coffee coffee

[ray b]

I just pre grind my coffee beans the amount I need for the time I'll be gone and do it right before I go, put it in a ziplock bag, and pack it.

Or you can carry a lightweight plastic grinder that stores a few days of beans, as I used to. Modern versions cost between $25 and $150 dollars depending on how much of a coffee snob one wants to be.

It's all about water extraction of volatile flavors and caffeine. Reminder - although the caffeine is not volatile, and will not evaporate into the atmosphere after roasting, many of the flavors do. (The smell around freshly roasted beans are those volatile flavors escaping into the air.) Grinding increases how quickly those flavors disappear, so many of us grind right before use. A roasted bean at room temperature loses a lot of flavor and becomes stale after a week or two, depending on the nature of the roast.

Something to think about on long trips and when figuring out how one's going to compromise between freshly roasted and ground beans and the realities of camp.

[froze]

I just pre grind my coffee beans the amount I need for the time I'll be gone and do it right before I go, put it in a ziplock bag, and pack it.

Or you can carry a lightweight plastic grinder that stores a few days of beans, as I used to. Modern versions cost between $25 and $150 dollars depending on how much of a coffee snob one wants to be.

It's all about water extraction of volatile flavors and caffeine. Reminder - although the caffeine is not volatile, and will not evaporate into the atmosphere after roasting, many of the flavors do. (The smell around freshly roasted beans are those volatile flavors escaping into the air.) Grinding increases how quickly those flavors disappear, so many of us grind right before use. A roasted bean at room temperature loses a lot of flavor and becomes stale after a week or two, depending on the nature of the roast.

Something to think about on long trips and when figuring out how one's going to compromise between freshly roasted and ground beans and the realities of camp.

You don't seem to understand, I travel light, I'm not going to take everything including a microwave oven to go camping!  So no, I'm not going to carry a grinder.

While the coffee may go stale in a week or two, I can't carry a week or two of food on the bike, so when my baggy of coffee runs out I then have to get a bag or can of pre-ground coffee.

[BikeliciousBabe]

You don't seem to understand, I travel light, I'm not going to take everything including a microwave oven to go camping!  So no, I'm not going to carry a grinder.

While the coffee may go stale in a week or two, I can't carry a week or two of food on the bike, so when my baggy of coffee runs out I then have to get a bag or can of pre-ground coffee.

You'll be fine with a two-week supply.  When I go out for two weeks I bring pre-ground La Colombe coffee from home.  It holds up well enough during that time.  I am not expecting perfection.  You might even be able to re-supply with good quality coffee in larger towns/cities along the way.  The ex and I once started a 10-day trip from Missoula.  Flew out with out any coffee and picked up some upon arrival.  Had the place grind it for us.

I advise double bagging if using something like a plastic sandwich bag.  I didn't once and the bag got a small whole in a corner.  Had to shake coffee out of the pannier at the end of the tour. Not as easy as it might sound.

[ray b]

I just pre grind my coffee beans the amount I need for the time I'll be gone and do it right before I go, put it in a ziplock bag, and pack it.

Or you can carry a lightweight plastic grinder that stores a few days of beans, as I used to. Modern versions cost between $25 and $150 dollars depending on how much of a coffee snob one wants to be.

It's all about water extraction of volatile flavors and caffeine. Reminder - although the caffeine is not volatile, and will not evaporate into the atmosphere after roasting, many of the flavors do. (The smell around freshly roasted beans are those volatile flavors escaping into the air.) Grinding increases how quickly those flavors disappear, so many of us grind right before use. A roasted bean at room temperature loses a lot of flavor and becomes stale after a week or two, depending on the nature of the roast.

Something to think about on long trips and when figuring out how one's going to compromise between freshly roasted and ground beans and the realities of camp.

You don't seem to understand, I travel light, I'm not going to take everything including a microwave oven to go camping! 

(...and you seem to forget - I'm the coffee snob that previously posted that to keep weight down, I have given up carrying a stove, gas, French press or espresso boiler, old hand grinder and coffee - at least on summer trips.)

My last post was simply to remind folks, that if they want really good coffee on the trail, it can be done - and I've done it, at the cost of about 3 pounds.

Life's too short for bad coffee, so if I need to keep the weight down, I get my coffee from the local coffee baristas.

[ray b]

You don't seem to understand, I travel light, I'm not going to take everything including a microwave oven to go camping!  So no, I'm not going to carry a grinder.

