Outdoor Adventure USA

French Press

Somehow, the presses have multiplied. I need a stainless steel press for camping. Glass just was not advised. These presses are not cheap.
They have a patented double micro-filter keeps your cup extraordinarily free of grit and sludge. In the picture, I have separated the two filters on the middle one.

The small one is good for one person and you could drink directly out of the press, except it is too hot. The insulated double-walled stainless steel keeps the coffee hot for hours.

The middle one is 18 oz and is good for 2 full sized cups plus a bit more. Just right first thing in the morning.

The big one is 32 oz. After dinner, 4 people can get one full size cup of coffee.



ESPRO P7 French press, 32 Ounce, Polished Stainless Steel
by Espro

coffee Go Bag


In my case it is actually a Go Box.
Just add water. Coffee anytime, anywhere.

Camp Espresso

If your taste for coffee is more of a European or West Coast bent your may want an espresso, latte, cappuccino or similar drink in the morning. Fear not, options are available so you don't need to bring your $600 Breville espresso machine and a generator to get your espresso fix.

Basic Stove Top Espresso Maker (Moka Pot)





The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was invented by an Italian engineer named Alfonso Bialetti in 1933 and quickly became one of the staples of Italian culture. - Wikipedia

These stove top espresso makers are relatively common and can be purchased new for as little as $20. I used one of these for many years to make one mug of very strong coffee in the morning while camping. The resulting brew tends to be on the harsh and somewhat bitter side as the water temperature is on the high side of being optimal plus if you completely fill the coffee holder between the upper and lower portions the coffee to water ratio is higher than with most other stove top espresso makers.

The benefit of using one of these for camping is that it's inexpensive, relatively compact, uses relatively little water (assuming you like REALLY strong coffee), and is very easy to clean. The coffee grounds left in the cup (or funnel in the diagram above) are surprisingly dry and form a well packed "puck" which often comes completely out with an inverted tap on the side of a trash can. The top and the cup can just be wiped out for cleaning.

Bialetti Mukka Express





This is similar to the basic stove top espresso maker with the added feature of a special device that steams milk placed in the top as the water is forced from the bottom through the coffee in the cup and into the top. I used one of these for quite a few years after seeing one on very cold off road trip one January.

This maker produces a pretty good cup of cappuccino or a latte if you use more milk. It has the advantage that everything takes place in one unit which is just a little larger than the simple one above.

They now have a model where the upper part is clear so you can monitor what it going on. One drawback I've found is that it's easy to add just a little bit too much water in the bottom or milk in the top and the unit will boil over making a mess of your stove. With the clear top it is easier to catch it and remove it from the heat if it's about to boil over.

These are more difficult to clean than the simple unit above. The spent grounds in the cup are wetter and take more work to extract. Plus not that you're using milk in the top it is necessary to wash it out between uses.

Full Tilt Espresso Press and Accessories



Here is an example of a high end traditional Italian espresso machine. Hauling one of these around on the trail would be extremely impressive but highly impractical. The point of showing it is that the one key characteristic of high end espresso machines is that the hot water is forced through the coffee grounds using a hand powered single pull pump. This allows fine control over the pressure applied and the amount of time it takes to "pull" the coffee.

There are many variables that go into a truly great cup of espresso. The mark of a good barista is mastering these variables to provide consistent results.



A simplified and more compact version of this is the ROK espresso press. Finely ground coffee goes into the cup or "portafilter" which attaches to the unit below the pump. With this unit, hot water is poured into the top and the levers are slowly lifted to draw the water into the pump. Then the levers are pushed down slightly to initially wet the coffee. The amount of you wait between wetting the coffee and the continuing with the "pull" is one of the many variables in making espresso. To complete the pull pressure is applied equally to both levers to force the water through the coffee and into the cup below.

This unit can produce excellent results once you figure out how balance all of the variables that go into using it. It can be a little messy to clean and recycle for another cup. There always is a small amount of water left in the bottom of the pump which runs out when you remove the portafilter. I found it best to hold it over the ground away from your table when removing the portafilter. The grounds are also wetter but they come out fairly well with a tap and any remnants can easily be wiped out with a cloth.



Since the ROK is only a coffee press with no way to heat the water you will need a kettle for that purpose. A pan can work but you have to be very careful pouring the water into the top to avoid making a mess. The more traditional way of heating water for this type of espresso press is with a goose neck kettle preferably with a thermometer so that the water is heated to the ideal temperature which is slightly below boiling at sea level.





Now that you have that prefect cup of espresso what do you do if want it mixed with steamed milk for a cappuccino or latte? Well, there is the stove top milk steamer. This device just produces steam. It is a little unnerving at first to use since you put water in it and leave it on the stove for what seems like a very long time as the water heats under increasing pressure. Eventually, the blow off valve will pop and you know that the maximum pressure has been reached. The water is hot enough and under enough pressure that about 3 cups of milk can be steamed until you need to refill and reheat it.

The ideal temperature for the steamed milk is between 140F and 160F. If the milk is heated above 160F the lactose begins to break down losing the natural sweetness of the milk. Therefore you should also have a frothing thermometer.

The milk steamer can also be used to make an excellent cup of hot chocolate.

This may seem like a lot of paraphernalia to carry around for making coffee but it's fun and different to get it out and play camp barista and it provides a little luxury people are not expecting on the trail. And it weighs a heck of a lot less that the dutch oven stuff most of use are already carrying around ,

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THE PERFECT CUP OF COFFEE
I wanted to share about brewing a really good cup of coffee. All of the other posts have already covered so many aspects of this wonderful and amazing drink. Brewing that perfect cup of coffee is all about balancing a few important variables, so I thought I would contribute a little overview of a specific variable that is often overlooked.

