Portable coffee brewer options?

I've gone from being just a tea drinker to being a coffee drinker too. 

With what are you brewing your coffee in the back country, while travelling in general? Or even at home, as long as your brewer is portable?

Aeropress is the easiest (imo) for a traditional brewer.

If you already drink tea, you can pre-portion ground coffee into reusable teabags (like these) and make coffee by steeping, just pour on boiling water. You'll have to play around with grind size and steeping time, but some companies already make these, the brand is called "Steeped Coffee", but again just make them at home, probably way cheaper and just as ultralight.

If you want to be cowboy, just carry loose grounds and boil them in your kettle, let them settle, and pour your coffee.

Third for Aeropress. Packs down to nothing, quick to brew, and comes with its own mug! Been getting extra bougie and packing good beans and a hand grinder, lately, for some quality morning cups.

Aeropress

There are plenty of highly packable pour over options but they really benefit from a proper kettle and you'll have issues with heat. The great outdoors is cold, gd brewing requires consistent thermals. 

The other option is a French press, bodum do an insulated mug version which would be a gd option if you like a French press but you'll get that characteristic sediment. 

Elijah Benson wrote:

Third for Aeropress. Packs down to nothing, quick to brew, and comes with its own mug! Been getting extra bougie and packing good beans and a hand grinder, lately, for some quality morning cups.

The Porlex mini fits (mostly) inside the top of the plunger if you remove the (mostly useless) rubber crank holder. Makes for a *very* compact and high quality brewing setup.

I've also on occasion taken a Wacaco hand espresso maker (I have the nanopresso), especially on sea kayak expedition. It's a lot of parts, but it makes a real espresso--about on par with my full auto machine at my office. Takes some practice to get it really right.

also chiming in for the aeropress- i bought mine for travel purposes but ended up preferring the brew so much more than my french press that it’s become my everyday morning method. brew is somewhere between a smoother french press and espresso. it cleans up easily too. 

I like this one from Cafflano.
It travels the world with me. His name, Rev. Roast (Reverend Roast).

They also make on aeropress style doodad for the deuce juice.....

Aeropress.  Hard to beat.  Have tried a variety of french presses and moka pots.  

If I'm traveling light, I go instant.

In camp, I’m a fan of the Moka style pot. I don’t use the espresso like they’re designed for, just ground dark roast. It brews up super strong. Spoon standing up, dark as your soul, put hair on your chest coffee. It’s especially good if you don’t sleep well while camping. I’ve had the type with a container on top and the type with the brass pipe and you supply your own cup (msr). The MSR one is inferior to the regular one, that brass pipe can break or bend.

I also have an Aeropress, I don’t love it. Lots of fiddle prep work and it’s a serious pain to reload it while hot for a second cup. It’s ok, I’m not throwing it away but I don’t use it a ton anymore.

Lately, my go to has been a French press that’s large enough for me and my wife to have a cup, and it’s well insulated. So it comes out piping hot even after a long steep. The bottom unscrews for easy cleaning but I never use that feature.

For backpacking, instant coffee.

F r i t z wrote:

do you filter your coffee through the stroopwaffels? some days i just come across something that makes me realize i haven't lived.

that guy named seb wrote:

The other option is a French press, bodum do an insulated mug version which would be a gd option if you like a French press but you'll get that characteristic sediment.

I have one of these and it's a disappointment. It's "travel" in the sense of still functioning after taking a tumble down a flight of stairs, but not in the sense of "doesn't leak ever". The thing would always consistently dribble from the vent hole (when inverted); it looks like they didn't align the gasket on the lid properly.

Another +1 for an aero press though. You'll lose heat quickly after brewing though.

Car camping:

Been going strong for years (vacuum insulated French press) - stays plenty hot while brewing and makes 1L.

