I entered my new coffee process in the other coffee thread but think it solves a lot of the issues with making decent coffee in the bush. Coffee is added to a thermos and then hot water at your desired temperature is poured in. Five minutes later you have piping hot coffee and it stays that way for hours. There are no grounds in your pots and the thermos is easily sloshed out each day. Who wants to wait 5 minutes, right. Bring along some VIA or other coffee concentrates or even instant crystals and boil up enough water for the thermos and an extra cup to be poured over the VIA in your cup. Having that first cup as soon as the water boils is worth the loss of quality. When its gone the really good stuff is fully brewed. Those in the group that do not drink coffee will like having any extra hot water you boiled up for their cocoa or tea. Paddling shoes and coffee prep, when will the perfect arrive?
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Coffee Press
- Thread starter dougd
- Start date
Okay, I can't resist.
Boil water, instant coffee, add some sugar, done. Works for me.
(ducks for cover)
Instant coffee drinkers unite!
-rs
Boil water, instant coffee, add some sugar, done. Works for me.
(ducks for cover)
Instant coffee drinkers unite!
-rs
G
Guest
Guest
I don’t actually mind the sediment; it’s like a shot of espresso at the bottom of the cup. It’s the half hour of chewy patooie spitting out of coarse grounds lodged between cheek and gum that bothers me.
Yup. Fistful of Via packs vs a gallon container of grounds. No contest.
I suppose that preference may be dictated by coffee consumption. I usually drink two bigs mugs of morning coffee in an insulated tumbler, the second mug stretched out through packing up and sometimes into the canoe and paddling off. And maybe an evening cup mixed with hot chocolate (and a splash) if I’m staying up past dark.
That’s a lot of coarse grounds to pack on a long trip. It might work for folks who drink a single 8oz Sierra cup with their pinky extended, but my mug sucking coffee slave mileage varies.
I think Via may have forced the instant makers to up their ante, and then forced them out of the quality instant game. I can’t find that tasty Folger’s Black Silk Concentrate anymore. Folger’s briefly rebadged it a “Fresh Breaks Roasted Concentrate” and now even that is gone.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Folgers-Fresh-Breaks-Black-Silk-Coffee-Instant-Packets-8-CT/22101531
Heresy here.just scatter ground in the bush. If it works for my garden..
We were PC on Bowron packed it out We had a rolling garbage bag holder
We were PC on Bowron packed it out We had a rolling garbage bag holder
Doug, as a belated birthday present, I have distilled all the knowledge from all the posts to this point to instruct you exactly how to use a magical French press for perfect coffee every single time. Here you go:
***
"it came out a bit weak"
"Not a fan because the coffee gets cold"
"ground they allow to leak past the edges"
"get coffee beans-good beans- and grind them yourself"
"add just a little- say a third . . . boiling water to the grounds and wait about five minutes. . . . stir . . . for about 30 seconds. . . . de- gasses . . . wait another 5 minutes."
"coffee doesn't store well at all once you grind it"
"roast . . . your own beans over a campfire"
"bulky to pack"
"use high end coffee beens"
"freeze the pounds"
"bring water to a boil, wait a minute to let the temp drop a few degrees, pour over the freshly ground coffee, let sit, stir, let sit some more(total time maybe 6 to 8 minutes) stir, push the plunger down"
"pour the cooling dregs in . . . insulated mug as soon as there is space"
"the press was tepid by the time I got to it"
"deal with the grounds pressed on the bottom"
"the grounds are a bigger PITA to knock free from the press bottom than from a removable perc basket"
"at some point you gotta rinse the clingy grounds completely out of the press pot"
"I need to use almost the same amount of grounds to make ten strong cups in a slow perc as I need to make four cups in a French press"
"I don’t see myself packing in a pot/press and grounds ever again"
"I can't do French Press"
"I get a sludgy coffe with a bottom layer"
"$2.50 gets you one ounce of the sludge"
"add something to it to make it palatable"
"grind have to be quite corse to make for a slurry free coffee"
"use a fine strainer"
"your coffee gets cold, keeps it too hot too long sometimes"
"fond of Folger's instant coffee"
"a cozy out of blue foam and a looser fit inner layer of reflectix . . . that she lets it set before slowly doing the press"
"Jetboil coffee press that I carry. It doesn't keep the coffee warm for long"
"replace the screen once and used a Bodum replacement part"
"Yes, the coffee is a bit gritty & sludgey"
"We don't carry it on trips due to weight/bulk . . . . We use instant instead."
