How to Make Coffee in the Outdoors

There are different ways of making coffee in the outdoors. Each method will influence the taste and strength of the coffee.

No single method is right for everyone. The method you choose depends on how you like your camping coffee and how much hassle you're willing to take to make coffee the way you like it.

For some people, their preference for coffee changes depending on what part of the day it is. You might have to try each one of these methods to find the one which suits you best.

To make pot-and-fire coffee, all you need is a pot or a saucepan to boil water.

• Heat the pot of water on a stove or campfire
• Take the pot off the heat source
• Add a couple of scoops of coffee depending on how much water there is and how strong you want the coffee to be
• Wait for 10 minutes or so to let the coffee brew and to give the coffee grounds a chance to settle

Some people like to add cold water to settle the grounds. You can also bury the pot in sand to reduce heat loss while you let the coffee grounds settle. There are some other variations of making coffee this way.

Some like to boil the water with the coffee added and some like to boil slowly over hot coals instead of an open fire. The guy in the video below uses a sock as a coffee filter.

The cold brew method is probably the least known way of making coffee but it’s also one of the best. You can cold brew your coffee at home and take the extract with you for a week’s supply of camping coffee.

Cold-brewed coffee has a much “purer” taste with less acidity, no bitter aftertaste and more flavor. It’s “coffee as nature intended”. It’s also good for those who worry about their cholesterol level.

Unfortunately cold-brewing coffee takes time (3 - 12 hours) but once you have the extract it’s almost like instant coffee except that it’s in liquid form. All you have to do when you need hot coffee is add hot water. Sugar and milk are optional.

To make cold-brew coffee you need a jar with a lid, a flask (or any container) and something to filter the coffee.

• Start by putting 5-6 tablespoons of coffee (medium-course grind seems best) in the jar.
• Then add about 4 times the amount of water (at room temperature) into the jar and stir the mixture with a spoon to make sure there are no lumps. 
• Now close the lid and let it stand for 12 hours in room temperature. Some say 3 hours is fine. (Why not try do both and do a taste test?)
• After you’ve given the coffee enough time to brew, it’s time to filter. You can use a strainer or fine coffee filter.
• Once filtered, you can now store the coffee extract or add water to it (hot or cold) to start enjoying some great tasting coffee. 
• The extract can make 2 or 3 cups of coffee. The amount of water needed is equal to the amount of extract or as you like.

The French press method is one of the most popular methods of making coffee in general and also one of the simplest. The equipment consists of a cylindrical glass container equipped with a lid and plunger. Many campers and backpackers love to use the French press because it’s portable and simple to use.

It’s called the French press because it was invented in France in the 1850s. Other known names for the French press include coffee press, press pot, coffee plunger and cafetiere.

It’s better to use course or medium-course grounds to make coffee with the French press to minimize the presence of solids in the final product.

• First you boil water in a pot and while waiting for the water to boil, put some coffee in the beaker. Once the water is boiled, take the pot off the stove and count to ten.
• Pour the slightly cooled hot water into the beaker and put on the plunger at the top without depressing it.
• Wait for one minute and then stir the mixture.
• Now put the plunger back on but don’t depress yet.
• Wait for a few minutes (depending on how strong you want your coffee but not too long) and then depress the plunger very slowly.
• Don’t force the plunger in if you encounter too much resistance because you might spill out the coffee.

The percolator is also a popular tool for making coffee in the outdoors. The thing about percolators is that the coffee grounds tend to be over-extracted resulting in a pleasant aroma but a less flavorful coffee.

There are two types of percolator:

• One that forces boiling water up through the coffee grounds into a separate chamber at the top.
• One that also forces boiling water up a spout but this time bypasses the coffee grounds and brews the coffee through gravity from the top dropping back down onto the remaining boiling water. The water in cycled through the grounds until the required strength is reached.

Portable espresso makers have recently become very popular thanks to the likes of Aeropress, Mypressi Twist and Handpresso.

Espresso machines make coffee by pushing hot water under pressure through some coffee grounds. This pressure is achieved in portable espresso makers by using a gas canister, by pumping or by using trapped air.

Mypressi Twist uses a gas canister similar to those used in cream whippers. Handpresso works by pumping and the Aeropress uses air trapped in the chamber.