coffee advice please

[Coffee]

I don't discount the very powerful effect of branding, but there is absolutely no way - NO WAY - that I would ever mistake folgers for starbucks in a blind taste test. I wish I would since I could then save big bucks on my coffee habit during hikes, but there is a real difference. Many people cannot even tell via apart from brewed starbucks coffee.

[fastfoxengineering]

On the trail, I love making cowboy coffee. I just like the technique even though my chemex and aeropress at home make bomb coffee. Starbucks via is pretty good for instant. I feel that after going a week or two and being on the trail without coffee, even the cheapest instant hits the sweet spot. Nothing like going without for a while and walking into a nice coffee shop looking like hiker trash.

[Hot Flash]

Again, isn't it funny we all have different tastes? Via is delicious to me, best instant I've ever tasted especially the bolder flavors. I sometimes use two via's in a 12 oz cup. Some of us like very bold, dark coffee. Enjoy whatever you like! I promise I won't bad-mouth your tastes if you don't mine/our's, ok?

I roast my own small-batch coffee from ethical sources, mostly small family farms that grow unique varieties with a wild range of flavor profiles. There is no commercial coffee that can match it.

Yes, Starbuck's is swill. Yes, a lot of people don't know any better because they've been convinced by a brilliant marketing campaign that it's actually good. However, if you paid attention to what I previously wrote, I gave the nod to Via because it's lightweight and easy to pack. That doesn't mean it's good coffee. If I had the ability to produce instant coffee from my own roasts, then I would, and I'd never drink lousy coffee again.

If you'd like to learn about good coffee, and how much broader range there is than brown water from Starbucks, this is an excellent place to start:

https://www.sweetmarias.com/store/

[Lyle]

Many people cannot even tell via apart from brewed starbucks coffee.

Well, that right there is the main reason I have never tried Via, and probably never will.

Anyway, the OP should have concluded by now that there are plenty of options, and that it's a very personal choice. The only way to find out what you like is by taking a LOT of trips and sacrificing some not so great coffee experiences in order to eliminate what you don't like.

Testing at home doesn't really cut it except for the most obvious cuts to the possible options. Just look at it as having to take a lot of shorter trips in order to "research" a critical aspect for that important trip. Yeah, that's what it is...research, I HAVE to go out this weekend.

[colorado_rob]

I don't discount the very powerful effect of branding, but there is absolutely no way - NO WAY - that I would ever mistake folgers for starbucks in a blind taste test. I wish I would since I could then save big bucks on my coffee habit during hikes, but there is a real difference. Many people cannot even tell via apart from brewed starbucks coffee.

Yeah, truly, at least most of what you're saying. I do definitely like brewed coffee better, it's just that SB Via's are the best instant, trail-convenient coffees I've tasted, which I thought this thread was all about: Trail-convenient coffee.

For the record, though I really like SB's coffees, and lots of others much like SB's, I've tried many other great coffees, and my favorite all-time is Kauai Coffee's, Mundo Novo:

http://store.kauaicoffee.com/kauai-c...-novo-p11.aspx

Wow! I stopped into this coffee plantation some years ago and tasted their coffees, I think it was the best overall coffee experience I've had, fell in love with Mundo Novo, bought a bunch and have bought more online since, but it is really very expensive compared to Starbucks, which is damn good (despite Hot Flash's ramblings and insistences that most of us don't have any valid opinions on what we personally like...) at less than half the cost; SB's whole beans in large bags are really quite reasonable.

[Furlough]

I prefer real coffee to instant. But, I freely admit to a certain level of laziness while on the trail IRT meals and drinks. So, instant is my choice when hiking. I have tried many instant brands. For me the various Nescafe Clasico varieties are the best. They come in the same type of packaging as VIA, and to my taste buds are far superior in flavor and overall taste.

Furlough

[perdidochas]

Hilarious, first we have a post (posts?) telling us that there's no way we could possibly like dark roast (AKA: "burnt") coffees like Starbucks, NOW we have a post telling us that we only THINK we like SB's because of the branding, from some alleged "study". Yikes, the mind absolutely boggles!

I don't buy it. I can taste the difference between SBs and Folger's (not the black silk) in the instant versions, but I like the dark roast (burnt) coffee taste.

[tiptoe]

I like dark roasts too, but very rarely spring for Starbucks.

[Jedeye]

A new technique I have been using is chocolate covered coffee beans - saves on fuel, water and time. I would advise going with a very dark roast as they are easier to bite into.

[BirdBrain]

A new technique I have been using is chocolate covered coffee beans - saves on fuel, water and time. I would advise going with a very dark roast as they are easier to bite into.

Oh my! That is thinking outside the box. Love the idea. Now if it ends up passing my OCD gram weenie tests, I might steal this idea. Time to read labels and get the scales out.

[Toon]

I use a GSI french press mug. It will change your life.

[CalebJ]

I've got a GSI mug and was never impressed with it. The plunger allows grounds to get around it because it doesn't seal well around the outside perimeter. Also, a french press on the trail is a giant pain to clean. That's why I go all (aeropress) or nothing (caffeine gum) when throwing gear in the pack.

[Studlintsean]

Starbucks Via 26 packs are on sale starting 4/9 at the NOVA (probably all) Costcos. $3 off with a Max of 5. Figured I would put it out there.

[jimyjam]

I use the H2JO. It connect to a wide mouth bottle, I use a Nalgene. It's easy to use and makes great coffee. Inexpensive and worth the little weight it has.
Check it out at
http://gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/h2jo/coffee



Life is full of ups and downs! Hike on!

[jimyjam]

Also for those that like multi purpose items when backpacking you can also use the H2JO to strain your dish water to carry out waste (LNT practices).


Life is full of ups and downs! Hike on!

[Carbo]

Costco has Starbucks Via Columbian on sale here in NJ. Pack of 26 for $14.89. That's about .57 per pack.

[Rolex]

I'm not a coffee snob but I can't stomach instant, cowboy coffee for me. Put 1/4 c coffee and 1/4 c sugar (any kind) in Ziploc. In the evening after cooking dinner add the Ziploc to about 20 oz water in cooking pot and sit it on the stove. Light the stove in the morning and bring to boil while knocking down camp. Take off stove and let steep for 5 min. Sit down and ponder over coffee while waiting for enough light to walk.

I am trying this! Sounds like this would blend in perfect with my start up of a day.

What kind of coffee do you use?

[tim.hiker]

I mite go light on everything except my coffee.

[Odd Man Out]

I don't discount the very powerful effect of branding, but there is absolutely no way - NO WAY - that I would ever mistake folgers for starbucks in a blind taste test. I wish I would since I could then save big bucks on my coffee habit during hikes, but there is a real difference. Many people cannot even tell via apart from brewed starbucks coffee.

When VIA was first introduced a few years ago, they offered blind taste tests for VIA vs brewed Starbucks coffee. When asked to pick which one was instant, I picked the brewed. There was a difference of appearance. The VIA was cloudier. I couldn't taste the difference so I picked the less cloudy one as brewed. That was wrong because VIA uses powdered beans which don't dissolve and make it cloudy. But the taste was spot-on. All other brands of instant coffee I have tried are yucky, as are the tea-bag-like single serving steep to make one cup of coffee packages I have tried.

[Kevin108]

I bought 180 servings of Folders instant for $10. Haven't tried it yet, but I'm hopeful. I'm not a coffee snob as long as it's not too bitter.