"don’t want to deal with the grounds in the Jetboil pot"
"I’m not grinding a lb or two of beans"
"it can be a bit finicky, but when I use mine, I use the upside down method"
"finicky to use on uneven surfaces"
"The grounds and sediment aren't supposed to be there?"
"I know nothing of coffee presses."
"Coffee is added to a thermos and then hot water at your desired temperature is poured in."
"Who wants to wait 5 minutes, right."
"Boil water, instant coffee, add some sugar, done."
"I don’t actually mind the sediment"
"It’s the half hour of chewy patooie"
"It might work for folks who drink a single 8oz Sierra cup with their pinky extended"
"scatter ground in the bush"
"We had a rolling garbage bag holder"
***
That's all there is to it, Doug. Enjoy.
Personally, I'm shocked, shocked at the horror, the horror, that I've never used a French press in all my 26,000 days. Nor drank coffee for 25,900 of them.
According to Professeur Anna-Lise Durine,the Directeur of Libations at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the only reason that the French ever used a coffee press is that the Germans, Italians, Brits, Yanks, Canucks and Commies hoarded all the instant coffee and coffee bags during WWI and WW2.
***
"it came out a bit weak"
"Not a fan because the coffee gets cold"
"ground they allow to leak past the edges"
"get coffee beans-good beans- and grind them yourself"
"add just a little- say a third . . . boiling water to the grounds and wait about five minutes. . . . stir . . . for about 30 seconds. . . . de- gasses . . . wait another 5 minutes."
"coffee doesn't store well at all once you grind it"
"roast . . . your own beans over a campfire"
"bulky to pack"
"use high end coffee beens"
"freeze the pounds"
"bring water to a boil, wait a minute to let the temp drop a few degrees, pour over the freshly ground coffee, let sit, stir, let sit some more(total time maybe 6 to 8 minutes) stir, push the plunger down"
"pour the cooling dregs in . . . insulated mug as soon as there is space"
"the press was tepid by the time I got to it"
"deal with the grounds pressed on the bottom"
"the grounds are a bigger PITA to knock free from the press bottom than from a removable perc basket"
"at some point you gotta rinse the clingy grounds completely out of the press pot"
"I need to use almost the same amount of grounds to make ten strong cups in a slow perc as I need to make four cups in a French press"
"I don’t see myself packing in a pot/press and grounds ever again"
"I can't do French Press"
"I get a sludgy coffe with a bottom layer"
"$2.50 gets you one ounce of the sludge"
"add something to it to make it palatable"
"grind have to be quite corse to make for a slurry free coffee"
"use a fine strainer"
"your coffee gets cold, keeps it too hot too long sometimes"
"fond of Folger's instant coffee"
"a cozy out of blue foam and a looser fit inner layer of reflectix . . . that she lets it set before slowly doing the press"
"Jetboil coffee press that I carry. It doesn't keep the coffee warm for long"
"replace the screen once and used a Bodum replacement part"
"Yes, the coffee is a bit gritty & sludgey"
"We don't carry it on trips due to weight/bulk . . . . We use instant instead."
"don’t want to deal with the grounds in the Jetboil pot"
"I’m not grinding a lb or two of beans"
"it can be a bit finicky, but when I use mine, I use the upside down method"
"finicky to use on uneven surfaces"
"The grounds and sediment aren't supposed to be there?"
