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Musings about "ultralight" coffee

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Can you make a great cup of coffee in the backcountry and keep pack weight down? Coffee. Its my luxury and my luxury item when I go backpacking. If it weren't for my morning (and maybe afternoon) coffee, I could totally do a no-cook system but coffee is such a moral booster for me personally, I voluntarily lug out my stove, pot, mug & fuel every time I go out. After these past few years and a ton of experimenting; I would like to share what I have learned, what I have tried and what works, all while trying to progressively lower pack weight. When I started out, it was full on pour over for me. The GSI clip on pour over. I heated my water using a 4oz canister with a BRS stove, Toaks 700ml pot and a GSI insulated mug. Total weight: 14.7oz with a full fuel canister.
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Pros: Super tasty coffee I could grind my own beans and bring them on the trail awesome coffee mug (I love the GSI insulated mug) coffee grinds are compostable, no extra packaging Cons: Coffee wasnt always so hot after pouring on a cold morning. cleaning the filter kinda sucked Final verdict: In hindsight, this was a pretty decent setup and it made great coffee. After the GSI pour over, I figured I would give an Aeropress a try. I've heard a bunch of good things about how tasty the coffee was supposed to be, I thought the weight penalty might be worth it. Setup was again, the BRS stove, 4oz canister, toaks 700ml pot and GSI mug. Total weight: 20.8oz with full fuel canister and reusable steel screen for the Aeropress.
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Pros: grind my own beans and bring them on the trail again, awesome mug coffee grinds are compostable, filter reusable = no trash Cons: Coffee was always cold by the time the whole process was over I never got the "amazing" coffee that the reviews suggested Cleanup, while easy at home, used IMO, too much water on the trail Heavier than the pour over Single use item Final verdict: I really gave this thing a good try, I used it for months on the trail and at home. While the coffee was way better than instant (patient, we're getting there) it was never as good or hot as the pour over method. Now we are progressing. I made my own alcohol stove, a Fancee Feast stove with a beer can windscreen. I am, at this point, using the KUJU pocket pourovers. Setup is now my trusty GSI mug, Toaks 700ml pot, DIY Fancee Feast stove & Beer can windscreen and a measuring cup for fuel. Total weight: 11.6oz with a full 4 fluid ounce bottle of Heet. The KUJU pocket pourovers are 0.6oz per serving.
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Pros: awesome mug good tasting coffee lightweight easy cleanup Cons: similar to the GSI pour over, coffee wasnt always as hot as I wanted on a cold morning lots of waste to pack out, the KUJU pour over has a paper filter and frame to clip onto your mug. Final verdict: This was a great setup. Changing out my stove and fuel dropped the pack weight by more than a half pound over the Aeropress setup. The pocket pour overs were tasty, but who knows how fresh they are, I was unable to find a manufacture date on the packaging. On cooler mornings I was left wanting for a hotter cup of coffee, good thing the GSI mug is sort of insulated. Ditch my mug?? Yes, while the romance is still very much alive, it is no longer in my pack. Gone are the pocket pour overs and out comes the instant coffee... bleh. Through blogs, YouTube and reddit, you hear thru hikers as well as weekend warriors mention they use instant coffee. I figured I would give it a try. Medaglia d'Oro, Starbucks VIA, Cafe Bustello, G7, I tried them all. Setup: Toaks 700ml Pot, DIY Fancee Feast stove & Beer can windscreen and a measuring cup for fuel. Total weight: 8.4oz with full 4floz bottle of Heet. Instant coffee will vary between 0.3oz and 0.6oz per serving.
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Pros: lightweight no cleanup, minimal trash to pack out only needs one pot, no second mug necessary Cons: holy crap, this stuff sucks Final verdict: While lightweight, I couldn't find a single brand that I would consider "tasty". Yeah, if you just drink coffee for the caffeine kick, it works but it did nothing for my trail moral. Dropping the mug did save me another 3oz pack weight. The Toaks pot is not fun to drink from. Where am I at now? Pretty much the same as with the instant coffee but I got some inspiration from our neighbors across the pond and I got creative. There are these heat seal tea bags you can get on Amazon. My wife uses them for loose tea. I figured I would grind up my favorite bean, throw them in the tea bag and give it a shot. Eureka! This actually tastes like something! I switched out the Toaks pot for the IMUSA pot with a fixed handle so its easier to drink out of and I wrapped the handle with some kevlar cordage that I had laying around. The lid is from Batchstovez. Setup: IMUSA 10cm pot, DIY Fancee Feast stove, beer can windscreen, fuel measuring cup. Total weight: 7.9oz with full 4floz bottle of Heet. The coffee filled tea bags weigh a measly 0.2oz per serving.
