Top 7 Ways To Brew Coffee In The Great Outdoors by Kristopher Loosemore

Top 7 Ways To Brew Coffee In The Great Outdoors

A real problem for people that love coffee AND love the outdoors is to get their daily fix while exploring the backwoods. There are dozens of different ways to brew coffee in the great outdoors, but most people wander nature to escape their complicated lives.

From camping for a night at a local campground to backpacking for a month through the wilderness, here are my top seven ways to brew coffee while you're away from society.

1. Make Your Own Coffee Bags

Coffee can be a pain to clean if you don't have running water while you're camping. Making your own little coffee filter bags is a great way to streamline your camping experience. Just tie pre-measured single serving ground coffee into a coffee filter and voila! No messy

Making coffee bags is my favorite backpacking hack for coffee. In my previous post, I mentioned six useful ways to use coffee filters. This tip is similar to making teabags, which can quickly be done for backpacking, as well.

2. Dirtbag Coffee

Why is this tip called Dirtbag Coffee? Brewing your coffee inside a sock is as dirtbag as it gets.

Yes. I said that correctly. What kind of dirtbag uses their own sock for making coffee? I do. It becomes particularly handy in the backwoods since a sock is reusable, easily washed in a stream, and you don't have to carry gross used coffee filters full of coffee beans for days on a backpacking trip (pack-in, pack-out anyone?).

Just dump the beans out of your sock after brewing your coffee into a small trash bag and wash the sock in a nearby stream. Dirtbag trick? Yes. Incredibly practical? Also yes.

3. Instant Coffee

Arguably the most practical way of getting your coffee fix in the backwoods is bringing a small jar of instant coffee. It even mixes well in regular warm water in case you're too lazy to heat some water in the morning.

For diehard fans of coffee (particularly in America), this usually isn't an option. We tend to prefer the morning ritual over rolling out of your sleeping bag to a shitty cup of coffee. But there have been some major improvements in instant coffee in the past five years. In particular, to the instant espresso.

The significant improvements in instant coffee may be because a large percentage of the world does prefer instant coffee over freshly brewed coffee, but I digress! Consider this easy alternative while you're camping. It's that easy.

4. French Press

My favorite travel companion item is my small, plastic french press that is nearly indestructible. My traveling french press is smaller than a bottle of water, insanely easy to use, and brews a fresh cup of coffee in no time.

I have used these small french presses on boats, hiking through mountains, and sitting in Antarctica. It is one of the handiest coffee gadgets I own.

5. Tea Ball

While it may sound weird that you would use a tea ball for coffee, it is a smart way to steep your beans in the backwoods. The tea ball seals well enough to make sure none of the coffee leaks out and can easily be washed. I like to use medium-roast coffee for this, as dark coffee steeping in hot water tends to taste burned after a while. Check out our medium-roast coffee here:

Red Fox Mexico Altura Medium Roast

I usually fill up the tea ball with my favorite ground coffee, throw it into a thermos or mug, and pour hot water into the mug. Let it steep for a couple of minutes and pull it out! If you want to be particularly hardcore, leave the little ball of coffee inside the mug until you're done with your coffee. As you drink your coffee, it will get progressively stronger!

6. Drip Coffee Maker

A drip-system a small, plastic and mesh device that you add cone-shaped filters into to pour hot water over your ground coffee. It is a great way to make only one cup of coffee and an even better way to get a great tasting cup of coffee.

I have used this system many times while traveling but in the backwoods, it's not the easiest option. First, you have to have a relatively flat area to set up the pour-over coffee. Otherwise, you'll end up spilling coffee everywhere. Using the drip method is, however, my favorite way to get the best tasting coffee so if you're confident that you won't spill coffee all over yourself, give it a try!

7. Cowboy Coffee

The Cowboys were simple people. Preferring easy ways to make food in the backwoods, they still didn't skimp on their coffee. They were, however, pretty rough people. Drinking cowboy coffee isn't always a great experience.

Cowboy coffee is easy. Get hot water in a cup and pour your ground coffee beans into the water. While this is probably the easiest solution to coffee in the outdoors, you're bound to get a mouthful of ground beans in every cup. It's inevitable. Just accept it and enjoy chewing your coffee.

For me, I try not to complicate this part of my life while I'm enjoying nature.

Some of the easiest tricks to brewing coffee in the backwoods are my go-to coffee routines in the real world, as well.