"I know nothing of coffee presses."
"Coffee is added to a thermos and then hot water at your desired temperature is poured in."
"Who wants to wait 5 minutes, right."
"Boil water, instant coffee, add some sugar, done."
"I don’t actually mind the sediment"
"It’s the half hour of chewy patooie"
"It might work for folks who drink a single 8oz Sierra cup with their pinky extended"
"scatter ground in the bush"
"We had a rolling garbage bag holder"
***
That's all there is to it, Doug. Enjoy.
Personally, I'm shocked, shocked at the horror, the horror, that I've never used a French press in all my 26,000 days. Nor drank coffee for 25,900 of them.
According to Professeur Anna-Lise Durine,the Directeur of Libations at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the only reason that the French ever used a coffee press is that the Germans, Italians, Brits, Yanks, Canucks and Commies hoarded all the instant coffee and coffee bags during WWI and WW2.
Irish Breakfast tea fan too, huh?
On a recent 10 day trip I tried out a new little coffee makin' widget that worked fairly well. Two scoops of regular off-the-shelf grind in a Snow Peak 450 made a decent cup o' joe. Pour through slowly, let steep for 4-5 minutes. Very little sludge. Cleans up easily and packs flat.
I like the coffee a press makes but I've grown tired of living with them in the backcountry. Via is a good alternative when space is at a premium and I like to use it in the cold weather when cleanup and such is more laborious using other methods. I always carry a bit of Via even when using ground coffee primarily in case I get caught in a few days of stormy weather. The instant is easy to make while tent bound.
I am a slave to my addiction
I like the coffee a press makes but I've grown tired of living with them in the backcountry. Via is a good alternative when space is at a premium and I like to use it in the cold weather when cleanup and such is more laborious using other methods. I always carry a bit of Via even when using ground coffee primarily in case I get caught in a few days of stormy weather. The instant is easy to make while tent bound.
I am a slave to my addiction
Glenn, I am going to nominate your reply post as " 'TOP FIVE CanoeTripping Post of the Year".
Only, one problem, once you know what the prizes are, lol...
G
Guest
Guest
I compost grounds as well, but the home compost pile is a lot different, and sees a lot more attention, than flung in the brush some distance away.
I cannot claim that I have never scattered coffee grounds in the bush. Or dumped them in the ocean, bay or tidal waters. Or to have never raked them into the coals of a hot fire. I’d still usually rather not.
A lot of the places I visit see a heavy load of in-season visitors camping at designated sites. Even on undesignated sites in the desert or other more sterile environs coffee grounds wouldn’t become gardening mulch so much as a lasting dark spatter smear on the pale landscape. If I was really deep in the green bush scattering the grounds would be a different story.
Even when we used the press we didn’t portage long or hard. And I usually bring beer, and so end up with a voluminous trash bag full of crushed empties, and since I already toting a small on-board dumpster felt free to add trash items found along the way. In that guise the damp coffee grounds were not an onerous weight to pack out.
But grounds knocked into a trash bag are just nasty, leaking brown juice and spreading ground everywhere throughout the bag. heck no, I’m not picking those ground-slimed beer cans out for recycling. Into the Pizza Hut dumpster goes the trash bag enroute home. dang, even greasy pizza and an awful salad bar tastes like heaven.
I probably should have brought a dedicated gallon zip lock to knock the grounds into, but we went to instant Via before that consideration ever occurred to me. And that consideration first occurred about 30 seconds ago and a few years too late.
heck, if you ran out of coffee you could probably re-brew those old grounds when faced with utter caffeine desperation, like reusing tea bags. Or at least chewy patooie the big grind chunks like a wad of chewing tobacco. Or smoke them.
Glenn, I am disappointed that you missed:
“Fistful of Via packs vs a gallon container of grounds. No contest”.
Why thanks.
