Coffee maker - How does this work?

[kitty]

+1 Aeropress.
When hiking I just take the aeropress and steel filter, its 185g. I dont take paper filters, stirer or the measuring spoon. Yes you need a strong mug to use it with.

[Orion]

I've tried the coffee bags but they were never strong enough, even with multiple bags.

Another approach is a tea infuser basket, one of those little metal mesh things that sit in the cup. You have to have reasonably coarse grounds and a decent sized mug. It's basically a type of French press, but without the press. Since it takes time it helps to have an insulated mug.

For me, the coffee beans have to be freshly ground or else I'll just go with instant. The only grinders small and light enough are the mini Porlex and Hario mini (basically the same grinder packaged differently). They aren't very good grinders so both pour over and French press (or tea infuser) don't work that well. But the Aeropress is relatively insensitive to grind quality. You can use a blade grinder and get decent coffee from an Aeropress.

So it's an Aeropress and a mini Porlex, same as someone else mentioned... up to about 3000m. Then it stops working well for me.

[Aushiker]

Coffee bags. The practical half-way house between instant coffee and fancy coffee.

This is my approach generally or sachets of some type along the lines of these Nescafe ones:

[Watertank]

I take the gold coffee filter - no need to take paper like for the aero (which I have) and a cup fits inside it for packing see http://shop.coffeesupreme.com.au/produc ... fee-filter

[Happy Pirate]

Coffee bags. The practical half-way house between instant coffee and fancy coffee.

I suggested that. Won't cut it.
She's a fully paid-up member of the Mystical Alchemical Wizards of Divine Coffee Drinking Association.

Steve

[Happy Pirate]

I used a GSI one cup as my home coffee pot for quite a while, it worked pretty well, but that style are a bit splattery I found. I now use an aeopress. Depending on what you are using for a stove, I'd recommend the aeropress, unless you know the other pot will fit on your stove. Either one is good though,

I'm definitely tending towards an Aeropress. Just because its been tested and recommended. Chinese Ebay stuff can look great but be wildly disappointing. And I can't test it myself...
So I'm using a butane canister stove. Either an off-canister tube-connected tripod (http://tinyurl.com/zvfkt75) burner or one of the new 25g titanium on-canister mini stoves (http://tinyurl.com/j3vtdzc).
I just read a Choice article that said Aeropress out of the box made bad coffee prepared to plunger (this wasn't camping of course).
Do they need much practice to make a good brew?
S

[ribuck]

She's a fully paid-up member of the Mystical Alchemical Wizards of Divine Coffee Drinking Association

Perfect! So she will be amenable when you suggest a hiking trip to a coffee growing destination. Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Colombia, Brazil ... the choice is wide open

[Gadgetgeek]

That's odd that they couldn't get good coffee out of an aeropress, its so simple I rely on it when barely awake since I can't explode it like my big benchtop unit. It is stronger than how a lot of people do plunger coffee, so maybe that was the problem? Really hard to say what they didn't like about it. It can be really fine tuned.

[climberman]

Coffee bags. The practical half-way house between instant coffee and fancy coffee.

Actual, real coffee isn't fancy. It's just coffee.

[Happy Pirate]

Coffee bags. The practical half-way house between instant coffee and fancy coffee.

Actual, real coffee isn't fancy. It's just coffee.

Watch him. I bet he's got a secret handshake. He's just pretending to be ordinary.
The Coffee Illuminati have obviously infiltrated this thread...

[Happy Pirate]

She's a fully paid-up member of the Mystical Alchemical Wizards of Divine Coffee Drinking Association

Perfect! So she will be amenable when you suggest a hiking trip to a coffee growing destination. Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Colombia, Brazil ... the choice is wide open

Nyet.
Coffee has to be pre-prepared and in easily transported packages close to walks in range of Melborne, Tas or Wodonga...

S

[Hermione]

I tried coffee bags too, I thought it would be less mess than loose grounds. Couldn't make it strong enough.l Even tried making my own, using the coffee beans we have at home. Not very palatable either, I have no problem doing without a lot of things on a walk ; mobile phone, hot showers etc. but coffee is problematic.

