For many of us there is nothing like a good coffee in the morning, just after waking up. When we are at home it is an essential part of the daily routine, it is enjoyed, but it is routine.
However, when we are camping, at least in our case, it becomes a morning ritual that we love to share and that we enjoy much more than at home.
Over the years, and after trying several ways to prepare our “perfect coffee” we have come up with a system adapted to our current needs. But we have been experimenting with various ways of preparing coffee, all of them useful, especially when we went camping with a hut and had no electricity.
To prepare the perfect morning coffee, we have to take into account our needs and preferences, but especially our resources:
– If you have a stove or stove to heat the coffee.
– If you are backpacking or bivouacking: you have to keep the load under control, so you have to look for compact and light solutions.
– Access to electricity – this greatly increases your options
– Space for charging: it really is a luxury when camping.
HERE ARE 13 OPTIONS FOR OUR PRECIOUS “PERFECT MORNING COFFEE”.
- COLD COFFEE
There are coffees designed for cold consumption. They do not need heat and although they are designed to be kept in the refrigerator, a few days at room temperature can surely last in good condition.
- SELF-HEATING COFFEE
The typical one that we find in gas stations.
It is a recent invention that consists of a single-dose cup that heats up when shaken by means of a chemical process. It is undoubtedly the ideal solution when there is no stove or stove available but you want to have a hot coffee.
- INSTANT OR SOLUBLE COFFEE
This is the simplest way of making coffee. It is obtained by dehydrating the coffee.
Preparation: water is heated, the desired coffee is poured in, stirred until it is completely dissolved and ready to drink.
The problem is in the taste, it is such a processed product that it loses much of the naturalness of a good freshly brewed coffee. For some reason they are very successful among the elderly.
We always carry a few sachets with us just in case. Besides, it is ideal for preparing the coffee ice cream recipe that we will talk about in another article… delicious!
- COFFEE IN SACHETS
Like the previous one, this is also instant coffee, but it comes in tea bags. It is a lighter and easier to transport option. It is also cleaner, as we all know how soluble coffee stains are.
If you like this option, you can take it prepared from home, because they sell empty bags that you can fill with coffee, tea or spices.
- PERCOLATOR COFFEE MAKER
An ideal system for vintage lovers. It can be used directly on the fire or on the grill, in the wild west style, because it has no rubber or plastic parts. The boiling water rises through the conduit to the filter where we place the coffee.
- ITALIAN COFFEE MAKER
Its unmistakable sound serves as a soundtrack in the mornings of all campsites.
The Italian coffee maker is available in different sizes and materials so that it can be perfectly adapted to our needs. In aluminum it is light, in steel it is durable. There are small ones for one or two cups or much larger ones when there are many coffee lovers, both the size and the material will determine the time it takes for the coffee to come out.
- MINI ESPRESSO COFFEE MAKER
This is a small coffee maker that pours the coffee directly into the cup of your choice. It has the same function as an Italian coffee maker, but is more compact and lighter.
- FRENCH PRESS
It is considered one of the best systems to prepare coffee due to its versatility and respect for the product, the French press is also very simple and fast to use. It also allows many options to adjust the coffee to your taste, varying the filtering time, the pressure that you apply on the press or the amount of coffee that you use.
The main problem with this system is that you need to use another container to heat the water.
An important fact is that unlike most coffee makers, boiling water should not be used. Experts say that the ideal temperature for coffee extraction is 93ºC. In order not to go with the thermometer, a trick is to let the water boil, turn off the heat and let 15 or 20 seconds pass for the temperature to drop, and then start filtering.
This is undoubtedly an option for the purists of flavor. We have tried this system at home, and no two coffees are the same, there are too many variables. The French press can also be used to prepare tea and infusions.
- AEROPRESS
It is an evolution of the French press system: it is portable, resistant and light. But as with the French press, it is a laborious system. The interesting thing about this option is that it is made of plastic so it will be a better option to take it to the campsite because of its resistance.
- HANDSPRESSO
It is a manual portable machine similar to the AeroPress. It serves to prepare a single dose and does so by means of the pressure of a manual pump, similar to the inflator of a bicycle.
As you have seen, the HandSpresso coffee maker is an expensive product. But we can find cheaper alternatives with some extra functionality.
- DRIP WITH COFFEE FILTERING
This is the simplest method: hot water is passed through ground coffee that is deposited on a paper or cloth filter.
It is difficult to surpass the simplicity of the drip system, although it is only for patient people, because it is the method that takes the longest time to obtain the precious liquid.
Fans of this system claim that it is better than the automatic method because a more uniform saturation of the beans can be obtained, which offers a more balanced cup of coffee.
For camping there are folding drip filters, very light and compact, although a bit expensive, here are several examples and their prices:
There are also drip coffee makers devised exclusively for camping and outdoors, which even have a grinder for coffee beans incorporated. Like a real all-in-one wonder.
- COFFEE STOVE
We can find options already designed for camping use, compact, light and portable. As in this case, a coffee maker with a built-in stove.
- ELECTRIC COFFEE MAKER
Finally we arrive at the electric coffee makers, undoubtedly a privilege to have one of these in the camping. A luxury, although the truth is that each time we find more compact electric coffee makers, especially the capsule ones.
In any case, enjoying an espresso at the campsite is a marvel. I am sure that we have all looked with long teeth at the foreign retirees, with their xxl motorhomes, preparing their morning coffee in a coffee pot almost the size of the one in the bars. At the campsite space is a luxury, and if you have a huge caravan, the coffee maker can not be less!
As you can imagine, there are many other systems of coffee preparation, but not very useful in the camping, like the Vacuum Method or the Japanese Siphon, Chemex, Silverton, etc.
We, for the moment, enjoy our perfect morning coffee in our old French coffee maker, the one we have always had. We have grown fond of it… what can we do with it?
If you don’t want to complicate your life preparing your perfect coffee, you can always go to the camping bar.
SEE YOU SOON!