I should say that I apologize to anyone whom I actually quoted in accurate context. That certainly was not my intention.
I offer my own Lewis Carroll prize to she or he who "gets" Anna-Lise Durine.
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G
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Viva la résistance
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Don't know if this will be considered heresy or not but here goes...
If you don't like the grounds that can appear in your mug when using a French press, have you ever considered using coffee that's already in its own packet? You can purchase coffee in the same sort of one-serving packs that you find in a hotel room. When you make your coffee, put in as many packs as you want cups and you're off to the races. This eliminates loose grounds and makes clean-up as easy as removing the packet. Easy peasey.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.
snapper
If you don't like the grounds that can appear in your mug when using a French press, have you ever considered using coffee that's already in its own packet? You can purchase coffee in the same sort of one-serving packs that you find in a hotel room. When you make your coffee, put in as many packs as you want cups and you're off to the races. This eliminates loose grounds and makes clean-up as easy as removing the packet. Easy peasey.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.
snapper
Completely off topic. I grind my own coffee. If I have ground it too fine for a press, I need to learn other grinding techniques. That chemical stuff found in hotel rooms is nasty and hardly qualifies as coffee..
I don't know what is in it but its nasty.
We have different coffee makers here at home. One large percolator for 30 cup situations like parties and such. An espresso machine for our every morning routine. And a 4 cup stainless French press for "company" when they come around. For tripping I've retired my single cup plastic press now that my wife insists on the devil's brew. We both love our fire blackened beast of a 6 cup percolator. Easy to do really, just fill the basket with choice grounds (already ground and stored in a Ziplock baggie), fill with water and put over medium high heat (fire or stove). Walk away and do other stuff, like spread the tent fly to dry, go for a morning dip, or look for those lost reading glasses. In no time at all the coffee will be ready. If that's "too slow" for you then you'd really hate to trip with us. lol. As for grounds, those were the only "trash" we had to deal with on a recent trip. Oh, and eggshells. That all went into a small morning fire. Hardly troublesome for all but the most gram weeniest. And the large pot sits warmed on the fire embers or sat in the pot cozy. No cold coffee for us.
Nothing against instant. I just haven't tasted any I prefer to my current vice.
I've paused and pondered in front of the GSI press selection at a local outdoor store. Almost but not quite succumbed to their handy design. I like the press very much though, and could easily add one to my coffee pot collection.
ps . On second thought a 6 cup pot could easily be too big and bulky for some to pack. I get that. I think it's pretty cool that there are lots of choices for travelling coffee drinkers.
Nothing against instant. I just haven't tasted any I prefer to my current vice.
I've paused and pondered in front of the GSI press selection at a local outdoor store. Almost but not quite succumbed to their handy design. I like the press very much though, and could easily add one to my coffee pot collection.
ps . On second thought a 6 cup pot could easily be too big and bulky for some to pack. I get that. I think it's pretty cool that there are lots of choices for travelling coffee drinkers.
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I've broken 2 GSI presses. Not sure how. They are supposed to be unbreakable but I've cracked two cylinders
Bunch of savages.......I carry a small Bialetti stove top espresso maker. On the woodstove, campstove, or a 3 rock fire it will make a hot cup of Coffee goodness, with the "Crema". If espresso isn't your thing, just add hot water to make an Americano.
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When I'm not resorting to VIA, that is also my preference. I actually get very few grounds in my cup.
Thanks DanO I have most every other kind of coffee maker I might a while give Bialetti a shot.
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The thing to remember about the Bialetti is if you don't hold the lid down while you pour (by the little knob, so you don't burn your finger), it will dribble. Oh - and the handle can begin to melt if your flame is too big. I really like this device, because it is simple and robust. Grind the coffee like you would for a perk, and very little residue ends up in your cup.
I'm of a similar mindset - quite a collection of coffee brewing devices. Just ordered the smallest Bialetti as I could not resist yet another caffeine addiction support tool
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