The Backcountry Barista

There's nothing quite like enjoying a cup of well-brewed coffee in the wilderness. For me, it's not a luxury, but a necessity for jumpstarting my morning. As with all my food choices for sea kayaking trips, I try to strike a balance between ease of preparation, weight savings, minimal clean-up, and taste.

Since I'm a stickler for a good cup 'o joe, I've tried just about every imaginable method for backcountry brew. Here's a quick run down on how to get the best caffeine fix on your next multi-day trip.


GSI Java Press

Even in civilization there are a large contingent of cafephiles that swear a French Press is the best way to brew coffee. So, it shouldn't be surprising that a lightweight Lexan press would result in a pretty good cup of brew.

GSI Outdoors--maker of all sorts of camp kitchen equipment--makes a Lexan Coffee press that comes in 10oz, 33oz, and 50oz sizes. Add a tbsp of coarsely ground coffee to the press. Pour boiled water (but allow it to rest a bit to come down in temperature) from your campstove over the grounds so they are completely saturated as you fill the press to the fill line. Let it sit a bit until a foamy "bloom" forms on the top. At that point, plunge the filter down slowly and steadily. Then pour your cups.

Drawbacks

You get great flavor, but there's a price to pay. First, is output. Even the 50oz size will only produce roughly 4 12oz cups of coffee. If you're in a group, you'll be serving in batches. Another problem is the waste generated. Grounds need to be scooped out, then packed out with your garbage. The Press itself doesn't weigh much, but does take up some space, an issue if you're low on storage space in your kayak.

Grade

Ease of Use = B
Flavor Factor = A
Quick Clean-Up = C-
Output to Effort Ratio = D

The Coffee Sock

This little contraption is basically a cotton or hemp filter with a drawstring closure that you soak in a pot of hot H20. The sock takes up little or no space and can be stored right with your coffee. Simply place a coffee sock with 1 tbsp of coffee per cup of water in the pot. Let sit and serve. You can produce a decent quantity with just one filter.

Drawbacks

Flavor tastes like coffee from a sock. Clean up is a pain, and you have to pack out your spent coffee grounds.

Grade

Ease of Use = A
Flavor Factor = D
Quick Clean-Up = C
Output to Effort Ratio = B

Single Cup Filters

Miniature filters that enable you to attempt to replicate a drip coffee machine right in your own mug. The include plastic and metal filter versions. If you drip in slowly, flavor can be alright. Clean up involves tapping out ground, then swishing with water.

Drawbacks

Better flavor than a coffee sock, but the single serving aspect means that unless everyone in your group has their own filter, there will be a queue of caffeine-deprived campers staring at you as you prepare your brew.

Grade

Ease of Use = A
Flavor Factor = B
Quick Clean-Up = C
Output to Effort Ratio = B

Brew Bags

Brew Bags are teabag style filters that can be purchased in the coffee aisle.
Just like tea, you simply boil water and jiggle the bag in the cup. One brew bag per cup.

Drawbacks

Flavor is terrible. This is partly because the method doesn't bring out the best in the coffee, but also because the companies that produce the stuff tend to make pretty flavorless coffee to start with. If you like watered-down coffee of the ilk that you get in the waiting rooms of your local tire store, then you'll be happy with this stuff.

Grade

Ease of Use = A
Flavor Factor = D
Quick Clean-Up = A-
Output to Effort = A

Cowboy Coffee

Forget filters. Simply pour coffee into a pot of boiled water and let sit. Methods for filtering out grounds range from dropping a little cold water over the top to force grounds to the bottom of the pot; "slinging" the coffee pot (this works only with a proper tea kettle with a lid and handle) in wide circles so that centrifugal force pushes the grounds to the bottom; or pouring through a bandanna.

Drawbacks

Tastes like boiled coffee, with the added joy of picking out grounds from your teeth for the duration of the morning. Clean-up and plenty of waste produced. Also, pouring off hot water, filtering through a bandanna, and especially "slinging" all come with the potential for second-degree burns. Blatant sexism: don't cowgirls drink coffee too?

Grade

Ease of Use = B
Flavor Factor = C-
Quick Clean-Up = D
Output to Effort = B


Instant Coffee: Mt. Hagen Organic v. Starbucks Via

Freeze-dried instant coffee is the obvious choice for simplicity, but up until recently the taste was so bad as to make it a last resort. More recently, a number of fuller bodied instant coffees have made their way to the market. Mt. Hagen makes an organic instant coffee that isn't too bad. But I was very impressed when I was able to try a sample of Starbuck's new Via Instant Coffee. Available only in Chicago, Seattle, and London at present, you can order online. The price is a little more than other instant coffee; the Mt. Hagen sells for around $8 a jar and produces 60 cups while Starbucks Via is $10 for 12 cups.

Method

Mt. Hagen, add a teaspoon to a cup of hot water and serve. Starbucks Via comes in single serve pouches.

Drawbacks

For Mt. Hagen, the flavor is better than every other method except the French Press. For Starbucks, the flavor--in my opinion--is better than all the other method; price is the only drawback. Each cup will cost you $0.83. Not bad compared to the $1.75 you'd pay for a cup at Starbucks, but still much higher than the $0.13 per cup for Mt. Hagen.

Grade

Ease of Use = A+
Flavor Factor = Mt. Hagen: B+ v. Starbucks: A
Quick Clean-Up = A+
Output to Effort = A


Conclusion

For my trips I'm now leaving the French Press behind and packing in Starbucks Via. With the weight and space I'm saving, I'll be able to have room for an extra bottle of wine...but that's a subject for a future blog.

Happy paddling!