While the coffee may go stale in a week or two, I can't carry a week or two of food on the bike, so when my baggy of coffee runs out I then have to get a bag or can of pre-ground coffee.

You'll be fine with a two-week supply.  When I go out for two weeks I bring pre-ground La Colombe coffee from home.  It holds up well enough during that time.  I am not expecting perfection.  You might even be able to re-supply with good quality coffee in larger towns/cities along the way.  The ex and I once started a 10-day trip from Missoula.  Flew out with out any coffee and picked up some upon arrival.  Had the place grind it for us.

I advise double bagging if using something like a plastic sandwich bag.  I didn't once and the bag got a small whole in a corner.  Had to shake coffee out of the pannier at the end of the tour. Not as easy as it might sound.

Well done.
Air-tight bagging should cut down on how quickly the volatile flavors leave the coffee during storage.

[froze]

You don't seem to understand, I travel light, I'm not going to take everything including a microwave oven to go camping!  So no, I'm not going to carry a grinder.

While the coffee may go stale in a week or two, I can't carry a week or two of food on the bike, so when my baggy of coffee runs out I then have to get a bag or can of pre-ground coffee.

You'll be fine with a two-week supply.  When I go out for two weeks I bring pre-ground La Colombe coffee from home.  It holds up well enough during that time.  I am not expecting perfection.  You might even be able to re-supply with good quality coffee in larger towns/cities along the way.  The ex and I once started a 10-day trip from Missoula.  Flew out with out any coffee and picked up some upon arrival.  Had the place grind it for us.

I advise double bagging if using something like a plastic sandwich bag.  I didn't once and the bag got a small whole in a corner.  Had to shake coffee out of the pannier at the end of the tour. Not as easy as it might sound.

Well done.
Air-tight bagging should cut down on how quickly the volatile flavors leave the coffee during storage.

I use a ziplock bag and press all the air out whenever I close it, I have not noticed any deprecation in the taste of the coffee from doing it this way.  But to pack 3 pounds of gear to make coffee is crazy to me, I'm sort of a coffee snob myself, but I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of snobbery to eliminate 3 pounds of gear.  Heck if I was going to be a coffee snob while bike camping, I would rather just take a Nanopresso Espresso maker, that device is only 12 ounces, and the reviews have all said that it makes great espresso; but even 12 ounces I'm willing to cut back from, but the biggest issue is that this device is 6 inches long by 3 inches round, so there's valuable real estate being taking by this device in a pannier.

[Westinghouse]

Juan Valdez must be beaming with joy at all this.

[ray b]

But to pack 3 pounds of gear to make coffee is crazy to me

Calculation:

1. Stove.
2. fuel
3. pot
4. coffee.
5. grinder (optional - mine's 300 g)

It all adds up to about 3 pounds.

If you already have the pot, stove and fuel for other reasons, and you're making cowboy coffee, then the only additional weight is that of the coffee.

Juan Valdez must be beaming with joy at all this.

...and his donkey, too.

Right - only tire and frame choices generate more discussion than the politics of coffee.

[staehpj1]

But to pack 3 pounds of gear to make coffee is crazy to me

Calculation:

1. Stove.
2. fuel
3. pot
4. coffee.
5. grinder (optional - mine's 300 g)

It all adds up to about 3 pounds.

If you already have the pot, stove and fuel for other reasons, and you're making cowboy coffee, then the only additional weight is that of the coffee.   Just the grinder is more than I carry to cook, prepare, and eat my meals.

Juan Valdez must be beaming with joy at all this.

...and his donkey, too.

Right - only tire and frame choices generate more discussion than the politics of coffee.

I absolutely love my coffee even though I am far from a coffee snob.  That said all the fuss over it when on tour baffles me.  I usually don't even bother with making coffee in camp and catch a few cups when I can on the road at second breakfast.  So 3 pounds of stuff including a grinder sounds like a lot to me.  My stove, pot, pot stand, wind screen, and utensils in some cases under 7 ounces when I use the alcohol stove (not counting a few ounces of fuel and I do carry a good bit more when I take other stoves).  My bivy, tarp, stakes, cords, sleeping bag, and pillow along with associated stuffsacks is almosy half a pound under the 3 pounds you mention, so I'd be pretty quick to balk at 3 pounds of stuff for coffee.

