Making sure that you can be as packed full of caffeine as possible while on the trail is one of the most enjoyable elements of hiking. Taking a short break to sip at a steaming cup of heaven is a wonderful thing, and it’s an element of hiking that we’d surely miss.
We’d also be remiss not to mention the idea of having coffee first thing in the morning on a camping trip. When waking in the great outdoors, you’ll want a coffee just as much as you would at home – being able to sip a coffee while face to face with nature feels almost religious to some.
In this article, we’re going to talk about the best ways to brew great coffee while you’re camping, hiking, or otherwise in the great outdoors!
For now, we’re going to be concerned with the brewing process itself, and not the process of making sure you’ve got boiling hot water – any method of boiling water will be perfectly adequate for the methods we describe here.
Aeropress and Aeropress Go
For what feels like a hundred lifetimes, the Aeropress has been the undisputed king of brewing on the go. It’s a small, resilient brewer that conveniently packs down into a small bag – it’s virtually designed for being taken on the road.
There are even small grinders that have been specifically designed to fit within the hollow plunger of the Aeropress, allowing you to carry yet more coffee equipment in the same space – how innovative!
The basic Aeropress was superseded a little in 2019 with the advent of the Aeropress Go. This new brewer was designed to be a smaller, more portable version of the classic Aeropress. It has a slightly lower liquid capacity, and the assorted components it’s made up of are either smaller or collapsible.
This is a great way to bring your coffee making everywhere in an even smaller package, though it might not be entirely necessary – the original Aeropress was already a godsend for portable coffee, so the Go was hailed by some as… a little pointless.
Whether it’s up to you which brewer you might prefer for your specific backpack, there’s no denying that the concept of a straightforward press brewer as resilient as the Aeropress is wonderful for nature-loving coffee fiends. The Aeropress is small and virtually indestructible, as well as being deeply forgiving when you’re working in less than ideal conditions – what more could be asked of any travel brewer?
Coffee Brewing Straw
This is something that’s a lot more new and unique than a lot of other offerings on the market – the JoGo straw is, essentially, an extremely compact way of brewing your drink right in the mug.
The JoGo is a metal straw that’s roughly the same shape and size as any other straw, though with one main difference – there’s a filtration system at the base of the straw, between the body of the straw and the liquid that it’s sat in.
The reason for this is simple. Essentially, the brewer allows you to add ground coffee and water to a mug, before using the straw to sip at the mixture over time. The hot water will immediately extract the flavors and caffeine from the coffee itself, leading to a beverage in the same way that any coffee brewing method works.
The ground and liquid are separated at the point of filtration, leading to the liquid you’re sipping being perfectly smooth.
This filtration system is combined with a heat-resistant tip that will prevent you from burning your lips on the hot metal. Of course, the metal straw in boiling water will get hot – but the tip is coated in silicone, preventing you from burning your lips on it.
This is a great way to stay caffeinated while camping, since all you need is water, coffee, a mug, and this brewer. Unline a bulky brewer, though, this straw barely takes up any room at all – it is compact, slimline, and ideal for ensuring that you can brew on the go.
The only disadvantage of this brewer, really, is that you need one for each person that will be drinking coffee at any one time. With other options on the list, you can brew a batch of coffee and divide it up accordingly. With the JoGo straw, though, one brewer is needed per portion of coffee.
If it’s only you, or just you and one or two other people, then this wouldn’t be too much of a hassle. For larger groups, though, this is something that may be worth considering.
Coffee Bags
Portable coffee bags are something that is quite modern and, ever so slightly, unique. They work based on the exact same principle that a teabag works – the bag itself is permeable, allowing for soluble compounds in the coffee grounds to become dissolved into the water. After a brew is complete, the bag can be removed from the liquid and discarded. Many coffee bag brands, as with tea bag brands, offer biodegradable coffee bags as standard, now, which can be wonderfully helpful when you’re brewing in the wilder parts of the world.
While you can buy coffee bags at a number of small roasteries around the world, it may be worth considering making your own. Using coffee filter papers, you can, essentially, staple a little parcel of grounds shut for use as a teabag. This might seem like something of a hassle, at first, but it is worth considering if you’re running out of options to get your favorite coffee brewed on the trail.
Conclusion
These are only a few of the great options available for making sure that you can get your coffee fix when you’re camping, hiking, or otherwise knee-deep in nature. With that said, though, we’d argue that they’re likely some of the easiest and most accessible options.
Whichever of these methods (or any of the countless others) you pick, we hope you have a great time brewing some truly delicious coffee out there in the countryside.