[climberman]

Coffee bags. The practical half-way house between instant coffee and fancy coffee.

Actual, real coffee isn't fancy. It's just coffee.

Watch him. I bet he's got a secret handshake. He's just pretending to be ordinary.
The Coffee Illuminati have obviously infiltrated this thread...

Who? Me?

[Orion]

This is my approach generally or sachets of some type along the lines of these Nescafe ones...

That's instant coffee. If you're going to drink instant coffee it's more or less mandatory that you include sugar, milk, and/or chocolate. Basically, you need to completely mask the bad coffee flavor so that all that comes through is a bitterness, complemented by all of the sugary/creamy stuff, and of course the caffeine.

[Orion]

Watch him. I bet he's got a secret handshake. He's just pretending to be ordinary.

Having made the transition from normal guy to coffee snob I understand... but there's no going back once you discover the difference. Someday in the future making coffee will be easier, I hope. Unfortunately in 2016 it is still tricky to do it consistently right and all too easy to screw it up.

I've also made the transition from normal guy to bushwalker. There's a secret handshake for that club too.

[slparker]

You can buy good quality coffee bags in the supermarket now that contain grounds not instant. The brand escapes me but they can be found.

Good for overnight walks but i still think that the aeropress has the advantage for multi-day walks - given its ease of use, ease of cleanup (the 'puck' of dry grounds is easily composted in the bush) and very good shots of coffee that it produces.

i have used a MSR moka pot which is Ok but the aeropress beats it for ease of use.

[Orion]

You can buy good quality coffee bags in the supermarket now that contain grounds not instant.

That's the only kind I've ever seen, except for the "good quality" part.
There would be no point in putting instant in a tea bag.

(the 'puck' of dry grounds is easily composted in the bush)

That's illegal where I usually walk (California Sierra), although people do it anyway.
Is it okay to dump the grounds everywhere in Australia?

[slparker]

You can buy good quality coffee bags in the supermarket now that contain grounds not instant.

That's the only kind I've ever seen, except for the "good quality" part.
There would be no point in putting instant in a tea bag.

The robert timms coffee bags found in australia over the last decade or so use a mix of coffee grounds and instant coffee. they taste how I imagine dried and powdered cat turds might taste.
When I say 'good quality' i mean something that resembles the taste of coffee, but clearly not something a skivvy wearing, bearded, tattooed barista named Byron would serve you in Lygon st.

(the 'puck' of dry grounds is easily composted in the bush)

That's illegal where I usually walk (California Sierra), although people do it anyway.
Is it okay to dump the grounds everywhere in Australia?

It is probably illegal to dump coffee grounds 'everywhere in Australia' (although mining companies get away with similar) but i was talking about distributing a 50 g puck of dried grounds into the leaf litter. you would never notice it even if you looked.

i do it because it is innocuous compared to the 1000g of wet poo that i deposit, the square meters of vegetation that i flatten and erode and the kilos of carbon i liberate getting to the bush and being in the bush.

that reminds me that I must get a paper filter to trap the little bits of food that I spit out when i toothbrush...leave no trace and all that.

[Strider]

1kg is a monster turd!

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[slparker]

not a conversation that I ever thought i would get into, but that porridge and scroggin has to go somewhere....

[Orion]

When I say 'good quality' i mean something that resembles the taste of coffee, but clearly not something a skivvy wearing, bearded, tattooed barista named Byron would serve you in Lygon st.

LOL.

I'm no hipster, quite the opposite actually. I avoid the cafe scene.
But preground coffee is what it is.

...i was talking about distributing a 50 g puck of dried grounds into the leaf litter. you would never notice it even if you looked.

i do it because it is innocuous compared to the 1000g of wet poo that i deposit...

I get it.

But I also understand that the single actions of individuals can combine to something significant.

Anyway, I was just curious if the rules in Tassie or elsewhere in Australia were different. Here food and food refuse are considered a type of litter, unwanted in the wilderness in terms of their effects on animals and plants. And when visiting another country I try to abide by the rules, even if the locals don't (yes, I'm that guy going the speed limit in front of you on the single lane road). So I was just wondering...

