators. You don't want the hot water, or the coffee to ever get boiling temp. 165-170F max.

Im unfamiliar with turkish coffee.

Ive wondered about the temp thing, where i like to camp is 8-9500 ft elevation, home is 4500 ft. Water boils at lower temps the higher the elevation, no idea if that really matters in the coffee question or not, but the stuff ive made hasnt been bitter at all, and im not a fan of bitter coffee, like starbucks.

I often use creek or lake water, so boil it well before starting coffee operations. I use 1 cup/mug, whatever of water per cup of coffee desired, plus 1 in the enamalware pot, boiling gently, dump a heaping tablespoon of grounds per cup plus 1, let it gently simmer about 5 minutes, then let it set 3-5 minutes. This is one point I differ from common directions, i dont add a shot of cold water, egg shells, or whatever as is often mentioned, just let it set, and the ground settle out to the bottom. Pour carefully, very little to no grounds end up in the cup. the last cup is sacrificial or waste, the grounds slurry is tossed. Thats the plus 1 cup of water and coffee grounds added. So made, its always been very strong and smooth. I dont recall the exact results when done at lower elevations.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I am definitely NOT a coffee coinneseur.
I use a 'Coffee Caddy' that I bought at REI years ago (no longer available). It is very similar a GSI Coffee Rocket. Easiest I have found for a single cup.

For multiple cups I make cowboy coffee and strain it through a Melitta filter.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Im unfamiliar with turkish coffee.

Ive wondered about the temp thing, where i like to camp is 8-9500 ft elevation, home is 4500 ft. Water boils at lower temps the higher the elevation, no idea if that really matters in the coffee question or not, but the stuff ive made hasnt been bitter at all, and im not a fan of bitter coffee, like starbucks.

I often use creek or lake water, so boil it well before starting coffee operations. I use 1 cup/mug, whatever of water per cup of coffee desired, plus 1 in the enamalware pot, boiling gently, dump a heaping tablespoon of grounds per cup plus 1, let it gently simmer about 5 minutes, then let it set 3-5 minutes. This is one point I differ from common directions, i dont add a shot of cold water, egg shells, or whatever as is often mentioned, just let it set, and the ground settle out to the bottom. Pour carefully, very little to no grounds end up in the cup. the last cup is sacrificial or waste, the grounds slurry is tossed. Thats the plus 1 cup of water and coffee grounds added. So made, its always been very strong and smooth. I dont recall the exact results when done at lower elevations.

I used to be on a first name basis with the roasting master for Peets Coffee. Back when it was just a Bay Area local chain and they were much better.
Asked him why coffee at Starbucks is lame and coffee at Peets had so much more flavor.
He said it was mostly temperature.
Peets used to roast beans for Starbucks when they first started out. Peets was an older company and willing to help a smaller company out.
(not sure how that works with Starbucks in Seattle and Peets in the Bay area?)
Starbucks was happy with the product but wanted to save money, so when they started roasting they turned up the heat so they could get more roasts done per day. They basically overcook the coffee beans to increase volume.
He said it's the same for coffee brewing too. There is a perfect temp for coffee between 165-170. He wouldn't tell me exactly what is best, saying it varies.
The places with really bad coffee? They both don't clean their equipment enough, and overheat the coffee.
Ever since I have been kinda obsessed with water temp when I make coffee. For a while I used a thermometer. But now I just have a feel for it.

 

[Malamute]

My coffee taste discernment has certainly increased over time, I used to be perfectly happy with the stuff in the red plastic can, its a common big name, I dont recall what it is off the top of my head, now Im more of a connoisseur, I get McDonalds coffee at the store. I also had a flirtation with the Don Fransisco hazelnut coffee, but its sporadically available and i fell back into my heathen ways of the red can stuff before discovering McDonalds (think its made by Keurig).

Full disclosure, i also need decent sweetener (turbinado sugar or honey for me) and milk or cream to make coffee drinkable to me, otherwise Ill go without. Plain black coffee is all about the same to me without help, I used to liken it to a used ashtray that sat out in the rain. i think theres some profound bio-chemical difference in various people in how they perceive taste. Dark chocolate is absolutely nasty and bitter to me, same with black coffee. Sweeten it up, and its like magic.

 

[user 32232]

Same here. As a gadget geek, I really wanted to love the Moka pot I bought. But it always tasted way too bitter.
I'm going to check out the AeroPress that was mentioned. There's no way I can take my Saeco Aroma espresso machine on the road.

I'm a big fan of the aeropress in my camper. Both aeropress and moka pot coffee needs to be diluted before drinking - I usually go about 60% coffee with 40% H20. Also, keeping the water just under boiling (180-190 degrees or so) helps with the bitterness, and I prefer a medium roast - the dark roasts can add to bitter taste.
I also really like the ease of both making and cleaning up with the aeropress. Just 'plunge' the grounds into the trash bag and rinse off the parts. Easy peasy.

 

[LeftTown]

Cowboy coffee is about as easy as it gets. Minimal cleanup as well. This video explains it a lot better than I could:



So, after you made the coffee, what about cleanup. It is simple, just scatter the grounds out in the bush someplace and a tiny amount of water to rinse out the pan. Is this pollution? No. Back on the farm, my mom always scattered the grounds in her flower garden or in the vegetable garden. The reason being is earth worms love the coffee grounds.

Okay, that did the trick for me; cold brew gear is going back into storage until next fire season.

I drank cowboy coffee as a youngster but had seriously forgotten how good it is. I'm in the land of fancy schmancy coffee shops, but no local much-better-than-Starbucks can top that.

 

[frater secessus]

I preferred french press in a house where running water makes cleanup easy. Nowadays I usually make coffee in a melitta pour-over.

 

[NoOvernightParking]

First day with the AeroPress and I am LOVING it. It brews superior coffee, takes up very little space, and cleanup could not be easier. Thanks @Calaverasgrande for the recommendation.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Yeah I thought it was gimmicky when I got mine. But now it's how I make all my coffee.

 

[Anon]

Is keeping a glass cold brewer a bad idea? Also, if drinking coffee in the morning gives me the rumbles, should I even bother if I'm in an urban setting?

 

[WILD@HEART]

Cowboy Coffee -
Love his stuff, and he built an amazing checkbox.





Inside The Chuck Box





History Of A Cowboy Cook





Another Well Made Chuck Box

 

[JDub]

MRE Coffee Packet. Rip open, dump into your mouth, add some water, swish, swallow. Done.

Eazy Peazy.

Cheers!

 

[WILD@HEART]

Lots of good teas, caffeinated & herbal
English breakfast, constant comment, and oolong tea, which is fermented black tea.

Coffees, methods, served cold or hot, take your pick.

If you're in civilization, it's nice to treat yourself to a cup of joe.

But where ever you are,
if you feel
a rumble in the jungle,
don't delay and never trust a fart.