Staff Videocast: Cowboy Coffee

Very nice video. I liked it a lot. Hope you do videos on even more stuff in the future. I shall give some of these tips some tries.

I used the GSI H2jo Coffee Filter. It fits on top of a water bottle. I use a 1 liter bottel with a home made cozy. Pour water in, close cap, let sit upside down for 3 min. +/-. Makes great coffee everytime, and with the cozy, even in winter it is HOT.

At the risk of offending coffee afficianados, I like to use General Mills International Delights. I use cream and suger in my coffee, and this just seems like the easiest way to to do that. I boil water in my Snow Peak mini-solo, over my alki stove, add three spoonfulls, stir and drink. By the way I drink Fresh ground Kona coffee at home, not crap. Let the name calling begin. By the way, I want to download the song too! Who is that? I tried to Shazam it on my iPhone, it doesn't know it. Bummer!

Man! I just re-read that post, and I sound like a real jerk! Oops! I'm really a nice guy. My name is Ritz I used my wife's credit card to sign up so I gues I'll be Judith here. I want to thank everyone here for all that I've read here. I'm learning sooo much! Peace y'all.

Edited by ritzhenson on 01/17/2009 12:21:59 MST.

"Hey, NoDoze is a lot lighter than all those "luxury" caffeine fixes."

You're not alone, Mike. NoDoze is my recreational drug of choice when I go cold food.

For "Cowboy Coffee" I've found a finer grind to work better than coarser grinds, particularly at higher elevations where the water boils at a lower temperature. My hypothesis is that a finer grind exposes more coffee ground surface area to the water, yielding a more thorough extraction. Should work at all elevations, but increasingly important the higher I go. It also uses less coffee. Downside is that it takes a bit more effort to clean the cup, which is where I steep my coffee. I use a Rubbermaid cup(wrapped in 3 layers of Duct tape in lieu of a cozy) and after adding very hot(not boiling) water and coffee, stir, snap the lid on, wait 5 minutes, stir gently again to settle the remaining grounds, and enjoy. Aaaahhhh.

Hey, great videocast, music, ideas 'n all! But where was the cowboy coffe? Back at the ranch, in Montana, we made ours by boiling water in a blue enamal coffee boiler, then throwing in a handful of grounds, a pinch of salt and a crushed up egg shell. The salt helped neutralize the acids to give a smooth taste, and the egg shells helped settle the grounds. Now, you don't need a blue enamel coffee boiler to do this, but Montana tradition dictates the rest as essential for authentic cowboy coffee. Uh huh, mmmm! Happy trails.

Roger, again your MYOG continues to impress ! Did you source that locally in Oz, and can I ask what the mesh sizing is (I assume it has a sizing like thread has a denier and paper a gsm and the like), and did you 'press' it yourself ?

Overall nice thread and topic - I have been considering giving away the mini-espresso machine that I have been wedded to when walking for 15 years.... and was recently thinking 'I wonder how folks make cowboy coffee ?' And now I know !

I've been using the Mini-Minit coffee filters for backpacking for years:




They work great! They're practically weightless and you can leave the plastic stick at home unless wooden sticks can't be found where you're going. Perfect for loose leaf tea as well. You can get them at Amazon also.

G

Edited by swearingen on 02/19/2009 05:54:12 MST.

I got an eMail from SBUX offering free samples (get 'em whilst they last...!) of a new (shudder) instant (shudder) coffee.... I'm going to try it (under controlled circumstances...), but I'm not expecting much. It would be nice not to have to deal with the grounds, I suppose.

http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/c17-instant-coffee.aspx

I still don't see the problem with Folger's singles.

Hi Julian

Sorry - missed your query. Probably away at the time.

I made it myself using a fine SS mesh, SS Mig welding wire and a small spot welder. Circle base and rectangle wall.

Mesh size ... Um ... I don't know. Certainly a fine filter mesh, but the fabric was actually scavenged.

But there are plenty of alternatives around, including one from GSI: "Ultralight Java Drip 79460"

cheers

I basically do cowboy style coffee but then I filter the finished product through my MSR mugmate. This works a lot better than putting the grinds directly in the mugmate and either pouring water off it (which just runs out the sides) or submerging it in a mug (which takes forever and makes weak coffee).

I supposed I could just use a regular paper coffee filter instead of the Mug Mate, but I don't really need that fine of filtration and that's slower (although lighter unless you're going for weeks).

The problem with Folger's singles is: Flavor. Yes, it's an individual preference, and yes, I am a self-proclaimed "coffee snob".

In September I bought some instant coffee that was recently introduced at Starbucks. They claimed it would taste as good as their fresh brewed and I found this, to my surprise, to be true. No extra equipment needed, just boil,pour and drink with your usual additives.

Snowguy is absolutely right. This stuff is really good, and I HATE instant coffee... It's called VIA. I just wish they sold it in other than individual packets.

My morning cup of "Joe" is one of my favorite rituals, instead of brewing I'm sipping the Starbucks Columbian instant and by choice. Its awesome ;0)