Coffee - "Camp Coffee" AKA "Cowboy Coffee"

About the only good use for that stale, charred crap

Are we talking about camp coffee? I want it fast and strong. I start the coffee before the fire. On my own for the first cup, I boil water and pour it thru grounds in a paper filter. I go with a Turkish grind, almost a powder. Makes a strong, flavorable cup of coffee.

In truth, I will drink just about anything. Coffee and alcohol, two essential food groups.

Bad coffee just turns in to a laxative for me. Not ideal on the river.

Lots of coffee in the morning when fishing helps me perfect my Hank Patterson casting stroke, "whip it, snap that line, snap it".

I don't have time to mess with fancy coffee when camping. 5 cup percolater readied the night before, it is done in about 10 minutes. 1st cup down and I am on the water in less then 20 minutes from the time I get up. You can make good perced coffee if you keep the temp just high enough to get a perc every couple of seconds and only perc it for about 7 to 8 minutes, no more.

For camping and a day on the stream, I normally bring my backpacking burner and pot along with a mug. Boil some H2O and mix with some Five(Star)bucks French or Italian Roast Via's and I'm in business. Then I tuck the waterproof mug in the front of my waders, enjoy!

I guess I am a coffee snob. I would rather not drink coffee if it's bad. When we are camping I use a Melitta cone filter. It fits on the top of a quart thermos. I boil water take it off the heat and measure out the coffee into the filter. By then the water is the right temp and I pour thfough. While I am doing other kitchen duties I continue to pour and make coffee. When one thermos is done I start fresh with more coffee and a new filter. I don't think there is a way to make gallons of really good coffee in camp, you are going to sacrifice quality for quantity.
jesse

Pretty sure if you got a tupperware to store beans in, a grinder like this, a thermometer like this, and took the time to stick with one quality bean and measure out the appropriate amount for a serving beforehand..... you'd be in the money. Not much additional effort and I think you'd be pretty surprised with the results.

A great local roaster that sells in bulk and is located on Bainbridge Island is Storyville Roasters.

How about 5 gallons of hot water a couple of pounds of fresh ground coffee in a cheesecloth bag. stir it with an pontoon boat oar and take out the bag. No grounds to filter between your teeth then.

So far it sounds like ~ 4 out of 5 guys think coffee is pretty important. Thanks for that feedback.

The problems I always had with "Cowboy Coffee" was after it was made it usually sat on the woodstove where it would start boiling again. This suspended the grounds in the coffee and also the boiling made it bitter. Dumping a bit of cold water into it at the end, knocks the grounds to the bottom. I then pour off the coffee into airpots which keeps the grounds out of the coffee and negates the need to put it on the woodstove to keep it warm. I'm not a big fan of chewy coffee.

JesseC - the manual hand grinder makes sense, but I confess to ignorance regarding the thermometer.

Family camping trip...
-- Vintage Coleman 413E stove
--My good ol' porcelain cowboy coffee pot
--Griswold skillet

Bitterroot - your photo just reminded me of something. (I use that same coffee pot.) The other reason I use the Airpots is because it then frees up a burner on the stove.

That old porcelain coffee pot is a standby on every fishing/camping trip I go on. I treat it like gold cuz I know I'll never find another one like it.

So............how many grams in a teaspoon????? Help me.

4-6 tsp per 6 ozs, or somewhere in that area.

Take your pick.......
http://www.thefind.com/kitchen/info-enamelware-coffee-pot

Sounds like some of you think you're running a restaurant instead of being on a fishing trip. I'm pretty picky about my coffee and would rather have one cup of good coffee than five cups of black paint remover or weak pisswater.

Instead, I prefer to make my own. On a trip I bring my JetBoil with the French Press kit. I grind the beans just before leaving home so they're relatively fresh. About two rounded spoonfuls of grounds per half-liter of almost boiling water, stir and steep for a couple minutes, press and enjoy in an insulated stainless cup. No cream, sugar or flavor shots.

If its cold or wet, a shot or three of whiskey on the side starts the day out right.

K

That's a LOT of coffee. At home in a glass French Press, I use two tablespoons per liter (ie. quart) of water and let it steep for about 2 minutes. It doesn't get any blacker or stronger the longer you let it sit, just extracts more caffeine. If I let it steep for 5 minutes, I'm wired the rest of the day.

K

That's (tsp) teaspoons, not tablespoons (tbsp), guess I could have made that a little clearer. I think we make our coffee the same way

The wife and I use an old 10 cup percolator style coffee maker. I can't even recall when we first got it, but we've been making camp coffee with Folgers Deep French Roast, 7 heaping teaspoons/10 cups, and let it perk slow for about 12-15 minutes... absolutely the BOMB! We always look forward to our camp coffee...a highlight of everyday regardless of how the fishing or weather goes.

It's really true that the simple things in life are often the best.