I don’t think I’m a coffee snob, but I do like fresh, strong, good coffee. It’s an integral part of my morning. It’s that little bit of time I steal from the day just for myself. I am my own personal barista, and I have established my own ritual for preparing my perfect cup of coffee every morning in camp. For me, that means grinding my coffee fresh. Fresh ground coffee just tastes better! And, gosh darn it, like I said, it’s a ritual. Of course, it’s my ritual and my perfect cup. Yours will be different, I know, so no arguments please. Just bear with me while I share my thoughts on how I start the day with some heavenly camp coffee.
The Fresher the Grind, the Better
In the interest of saving weight and space, most of my equipment is required to multi-task. But… there are some tools that just do one job and do it really well. My coffee grinder is one of them.
I used to grind my coffee just before I left on a trip. I would get out my plastic bottle and a specially modified funnel. I would grind and grind and soon enough I would have the bottle filled. That system worked great because the cap on the bottle was just about one perfect measure of coffee. I still have that bottle and use it for canoe and backpacking trips, where space and weight are at a premium.
When space and weight aren’t at a premium, I prefer to start with whole bean coffee and grind it fresh each morning. When leaving for a trip, I make sure to pick up a fresh pound of my favorite whole bean coffee. When that runs out, I like to stop at a local coffee shop wherever we are and buy something nice. I like to get a fresh roast and support small, local businesses. It also gives me the opportunity to learn a little bit more about what I’m getting, how it was grown, who grew it and maybe even how they were treated and paid. That’s part of the process that, for me, makes it all taste even better.
Grinding
For a coffee grinder, I’ve settled in on a GSI JavaMill. I’ve tried many different hand grinders. Most seem more intended for spice grinding. If you’re in to Turkish Coffee and need a powder-like fine grind, these may be for you. I’m sure there are better grinders out there but I like this one. It was a gift from my brother, and that alone makes it all taste even better. As you can see, my coffee grinder has been tested over time. The modifications are mine and mine alone, you are free to adopt them without license. For example, I added the hose clamp on the top, to keep the coffee grinder from spinning in my hand.
How do I Brew It?
Let me stop here and say that I only make camp coffee one way: using a paper filter in a coffee cone (or “a pour-over”, as the kids are calling it these days). Yes, there are many ways to make coffee, and some probably make a better cup of coffee. But while taste is important, keeping a clean, critter-free camp is equally important. The coffee cone makes a very good tasting cup ‘o joe, and is simply the cleanest, easiest way to make camp coffee – unless you’re going to make instant coffee, and in that case we probably can’t be friends.
When you’re on the trail, your water supply is generally limited and you must conserve water where you can. I have found that the coffee cone is the best way to deal with the grounds and minimize water use on clean-up. The filter paper holds all the grounds in a nice, neat little package that is clean and easy to dispose of. This is really important when you consider critter control. And consider critters you must. Critters run the gamut from annoying chipmunks and pine squirrels, to black bears, grizzly bears and coyotes. Don’t ever underestimate the feisty raccoon either!
When I’m done with my coffee cone, I simply remove the tidy little filter full of used coffee grounds from the cone and put it directly in the fire or garbage. You can dump any left over coffee right on the edge of your fire. It will steam and sputter, but it won’t put your fire out, and it will burn off much of the scent. Scent control is everything when it comes to keeping unwanted critters out of your campsite. If you have problems with unwanted critters at a campsite, it’s probably because the people there before you were spitting their toothpaste and dumping their wash water in the bushes. Don’t be “that guy”. Be smart, and use the fire to reduce scent whenever possible.
Now, Back to Making the Coffee…
It takes a little while to grind the coffee and my hand does sometimes get a little tired. But the results are perfect every time because this grinder is a “Burr Grinder”. It grinds the coffee between two moving plates, and once the coffee is ground to the specified diameter, it falls from between the grinders. The resulting grind is very even, and won’t have any overly fine, powdery coffee mixed in with the coarser coffee. Fine, powdery coffee is a problem because it clogs the filter paper. If you end up with fine coffee grounds in your grind, your coffee will start to run smoothly through the filter paper, but only for a few seconds. The fine coffee grounds quickly plug the filter paper and you are left standing there waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the water level to go down drip, by drip, by drip. Frustration is not part of the process that makes it all taste even better. Thus, the burr grinder with the even, non-powdery grind.
The Coffee Cone
For a coffee cone I have settled on the GSI Java Drip (30oz) set. The cone is made of heavy duty high temperature silicon rubber. It can be smashed, sat on, or crushed and still perform beautifully. Really. The cone also fits neatly in the included, insulated carafe when you are not filtering coffee though it.
The Perfect Coffee Mug
And now for the final part of my ritual – sitting down to enjoy this freshly brewed coffee from my favorite coffee mug. My grandfather drank his coffee right out of the percolator, at about 211 degrees. I don’t know how he did it. I can’t take my coffee quite that hot. But I don’t want my coffee to get cold while I’m drinking it, either. It’s usually pretty cool in the mornings, especially in the mountains, and a standard ceramic coffee mug (or worse yet, tin camping cup) sheds the coffee’s heat too quickly. That’s why I prefer to pour my coffee into an insulated mug. And not just any insulated mug. My perfect coffee mug was a gift from a friend, which always makes coffee taste better. It’s a proven fact!
I have a brace (2) of Yeti mugs that were given to me by a friend. These multi-purpose mugs are my constant companions while we travel. Don’t have a generous friend? Can’t afford a Yeti? Look at RTIC. My RTIC was also a gift (I am truly lucky to have such great friends). It’s fantastic. It has a great lid design that doesn’t leak when the cup tips over. The Yeti lid leaks. But I just love how my Yeti tastes like coffee, Bourbon Old Fashioned and Gin and Tonic all at the same time! The RTIC is great too, but it’s new and still being seasoned. It may end up as the favorite coffee mug some day soon. We’ll see. It just might take a few more trips to find out.
One last piece of advice…
Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of getting breakfast, packing up for a day trip, and corralling the kids and dogs, it’s tempting to try to save time by skipping the coffee ritual and diving right into the day. Don’t. Don’t skip it. Take the time to relax and enjoy the ritual. You are on vacation! Take time to smell the coffee. You won’t regret it.
