Tips for Brewing Coffee while Camping

Virtually every western movie I’ve ever viewed has this scene lurking somewhere inside:

The trail boss takes a sip of hot coffee, fresh off the campfire, makes a stiff-upper-lip face and pitches the rest of his cup into the flames. “Daylight’s wastin’,” he announces with a drawl. The other cowboys all mimic the coffee-spitting ritual and rise as the campfire hisses in protest.

Having tasted my own cup of campfire coffee several years ago, I understand the reaction, both of the cowboys and the fire. It makes me wonder: are all coffee-loving campers condemned to the cowboy taste-and-spit?

By the name of all things Roy Rogers, NO! A decent cup of coffee is possible, even in the great outdoors, if you know a few tricks of the trade.

The first three happen long before you enter the majesty of creation, before you ever leave home. It’s an old Boy Scout idea: be prepared.

You can’t count on clear water, not even if it’s bubbling out of Mother Earth right at your feet. No matter what you’ve learned from beer or bottled water commercials, all of nature’s water nowadays is suspect and could be contaminated. Instead of risking a bad cup of coffee, or a bacterial stomach bug that will level your hiking plans, make sure to tote in enough water. Plan enough for drinking, cooking and, yes, that morning cup of joe. Also secure your coffee grounds in a strong, airtight container. One of the last things you want after hiking into the perfect site, pitching camp and waking up to a beautiful pre-dawn sky is to realize that your coffee container got smashed on the hike out. The other is to have stale coffee for the last days of the trip. The third at-home decision is how you plan to brew your coffee. The choices are fairly simple; you can brew it in a pot, percolator or spend a bit of extra cash for a coffee maker that runs on propane.

Traditional campfire coffee is brewed over the open fire in a pot. Yup, it’s the same one in which you’ll prepare just about everything you put into your mouth. Bring two quarts of water to a rolling boil, add two handfuls of loose coffee, remove it from the heat and allow to seep for four minutes. (If you think you can’t remember the recipe’, just remember 2(quarts) + 2(handfuls) = 4(minutes). Add either a cup of cold water or clean egg shells to drop the grounds to the bottom. While this works fine right down to the last two or three cups of coffee,

you can achieve groundless coffee by making your own version of coffee-bags’. Before leaving home, purchase a length of cheesecloth or lightweight gauze fabric. Cut squares measuring approximately 8″x8″. Lay one on top of the other, criss-crossed to make a six-pointed star. Put pre-measured coffee grounds in the middle of the star, close the fabric around the coffee and tie with kitchen twine. Store in an airtight container to promote freshness, and when the time comes to add the coffee, just drop a bag into the water and let seep to your desired strength.

Percolator coffee is more like what you normally use, and a familiar sight to many in the baby-boomer generation who watched our moms percolate every morning. The percolator allows the grounds to be separated from the brew, and keeps the pot free for other uses. The disadvantage of this item is the extra piece of equipment to haul up the mountain or into the woods.

If you’re just determined to have drip-brewed coffee while you’re out “roughing it”, for just less than $50 Coleman offers a coffee maker that works with your 2- or 3- burner camp stove. That way, as you cook your bacon and eggs, you can start the coffee.

Whatever you choose, campfire coffee can be the best start to your morning. Imagine the smell as your fellow campers awaken to the birdsong and the beauty of their surroundings. With no cowboy spit-and-taste needed, what could be better?

Source:

1. How to Make the World's Best Cup of Coffee While Camping
2. How to Make Coffee Using a Camping Percolator – YouTube

Image Credit

• Foods High In Vitamin K2

Related Articles

Reasons why coffee has an effect on plants
Home Brewing Beer Kit – Yes
Do you have any Tips for using Vanilla Beans
Tips for Making the Perfect Soup Stock
Breakfast Cookout Ideas
Food Ideas for Breakfast Cookouts

Recent

• Spaghetti Sauce Italian Spaghetti Sauce Spaghetti Pasta Pasta Dishes Meatballs Food Dinner
• Why Eat out instead of Eating in

Categories

Blog (RSS)

DA Articles (RSS)

Health (RSS)