any good camp coffee ideas

[jamesoconnor]

i like to have a good coffee to start my day but am rubbish at making the stuuf outside. do any of you have any recipes etc for making a good cup of brewed coffee in the field?also what is your prefered drink outside when camping.

regards
james

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Over in kit chat we have talked about coffee - The general idea is to make individual portions of your favorite drink. If you like coffee you can stand a spoon up in ask British Red

 

[British Red]

D*** straight SS!

James,

My preferred brew is made an aluminium percolator stood on the edge of the fire and brought slowly to the heat, it should be allowed to "blub" for five minutes and then stand for 5. The pot is then emptied into my mug and drunk black, or with a splash of fresh milk if available. No powdered milk or UHT stuff ta.

I'll drink Alta Rica (4-5 spoons in a Crusader mug) if going on a long haul / small pack. I've also brewed coffee in a billy. the trick is never to boil it, keep it just under the boil for 5 minutes (and don't put the grounds in as you heat the water - put grounds in water once its hot, never water on grounds). You can then pour the coffee off through a small strainer (handy for filtering crud out of stream gathered water as well prior to putting puritabs in). At high altitude add salt and eggshells to the water

HTH

Red

 

[hilltop]

on a survival course years ago the instructor made some acorn coffee, the same stuff the germans drank during ww2, they called it ehrtzats, and if they drank that stuff all the time there is no wonder they lost, lol, some of the guys liked it tho, give it a try,

 

[Dave Barker]

D*** straight SS!

James,

My preferred brew is made an aluminium percolator stood on the edge of the fire and brought slowly to the heat, it should be allowed to "blub" for five minutes and then stand for 5. The pot is then emptied into my mug and drunk black, or with a splash of fresh milk if available. No powdered milk or UHT stuff ta.

I'll drink Alta Rica (4-5 spoons in a Crusader mug) if going on a long haul / small pack. I've also brewed coffee in a billy. the trick is never to boil it, keep it just under the boil for 5 minutes (and don't put the grounds in as you heat the water - put grounds in water once its hot, never water on grounds). You can then pour the coffee off through a small strainer (handy for filtering crud out of stream gathered water as well prior to putting puritabs in). At high altitude add salt and eggshells to the water

HTH

Red

Tis is the way they brewed coffee indoors in Norway. Some of the older people still do.

The beans are ground slightly courser than for filters, It is readilly available hereso if you are having trouble then drop me a line and i'll send you a quater pound.

 

[British Red]

Tis is the way they brewed coffee indoors in Norway. Some of the older people still do.

The beans are ground slightly courser than for filters, It is readilly available hereso if you are having trouble then drop me a line and i'll send you a quater pound.

Dave

I must be one of the older people mate - I still grind my own beans

Have a rep point for a kind offer to James! I'll jump in as well (which I should have thought of) since the postage is cheaper from the UK!

If you need any advice on coffees, grinding or beans etc. James, just PM me. I'd be happy to send you some of my beans if you have a grinder or grind the for you if you don't (use em in a couple of weeks though - they are best fresh). If you dont have a percolator, I'll grind them for a caftiere if you have one of those. Or I can tell you where to source your own ground coffees and beans whichever is easier.

Hmm theres a thought - did you know you can get a cup with a built in plunger like a cafitiere? Makes one cup of good fresh coffee - someone will have a link I'm sure (I've seen em in outdoor shops, not tried one though)

Red

 

[Erinwulf]

I've recently returned from the Woodsmoke 'Woodlander' course and Ben made us a pot of what the instructors called 'cowboy coffee'. I dont particularly like the instant varieties, so watched with interest (and initially, with horror!) at his brewing method. The end result was a delicious cup of tasty fresh-brewed!
As I remember, he put a few scoops of ground coffee into a (approx) 1 litre billy can of cold water, brought it to the boil over the campfire and then removed from the heat. After a short cooling/brewing time he gave the billy-can a sharp tap on the side wall so that the grounds sunk to the bottom.
I thought it would taste bitter having been boiled, but no, it was perfect! I havent tried making any myself yet, no doubt it will need a few practice-runs to get the same end result!

 

[sam_acw]

Back in my American Civil war reenacting days coffee was of the utmost importance. We took whole beans and smashed them with either the blunt end of a bayonet or a lump of wood. They would then be boiled for a long time to get a strong brew. We tried filtering the lumps and adding cold water to make them sink but you still ended up spitting out a lot of coffee bits!
The perfect cup was made with the addition of a large amount of molasses or a small amount of whiskey
We also used chickory which was pretty good and roast peanuts (till they're almost black) which make an interesting cupa. It has a fair kick but unless you've run out of coffee it's not something you'd make!

 

[gregorach]

Well, I'm normally a tea drinker, but if it's a luxurious trip I can usually find some space for my stovetop espresso pot - works just fine on a campfire and makes really evil coffee.

As for the coffee itself, a mate of mine is invovled in the Zapatista solidarity movement, and can get really nice organic, fairtrade dark-roast aribica straight from the autonomous areas in Mexico. Lovely!