Making a great cup of coffee in the comfort of your own kitchen can be a challenge. Even with the “home field advantage”, factors like grind size, water quality and temperature, and the rate of extraction can all be problematic variables—even in perfect conditions.
Now remove yourself from the kitchen and try to produce a perfect cup in a less civilized environment. How much less? As primitive as it gets—we’re going camping!
Picture this—the sun is rising, the birds are singing, and everything smells like campfire and alcohol from the night before. Only one thing would make the morning complete — an expertly brewed cup of coffee.
Thankfully, the specialty coffee scene plays well both indoors and out. While the tried and true outdoor brands like Coleman make propane powered portable drip brewers and percolator pots, you don’t have to settle for an inferior cup just because you’re brewing in the wild. Here are some practical, affordable, and durable options to help you become the best barista in the boondocks.
The AeroPress sits at the top of the list for several reasons: portability, price, quality, and ease of use, to name a few. A newer model, called the AeroPress Go, was recently released and may just be the perfect camping coffee solution. By adding an element of pressure to the brewing process, you will end up with a supremely clean and sparkly cup in under a minute of brewing. It can make hot or iced coffee, has few breakable parts, and packs up into a palm size package for transportation. At around $30, this is the camping contraption all others must conquer.
For the coffee itself, bring along your favorite locally roasted specialty option—preferably whole bean. And once your water kettle is heating up, it’s grind time. To get the blood flowing and a brief workout, bring along a Hario Skerton grinder. For $40, you will not find a more reliable, portable, or consistent grinder—period.
Finally, if you want to expedite the process, eliminate the transporting of equipment, but still end up with a fantastic cup—the specialty scene has you covered here too. Two recent products have emerged: single serve coffee bags that are made just like tea, and specialty grade instant coffee. Both of these are becoming more common as consumers realize the convenience factor and quality are amazingly good. Hot water and five minutes are all you need to get a perfect cup every time, and the options are becoming more broad as more roasters jump on board with this novel niche of specialty café noir.
There’s never been a better time to get away—just don’t forget to bring along good coffee!
Andrew Robertson, district manager with Press Coffee is a coffee expert and teaches Press Coffee’s 101 coffee classes. Press has been Arizona’s own local coffee roaster since 2008. Quality driven and community focused, Press shares its passion for specialty coffee by providing the highest quality coffee products, service and knowledge with customers and community every day. Press Coffee has eight Valley locations in Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix and Chandler. Visit Press Coffee online at presscoffee.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @presscoffee.
