Frontier coffee

[bilko]

I don't know why as i am normaly a tea drinker but the idea of making your own coffee on the fire is realy appealing to me. So, how do you do it?
I take it you grinf your own beans, bung em in a pot with water and put on the coals
Do the coffee pots come with some sort of filter?
What pots has everyone got?
Apparently tube drivers used to be issued tea pots and mugs before company plan ( about 10 years ago i think ). Anyway one of my managers showed me his the other day. It was white enamel with an enamel mug that fitted over the top. I couldn't take my eyes off it . I don't know why but i much prefer enamel to teflon or tin. There's something realy rigged about enamel
The addition of milk or sugar seems to spoil the illusion of a true cowboy brewing up but i'm sure frontier coffe would be positively eye popping without it.
Any stories, suggestions or pictures of your pots and mugs would be great. Oh, and manufacturers so i look up where to get the best one .

God i never realised i was this sad!

 

[Brian_T]

Bilko,

There are actually a couple of types of camp coffee pot. One, the percolator, has a basket for your ground coffee and the coffee brews by boiling up through a small diameter tube and down through the grounds.

Cowboy coffee is made in the second type of camp pot by throwing ground coffee into the pot, brewing until you can stand a spoon in the mixture, and then consumed grit and all.

I have used a 14-cup percolator out at the campsite a few times and find the coffee truly enjoyable. Cowboy coffee is good but chewing on the brewed grounds hours later isn't so high on my list.

GSI makes both kinds of pot, Coleman (I believe) makes them, and I'm not sure who is making the enamel-coated ones these days but they're the ones my parents used when I was a kid and they haven't changed a bit since then. I'm sure they are built essentially the same way they were when the cowboys were riding the range drinking their gritty coffee.

 

[Tor helge]

Bilko,

There are actually a couple of types of camp coffee pot. One, the percolator, has a basket for your ground coffee and the coffee brews by boiling up through a small diameter tube and down through the grounds.

Cowboy coffee is made in the second type of camp pot by throwing ground coffee into the pot, brewing until you can stand a spoon in the mixture, and then consumed grit and all.

I have used a 14-cup percolator out at the campsite a few times and find the coffee truly enjoyable. Cowboy coffee is good but chewing on the brewed grounds hours later isn't so high on my list.

GSI makes both kinds of pot, Coleman (I believe) makes them, and I'm not sure who is making the enamel-coated ones these days but they're the ones my parents used when I was a kid and they haven't changed a bit since then. I'm sure they are built essentially the same way they were when the cowboys were riding the range drinking their gritty coffee.

In Norway many people make their coffee the way you describe cowboy coffee but I`ve never seen anyone eat the grit .
The grit is left in the pot.
In the wilderness this grit is base for another brew.
And we (almost) never boil the coffee!!! That is a no no.
The water is boiled and coffee grain added, then let it sit for 8 minutes and enjoy.

Tor

 

[Abbe Osram]

In Norway many people make their coffee the way you describe cowboy coffee but I`ve never seen anyone eat the grit .
The grit is left in the pot.
In the wilderness this grit is base for another brew.
And we (almost) never boil the coffee!!! That is a no no.
The water is boiled and coffee grain added, then let it sit for 8 minutes and enjoy.

Tor

Yep, thats the way we do it in Sweden too but sometimes I fix the coffee in a way I learned in Finland. There you put the coffee in cold water and let it get hotter and hotter until it boils, then you remove the pot and let the grit sink down after that the coffee is ready. We dont use the grit again but if you want to save coffee you can use the grit again and again until you get nothing out of it anymore.

Then I use too instand coffee which is very nice too for a fast fix.

cheers
Abbe

 

[peds8045]

Two spoons of ground coffee per person in a pot of cold water. Put it on the fire and leave it until it is just about, but not quite boiled, then leave it to stand for a few minutes. The stand time will let the majority of the grit sink to the bottom.

Before pouring the coffee tap the side ofthe billy can and this will cause more of the sediment to settle down...then drink and enjoy.

One more thing..dont spoil it by putting milk and sugar in...yuk

 

[stovie]

To make decent coffee

take one enamel coffee pot/billy (or whatever you carry) add mountain spring water (or tap) and bring to the boil on the glowing embers of your fire.

Add "co**** ground" coffee to taste and set close to the embers, but not on them (you do NOT want to boil your coffee, as this is what makes it bitter). Set the pot off the vertical so the grounds/grit settle in the corner from which you will pour (you get less c**p in your cup).

Five minutes is usually enough time for the grounds to settle, but if not, remove the lide for a few seconds, this allows the grounds on the surface to cool slightly and helps them settle.

Some people say throw some cold water in the pot to settle the grounds. This makes excellent COLD coffee (nothing else)

I've heard egg shells thrown into the pot helps settle grounds, but not something I have had the need to do.

Campfire coffee made like this is not good to the last drop. Scatter your grounds wide for nature to re-use.

 

[stovie]

Why is the word co**** (corse, as in rough) starred out....Oh! I've just worked it out

 

[led]

The other technique to settle the grounds is to hold the pot by the handle and with a straight arm give it a couple of windmill spins around (Has to be done with a certain 'confidence' ).

 

[JohnC]

http://thecookskitchen.com/pics/med_3271.jpg
thats what i take

 

[Goose]

http://thecookskitchen.com/pics/med_3271.jpg
thats what i take

They were on sale at whittards for about £8, are they any good?

 

[Motorbike Man]

I have to say, I drink my coffee like treacle, so I use the four cup version of this When they say four cup, they mean four expresso cups, I just put it all in one mug and enjoy

 

[EdS]

take 1 ibrik add 2 dessert spoons of coffee and equal amounts of express roasted coffee.

Bring to a rolling simmer. Take of the heat and allow to cool for a few seconds. Repeat twice more, then pour gently in to cup.

 

[JohnC]

They were on sale at whittards for about £8, are they any good?

I use mine every day in the house, and have used it on bbq charcoal, campfire, meths stove etc and its ok, you just have to make sure the plastic handle is out of the way of direct heat, I use a one cup version, but many other sizes are available

 

[gregorach]

Yeah, stove-top espresso pot is definitely the way to go... You can actually get a decent cup of coffee out of one.

Not that I drink much coffee any more - makes me far too twitchy and irritable.

 

[tomtom]

Nessmuk devoted a whole chapter to coffee IIRC.. might be woth a read!