Other brands now - so maybe if you spend a bit more $ the hydro flask version is even better? (actually reviews make it sound worse than my Thermos one)

I think I'd have to use an aeropress 4x each morning vs 4min in this guy. I dunno sounds too complicated before I've had my coffee... https://aeropress.com/pages/aeropress-for-two-can-you-make-multiple-servings-with-an-aeropress-coffee-maker?srsltid=AfmBOoreDsl1xuvwwFGeeGmTsgsfc5TNGjSN1_8yY5AadCuiVdS7WXxo 

https://www.amazon.ca/Stainless-Vietnamese-Coffee-Filter-Infuser/dp/B084HHYFJY/ref=asc_df_B084HHYFJY/?tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706745778436&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12028400003722552019&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9213963&hvtargid=pla-2366552089667&psc=1&mcid=c7f5f867fa8d32f6b51e7f16016ad709&gad_source=1

i got two of these from a vietnamese restaurant years ago for five bucks. they’re indestructible, they make fine coffee, no complaints. i’m sure an aero press is nice but when you’re camping any hot coffee tastes great and no one i’ve made a cup for has ever complained. 

I use a Wacaco Minipresso NS2 in our van because the Nespresso capsules are extremely convenient and clean.  It's as good as a Nespresso capsule is gunna get.  If I wanted to be really extra, I'd go for the Picopresso which looks like it does pretty solid espresso.  

For the backcountry, I think it's really hard to beat instant for me when it comes to weight. Blue Bottle Coffee makes very nice stuff and has a nice variety.  Starbucks Via is easy to get and is reasonably good, and is the lowest cost of the bunch and highest in caffeine as far as I can tell.  (I downright hate Starbucks espresso from their shops, I think it tastes like cigarettes. This is somehow better than their real product imo.)  Black Coffee Roasting Company makes a nice product, more of a good traditional black coffee vibe.  Onyx is my overall favorite roaster for my home setup and just put out a seasonal product that is very possibly the highest end instant out there, but $99 for 24 packets is not a bullet I have bitten yet (or probably will ever lol). 

Roaster, barista here. Some really good instant available these days. If not going that route, the Kalita wave pour over is the most consistent brewer I have found. It’s also metal so it won’t break. As folks have mentioned, cold is your enemy- basically ideal brewing temperature is 195-205 (yes I know aeropress says it works best at a lower temperature) so if you’re at any kind of altitude and it’s cold your water is quickly below ideal. Preheat, keep your water at a simmer and add a little boiling water throughout the brew time and agitation are ways to deal.

https://prestacoffee.com/products/presta-x-luminous-instant-costa-rica-hermanos-robles-natural-copy?pr_prod_strat=jac&pr_rec_id=359282969&pr_rec_pid=7193588138059&pr_ref_pid=7193590497355&pr_seq=uniform

https://www.firstascentcoffee.com/products/hero-day-blend-instant-coffee

For anyone considering it, as Sopopepro mentioned upthread, the Wacacao hand press espresso makes a decent shot. I have the mini I found that cycling a couple of charges of very hot water through the unit before pulling the actual shot preheats the unit and results in a hot shot. Less important if you are making an Americano or latte.

Paper filter, cheap plastic cone holder, cup, ground coffee and a small box of half and half.

HI my name is Jim....I'm a coffee addict...it's been 5 mins since I've had coffee.... Hi Jim...

My normal brewing setup.  Sea to summit collapsible pour over, type of heat source obviously can vary.  packs down, easy clean up.

hydroflask of coffee in the backpack is definitely a thing for colder multipitch days or ice

ilya f wrote:

do you filter your coffee through the stroopwaffels? some days i just come across something that makes me realize i haven't lived.

Stroop-o-press! Someone else should try it and report back; I can't abide any adulterants in my coffee.

This is my favorite means of transporting coffee to the crag. Metal exterior for durability, ceramic interior for taste neutrality, properly leak-proof, insulates well for 4 hours in 30F temps. The standard top is far superior to the flip-lid, which has a rubber gasket that retains flavors.

More Aero love:

Aeropress for the win! I strongly recommend paying extra for the "Flow Control Filter."