What is the lightest weight way to make coffee on the trail. I am not looking to carry a stove for the purpose of cooking food and am willing to eat dry or dehydrated food to not carry a stove. The moe i think about a caffeine pill as apposed to a cup of coffee though the more i am thinking i need to figure a way to make a couple cups of coffee in the morning.

If you hike in places where it's okay to build a small fire, you could do that. Starbucks Via is about as light as it gets and it tastes great. One of the best pieces of ultralight backpacking gear to come out in the last couple of years, in my opinion. ;)

You'll still need a mug, but a Snowpeak 600 only weighs 2.8 oz.

If you don't want to build fires, or can't due to regulations, a homemade alcohol stove and enough fuel for a couple cups of coffee will only cost you another 4-5 oz or so.

Is coffee worth 7-8 oz? I think it is. Plus, the fuel weight goes down as you use it. However, I do skip it on fastpacking trips.

I just bought a Backcountry Boiler. It's 8 oz, plus another 1.5 oz if I want to carry the stopper and insulated sleeve. I'll also have to carry a small cup to go along with it, for a total of 9-10.5 oz. Slightly heavier than the alcohol setup on an overnight when I plan to cook both dinner and make coffee, but on longer trips, it's a pretty good weight savings. On top of that, it's safer, less hassle, and more efficient. Can't wait to get it!

Personally I carry Starbucks Via coffee but those should probably be used with hot water. I imagine that you could carry a small esbit or similar stove to warm up some water when you wanted a cup. The Via packs weigh .1 oz per packet. I have also used espresso flavored gels for caffeine. They aren't bad but definitely are not a substitute for a real cup of coffee.


Edit: Nate beat me to it :)

Edited by heathpitts on 06/15/2011 06:05:41 MDT.

I drink two French presses of coffee in the am before i even leave the house. Well i take teh dogs out to the bathroom but that's about it. I have a pretty good caffeine addiction going if you can imagine. I was thinking those where my answers/options. Looks like i can add another 7-8 ounces to that base weight.

All the more reason to get that Tarp ehy?

I've been told that you can make Via with cold water, but I've never tried it. Their Italian roast is pretty good for instant.

For my lightest stove setup I use a titanium Esbit wing stove, a 400ml ti mug with a foil lid, and a MYOG windscreen from aluminum flashing. I use Starbucks Via for coffee with it. The rig allows making hot drinks, instant soups and single serving dehydrated meals and weighs about 4oz.

>I've been told that you can make Via with cold water, but I've never tried it. Their Italian roast is pretty good for instant.

Heck, I regularly eat the coffee right out of the little packet. I spoonful of nonfat, dried milk as a chaser makes it a complete meal.

Note: the Folgers version of the little packets are a lot cheaper and deliver the same bolt of instant energy. They are also crunchier since they are crystals and not micro-ground.

I've also done the same thing in cold water. The milk and Starbucks dissolve well. The Folgers needs hot (or at least warm) water.

Eating instant coffee sounds disgusting, I know. I got into the habit driving home from all-night stargazing sessions after no sleep for sometimes 2.5 days. As my wife likes to say, "There's a bridge abutment out there with your name on it."

Stargazer

Cold coffee can be pretty rough. Instant can be good cold depending on the brand. I remember mixing instant Tasters Choice with instant creamer and sweetener for a coffee paste used on breakfast cookies. Then again, I like mushy grits and mushy rice, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

If water supply will be an issue and you will need to carry coffee anyways, I just take a Starbucks canned double espresso or Rockstar's coffee energy drink, which worked out well on my May backpack. Need to carry the water anyways and, though coffee is a diuretic, the canned drinks provide some water.


Not sure about coffee concentrates. Haven't used on yet that doesn't avoid the acidity of old, standing coffee. Like the concept though.

Edited by hknewman on 06/15/2011 08:04:48 MDT.

Does it have to be coffee? You could make tea. You could also eat shot blocks or something like that. I once found energy gummy bears at a gas station. Flew up the hills after eating them.

Good point. Come to think of it Peanut Butter Toffee Buzz Cliff bars have quite a caffeine kick to them.

Stargazer

If i just wanted caffeine though i would just take caffeine pills. I try my best to eat all non precessed foods and no refined sugars. I am also dairy free so i am very limited to what i will eat. Jells Cliff blocks and all that are outa the question. So are energy drinks and those canned Starsucks pre maid cofffe drinks.

I think 5 oz for a cup of real coffee sound like a pretty good deal. Now if i could just figure out a SULW French press as apposed to the JetBoil one. If i could figure that out i would be in heaven as no way in hell i am gonna carry a JetBoil for three season running. Now winter climbing and camping is a whole different story. I can;t wait to get that New Ti jet boil in the French press when and if they ever come out with it?

Have you considered making coffee the ol' Cowboy method? Can't get much lighter than that!

Here's a good article that covers the basics and some options: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/coffee_beautiful_cup.html

I will finished reading this later as the dogs need a walk before the heat of the day kicks in. But i am def a coffee snob of sorts so even those StarSucks home brew things don't really excite me tbh.

On the other hand i never did mind a few grounds of coffee in my mouth to chew on. Well so long as it was good coffee and not garbage ;)

Cowboy coffee it will be for me. I would just make a little fire and carry a small cup but many of the places i travel camp fires are not allowed. Ow well looks like i am gonna have to make a little alky stove :( I really really did not want to carry a stove!!!!!

>" looks like i am gonna have to make a little alky stove :( I really really did not want to carry a stove!<"

Perhaps you could carry a few Esbit tabs and use a few small rocks (or three Ti stakes stuck in the ground) as the "pot stand?"

Patrick,

Don't read this one. ;-)

For the rest of the coffee addicts (like me) out there:

Emile Zola used to compliment his late-night writing sessions by chewing and sucking on coffee beams kind of like one might use chewing tobacco. You get the pure coffee flavor in a totally natural way and then spit out the remnants. It's actually a good way of judging coffee in the store. (I've seen real coffee purists do it.)

Edited by nerdboy52 on 06/15/2011 09:33:17 MDT.

Wish you had never mentioned that as i am sure at some point i will now be compelled to load my cheek up with wad of grounds lol....

I like the metal stakes rocks and esbit idea. I wonder how that will fly when the National Park Service catches me in the act of that one?

In regards to chewing coffee grounds, why not try chocolate covered espresso beans?

Either way, wonder what the caffeine kick would be? Brewing would likely release more caffeine than grinding and chewing between teeth. Food for thought.

Patrick the jet boil press also works with the SP700 pot/mug If you want to buy one I have two and I dont even drink coffee

Snow peak 700 pot with foil lid 3.2 oz jetboil press 0.8 oz esbit tabs 0.6 oz each One of my old GFs was a starbucks freak.... or was she a freak who liked starbucks coffee

Edited by mtmnmark on 06/15/2011 11:58:07 MDT.

>why not try chocolate covered espresso beans

Oh, mama, what a good idea!

Addictedly,

Stargazer

P.S.On another matter, I'd want to hold the crushed beans under my lip a while to infuse the caffeine more directly into the bloodstream.