[whynotwalk]

Anyway, I was just curious if the rules in Tassie or elsewhere in Australia were different. Here food and food refuse are considered a type of litter, unwanted in the wilderness in terms of their effects on animals and plants. And when visiting another country I try to abide by the rules, even if the locals don't (yes, I'm that guy going the speed limit in front of you on the single lane road). So I was just wondering...

Rather than "rules", in Tassie at least, the Leave No Trace ethic is encouraged by the Parks service. It leaves a lot of discretion to walkers, admittedly with mixed results. The idea of "Coffee Police" is an amusing thought though. One step up the ladder from the "Poo Police", who hide behind the bushes to check your defaecation practices

As for plungers, cafetieres, aeopresses etc, I take a simpler approach. I carry coffee grounds in a small plastic container, put the requisite amount of coffee into my mug, pour on v. hot/almost boiling water, and stir. The grounds settle to the bottom, especially if the cup is given a few taps. Then add milk powder/sugar if desired, and drink. One caveat: don't drink the last mouthful!

cheers

Peter

[Gadgetgeek]

With any of the LNT stuff I think there have to be some limits as far as whats practical. I pick the best detergent for the purpose I can, and try to not habituate the wildlife anymore than necessary. But the washing water has to go somewhere, there is some impact with that. Depending on the trip and location, coffee grounds get spread, or packed out. I'll admit I'll do things differently depending on who I'm with, not everyone gets the difference between a few coffee grounds and a half cup of noodle soup. I've done cold press for when I know I''ll have to pack out trash, as well as turkish style, so there are really no grounds left over. Again, all depends on where and when.

[clance]

1kg is a monster turd!

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Especially a dehydrated bush cable- that'd be a good 2kg after coffee and in the vicinity of porcelain

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[clance]

Ya gotta wonder if coffee grounds packed in a plastic bag and left to degrade unpredictably in landfill somewhere might not result in a more environmentally harmful result than if they were left to harmlessly rot on the ground as nature intended. Just a thought

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[dashandsaph]

As an Aeropress user, I can recommend them, but for fuss free, pretty good coffee, a good weight/fuss/flavour trade off is the Starbucks Via Italian sachets. A mixture of real and instant, 2 sachets for a 300 ml mug, of strong, very drinkable coffee. I also have a GSI fabric cone on top of mug - good but messy to clean and very occasionally I have carried a small stove top espresso great coffee but heavy.

[Orion]

As an Aeropress user, I can recommend them, but for fuss free, pretty good coffee, a good weight/fuss/flavour trade off is the Starbucks Via Italian sachets. A mixture of real and instant...

Not really. Starbucks Via is an instant. They add a very tiny amount of finely ground coffee. It's probably the best instant out there but still requires the addition of sugar to make it palatable, in my opinion. It's my usual choice and sometimes in the wilderness it tastes okay to me. Lots of things are like that. But whenever I've made Via at home I couldn't drink it.

[Orion]

Ya gotta wonder if coffee grounds packed in a plastic bag and left to degrade unpredictably in landfill somewhere might not result in a more environmentally harmful result than if they were left to harmlessly rot on the ground as nature intended. Just a thought

Maybe so, I don't know. But the idea is to try and preserve the wilderness. I don't lose sleep over coffee grounds in the bush. I've run across them before, just like disposed food, trash, toilet paper and turds too. There's always impact, it's just a question of minimizing it.

I know a guy who carries out his turds on every trip. I'll bet his don't weigh 1 kilo each.

Let's see... assume a generous 3cm diameter and density about the same as water. For 1kg the turd would have to be 1.4 meters long, LOL.

[neilmny]

I find the Nescafe cappucino saches not to bad.
The favorite is Jed's in a number 4 - http://www.jedscoffee.co.nz/bean-bags.html
Safeways oops Woolworths have them, cost about 50c per cup.
I also have one of the little 2 cup espresso makers but the spout bit got broken off and I haven't got around to fixing it yet.

[Happy Pirate]

Now she's decided to quit coffee altogether (we'll see how that goes) so for me the question is now moot.
Has been an interesting window into the world of the bean though.
I'll go for the Aeropress if her resolve falters...
cheers
Steve