Timothy,

Let me second your appeal for lightweight solutions to good coffee. I used to bring a plastic melita filter holder (2 oz.), melita filters, pre-ground coffee, and a pre-mix of powdered milk and sugar. The coffee was quite good, certainly good enough. However, the weight! It isn't so much the melita holder and filters as the wet, used coffee grounds that you then carry with you in your garbage bag for the rest of the trip. Since I do all of my backpacking in the Grand Canyon, I have no options for disposal or burning other than carrying it out. As a result, this last trip I discarded the melita and went to a -- for me -- novel solution. I combined some very exotic hot chocolate powder/chili/other ingredients (from an individual in Taos)with the best freeze-dried instant espresso (Italian) I could find. I dole out about 4 spoonfuls of this mixture, add hot water, stir (a lot), and the result is an intense, actually very intense mocha drink. It certainly provides the morning lift. There is nothing to carry other than the mix. There is no garbage produced. And it is sufficiently different from ordinary coffee that I don't find myself wishing it were a little more this or that. It just is what it is. Different from the morning capuccino I make at home every morning.
So that's my current solution. But as I wrote above, I am wide open for other alternatives.

David