[froze]

But to pack 3 pounds of gear to make coffee is crazy to me

Calculation:

1. Stove.
2. fuel
3. pot
4. coffee.
5. grinder (optional - mine's 300 g)

It all adds up to about 3 pounds.

If you already have the pot, stove and fuel for other reasons, and you're making cowboy coffee, then the only additional weight is that of the coffee.

Juan Valdez must be beaming with joy at all this.

...and his donkey, too.

Right - only tire and frame choices generate more discussion than the politics of coffee.

I tried the cowboy thing, it did not turn out good at all, it was nasty!  I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I did it at the house so I would know how to do it out camping, I wasted a lot coffee trying to make cowboy coffee, but I'm not much of a cook either, but I do pretty good making Turkish coffee, which is supposedly almost the same method as Turkish coffee except you boil the water for cowboy coffee whereas you don't boil the water with Turkish.  Anyway, I could not make it right.

[HikeBikeCook]

Cowboy coffee is easy. Bring measured amount of water to boil - when rolling boil shut off. Add coffee - I use one rounded coffee scoop per 6 oz. of water. Now cover and let steep until the grinds settle to the bottom. Decant from pot to cup to not stir up the grinds. Variations call for adding egg shells to "clarify" the coffee or salt.

[froze]

I tried that method for cowboy coffee too, except for the eggshells because I know when I'm camping eggshells will not be around.  I watched a lot of videos on how to make cowboy coffee and this method you mention is the most common but they all tasted nasty.  Maybe it's just my taste preferences?

[staehpj1]

I tried that method for cowboy coffee too, except for the eggshells because I know when I'm camping eggshells will not be around.  I watched a lot of videos on how to make cowboy coffee and this method you mention is the most common but they all tasted nasty.  Maybe it's just my taste preferences?

If you really must make coffee in camp why not drip or french press?

The GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip is 11 grams, about $9 and doesn't require paper filters.  There are other similar choices from other brands.

There are a number of choices for french press.  Your cup/pot may have a press option available.  Something like the $$$ Snow Peak Titanium French Press is nice and makes good coffee.

If I were to take something I'd probably opt for the GSI drip one, but I haven't been making coffee on tour on most tours (bought coffee at a diner if available or did without).  Backpacking I used Via on my most recent trips.

[HikeBikeCook]

I tried that method for cowboy coffee too, except for the eggshells because I know when I'm camping eggshells will not be around.  I watched a lot of videos on how to make cowboy coffee and this method you mention is the most common but they all tasted nasty.  Maybe it's just my taste preferences?

Could be the pot you were using as well. To me aluminum adds a bad taste, and I won't use it for health reasons anyway. I have also used 2 Maxwell House (Folgers if desperate) coffee bags the same way and it is okay. We grind 100% organic Arabica beans at home or I make espresso using Bustillo. I have been drinking more Earl Grey Tea at camp these days. When you get as old as me you wake up at 4:30 AM on your own.  

[froze]

I tried that method for cowboy coffee too, except for the eggshells because I know when I'm camping eggshells will not be around.  I watched a lot of videos on how to make cowboy coffee and this method you mention is the most common but they all tasted nasty.  Maybe it's just my taste preferences?

Could be the pot you were using as well. To me aluminum adds a bad taste, and I won't use it for health reasons anyway. I have also used 2 Maxwell House (Folgers if desperate) coffee bags the same way and it is okay. We grind 100% organic Arabica beans at home or I make espresso using Bustillo. I have been drinking more Earl Grey Tea at camp these days. When you get as old as me you wake up at 4:30 AM on your own.

I didn't cook it while camping, that would have entailed using an AL pot, but I cooked it at home in a stainless-steel pot.  The doc told me to stay away from tea of any sort because tea contributes to the production of kidney stones which I had a problem with, note I said had, I was getting a stone about every 6 months, the doc gave me a diet plan and since then I've haven't had one stone, it's been 5 years since I got my last stone.   I use Bustillo as well for my espresso, but I do change it up too from using Lavazza Super Cream Espresso to, Kirkland Signature Starbucks Espresso because I can get that stuff locally, but I can also get and I tried Peets and it wasn't good at all, and the other I can get is Death Wish, but I can't justify spending $20 for a small bag of coffee which is why I don't go to the local roasters in town either because they run $20 and up for small bags.  I'm sort of cheap!  LOL!!!  I did one time to see what it was like and splurged and got a bag of fresh roasted espresso from that local roaster place, it was good, but not remarkably so, not enough to justify the expense.