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Pros: lightweight very tasty coffee I can use my own beans and grind them the day before the trip only needs one pot, no second mug necessary no cleanup Cons: have to pack out the filters. Being they are able to heat seal, they are not compostable. You could technically cut the filter open and ditch the grounds. Final verdict: This is what I am sticking with currently. Tasty coffee and the entire setup is under a half pound including fuel. The IMUSA pot is super cheap and combined with the DIY stove, total cost for this setup is $18. I do miss having my mug. The GSI mug has graduations for liquid volume and is somewhat see through making it super easy to measure out water for dehydrated meals. Maybe i'll decide one day to add it back to my pack. What does everyone else use for trail coffee? Is it a nice-to-have or a necessary luxury?
(Edited)
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leonsomp
2
Jul 22, 2019
JAVA HOUSE Authentic Cold Brew Coffee single serve is very smooth and excellent cold or hot
SheUrchin
11
Jul 8, 2019
In my regular life, I am a big coffee snob, <2 weeks from roast date, fancy burr grinder, Chemex pour over. However my camping/desk coffee is much lower brow. I agree the Mount Hagen organic freeze-dried instant is tolerable, if not decent (I use 2 packets per mug), but needs a little creamer to accomplish the moral boost benefit to your cup. My current favorite is the Copper Cow sweetened condensed milk packets, though they are a bit heavy (1.2 oz each). Copper cow makes a pour over coffee pouch as well, but I still prefer Mount Hagen and it’s cheaper. Good news is you can purchase the creamer separately (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HCWB7LR/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_ZF1iDbK33CB9P). Also, if you have a Thrive Market membership, their powdered coconut creamer is lightweight, delicious, stirs in well, and is vegan! One more trick I have learned to get a little extra body out of cheap coffee is to add flavorless collagen powder. Both Vital Proteins Collagen, which you can find in individual packs at Whole Foods, and the Thrive Market brand dissolve well and give you a >9g of protein boost for 0.3oz!
CampCatskill
265
Jul 13, 2019
SheUrchinThese are awesome options that I , until now, never heard about. I’ll be sure to give them a try! Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Ed.f
15
May 20, 2019
Finum brewing basket, on amazon. Ultra fine mesh, pops in a mug with home ground beans. Immersion technique. Leave for 4 mins remove, drink. Only weight extra is the basket which weighs nothing. Bring fresh coffee in a zip lock or similar and have as many cups as you like. Works perfectly as coffee brews for time you like, stays hot in the mug, even has a tiny lid to keep warmer longer. Only mess tipping out fines and a quick rinse.
CampCatskill
265
May 25, 2019
Ed.fI like it Ed! From the looks of the size of the basket, looks like you can brew a strong coffee also, a drawback to the tea bag method I've been using.
kerleyrb
8
May 20, 2019
Check out Mont-Bell's pour over coffee filter on their website. It weighs a couple grams!
CampCatskill
265
May 25, 2019
kerleyrbLooks good, didn't know Mont-bell was in this segment. I feel it would still have the same problem that all backcountry pourover coffee methods have; on a cool morning, the coffee is never hot by the time the pourover process is done.
rigbyB
0
Apr 26, 2019
well there's the Keith Titanium Ti3911 only $200 on amazon! that plus your fanceeFeast stove, w/g and 2oz of fuel will probably add upto 5oz (150g). has there been a Massdrop on this great little filter? Keith products do seem to pop-up often..
CampCatskill
265
Apr 26, 2019
rigbyBNifty little gadget that Kieth Titanium put together there. I’ve never seen one or heard about it until your post. Well, without getting too deep, I am sure it would make a tasty cup of backcountry coffee like my other pour over methods did. Without trying it myself, I would still think that it suffers from, in my opinion the biggest drawback of doing pour overs outdoors, the coffee being lukewarm by the time the coffee is ready to drink. Additionally, even being titanium, it’s still another piece of gear to bring which would increase the total system weight. From the information I’ve found on it, it looks like it weighs over 3oz which would make my current setup come in at 11oz including 4oz of fuel, so more than double the 5oz you estimated. Im going to take a pass on commenting about the price tag. Thanks for pointing out this little filter. If you ever purchase one, please comment in this thread on your experiences.
Jimbo8
0
Apr 23, 2019
SeatoSummit Ultra-Sil Bucket. At less than an ounce! Great for bringing untreated water (2+ gal.) to the campsite for whatever use, hang off a tree or rock and then you have a close water source. I am surprised how useful it has been. Of course, some high-test rum (Stroh) is always nice and light too.
weggs
114
Apr 16, 2019
Coffee gear and rum in my titanium hip flasks are necessities My fleshlight is a luxury. Nothing like sitting around the campfire at the end of a long day...
TheMailman1
24
Apr 16, 2019
Wow lots of options to look over here thank you! I am in the same boat as you, I must have my coffee and it must be good. Following...
MaropeaForks
1
Mar 23, 2019
Hay buddy. http://jedscoffee.co.nz This is what we use down here in nz. They are just an off the shelf version of what your doing. If we didn't have these I would be doing what your doing!
CampCatskill
265
Mar 24, 2019
MaropeaForksThats great man! Do you think they want a franchise here in the states? I'd be happy to start JedsUSA haha
Scout1947
53
Mar 18, 2019
Yes.
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