One of the often overlooked variables is water temperature. It also happens to be one of the easiest to control, but requires a little effort and you never have to worry about it again.

Understanding how water temperature affects your coffee can accomplish a few things for you. It gives you water that’s consistent and reliable without having to think about it. It also enables you to focus on the other important variables like water quality, coffee storage, grind quality, bean type, etc.

Here is a rundown on the best water temperature for coffee and how you can find what works best for your taste.

HOW WATER AFFECTS COFFEE EXTRACTION
As I’m sure many already know, the hotter your water, the more quickly it extracts flavors from the coffee grounds. Near-boiling water only takes 2-4 minutes to produce a balanced extraction. Cold water, however, can take anywhere from 3-24 hours to produce cold brew coffee.
Most sources would say that the ideal temperature range for hot brewing is 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is hot enough to extract carefully and quickly, but not so hot that it’s uncontrollable.

• Coffee over 205 degrees Fahrenheit tends to over extract from the grounds, producing bitter coffee.
• Water under 195 degrees has a difficult time extracting, which often leads to sour or underdeveloped coffee.

The 195 to 205 degree range is not to be considered an objective standard of water temperature for coffee brewing. It’s just the range that most people around the coffee world tend to use the most because it tends to make the best, most balanced and consistent cup of Joe.

There are many coffee professionals who use lower temperatures to achieve different results in their coffee. For instance, if you are using a french press or an Aeropress, then lower temperatures can be amazing. One of the Aeropress Championship finalists in 2013 used water at 176 degrees. Others I have heard of use 190 degrees in the Aeropress.

In any case, you can't go wrong with the tried and true classic range of 195 to 205 degrees.

For camp coffee, I cannot recommend a better method than the simple pour over method. My favorite, is using a Kalita Wave Coffee Dripper. 

Amazon Link to Kalita Wave
Using this with a kettle to heat your water allows you to control the water temperature, and the ration of coffee to water to an exact ratio.

Here is a simple picture of a pour over with a camp kettle.

Amazon Link to Pour Over Kettle
AFFECTS OF ALTITUDE
The last point on water temperature for Pour Over coffee is the altitude you are at.

If you are at sea level (1 atmosphere or 14.7psia) then water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This is way too hot and will strip all of the things in the coffee that you do not want and your coffee will be bitter. (Okay, some of us like it a little bitter but that's why this is so subjective!)

If however, you find yourself at 5,000 ft above sea level the water you boil will be exactly 203 degrees F.

Here is a chart of the various boiling points of water at different elevations.
You can see that if you are between 5,000 ft and 9,000 ft above sea level, then hot water at its boiling point is perfect for brewing. At less than 3,000 ft you should wait until the water cools a bit before brewing your coffee.

So give the good old simple pour over a try the next time you decide on that perfect cup of coffee. All I can tell you is that after a few experiments I am now totally spoiled!

CAMP COFFEE MOCHACCINO (Frappuccino is a trademarked brand of the Starbucks Corporation)

Okay this is a bit tricky. In order to make this at a campsite, you will need to have ice and whipped cream along with what's left (5 oz) of your morning coffee. All of that is pretty reasonable but this next item is a little more difficult. You will need a full on bar blender. Not the whimpy Oster (which is a darn good blender by the way!) but a full-on commercial bar blender or at least an 11 amp Vita-Mix. The Vita-Mix is the only blender that I have found that can handle turning ice into a double smooth ice blended drink. So unless there is electricity at your camp site, or you have a decent generator, it will be tough to run that blender. There are gas powered monsters but that's a whole other story.

In any case, many of you may have had one of my Ice Blended Mocha drinks so I thought I would share the recipe.

I tried a ton of different types and many different blends but the one that I have made at a couple of Field Day trips for folks is this one.

First "the mix" so here is my big secret. It's Big Train Mocha Mix.

Link to Big Train on Amazon It is available on Amazon and you can get this 3.5lb bag for about $28.

The Ice Blended Mochas that I made on Field day were the Low Carb Version and I actually really like it the best.

Amazon Link to Low Carb Mix
Each of these will have the recipe right on the bag but it is basically
• Two scoops of mix (about 1/2 cup of mix)
• 5 oz of coffee with a little low fat milk (5 oz total per 16 oz drink)
• a 16 oz solo cup filled with ice.

The Blender will work better when you make two at a time.
Once you have two 16 oz drinks all blended, pour them back into the 16 oz cups. I like to use a Java Jacket so that my fingers don't get cold... Okay no wise cracks! Nothing worse than trying to enjoy one of these things with cold fingers!

I also like to use the Solo Dome lids so that the whipped cream stays put... and of course you need those Jumbo Heavy Duty Straws. Regular straws just won't cut it. I use individually wrapped 10 inch red straws so they match the cups.

Full disclosure: getting the dome lids used to be hard but you can find them on Amazon now. However, the Java Jackets are a bit more difficult. I had to buy 1,000 of them (the smallest quantity I could buy at the time) so I have an almost lifetime supply. My wife is convinced that I am officially OCD. All I can say is that I am only about 2/3 through the supply and I have been using them since 1995!
Finally, after adding some whipped cream, here is the drink many of you may recognize.
Only thing left is to enjoy!

Wish I could make on for you all here tonight. Here's to you all from me and my wife Dena. (She helped me with the pictures!!)


Jack

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