UL Coffee Maker

[Mrs Baggins]

i use this. easier and cheaper
http://www.rei.com/product/638124
13.5 wienie grams

Now this I like.

[TomWc]

as usual, skids is too much of a gentleman to bring up the best trail coffee maker ever.

[aaroniguana]

Good morning, my name is Aaron and I am addicted to caffeine. Coffee is not a luxury to me, it is a necessity. I've tried everything to get my coffee gear as light as possible and have failed miserably. If I knew there would an electrical outlet outside my tent every morning I'd have a Starbucks Barrista machine strapped to my pack. But knowing I am an addict, I can accept my own failure as long as I get my bean juice fix every morning.

I own and have tried the Melitta #2 plastic cone, the GSI Lexan French Press, The GSI Expresso single shot (in aluminum), the GSI Expresso 4 shot (in stainless) and the Bialetti 3 demitasse moka pot (which is by far the biggest and heaviest). I've also made cowboy coffee in a Snowpeak Trek 700.

The Bialetti has been my goto coffeemaker. Makes 6 ounces of pure coffee squeezins', diluted with a splash of water and some coffeemate or Nido, you get 8 ounces. And it takes far less time and therefore less fuel to make my coffee than any other method.

[Grinder]

I've got to give props to skidsteer for his coffee maker because it is nearly weightless from the multiuse angle.

AG. I've use all the coffee making methods you reference except the "foo foo" device with the italian name <G> each makes an acceptable cup of coffee (by my standards).

But, if you use a Heine Pot stove setup, it needs stored so that it doesn't get crushed in your pack. Those ziplock containers form the basis of the coffee maker.Add a filter and mini cone and you're ready to brew.

HELL OF AN IDEA, SKIDS!!!

Grinder
PS Full Disclosure: although I can't live without my coffee at home, I don't bother on the trail.
With 10 or 12 hours sleeping, it just doesn't seem worth the trouble to muck around on a cold breezy morning, burning my fingers while I freeze my ass off

I'd rather break camp and get moving. I drink an instant breakfast and eat a bagel on the move..

[sheepdog]

Stumpknocker uses the jetboil with the french press coffee maker attachment.

http://www.jetboil.com/products/accessories/coffeepress

Grinder

The jetboil french press makes a great cup of coffee but to me, it makes the water I boil in it afterwords taste like coffee. So my oatmeal and ramen etc... taste like coffee. Not good.

[Tinker]

A few years ago I experimented with making coffee in one of the reusable plastic and fabric filter baskets that fit in an electric coffee maker. I'd bring water to a rolling boil, measure coffee into the filter, then lower it into the water to let it steep. After a few minutes while I packed my gear, I had fresh, strong, just like home coffee. I couldn't find any links to it in Walmart, where I bought it, but they're available in most grocery stores.
For a smaller, more expensive version, look at the MSR coffee filter. Same idea, but my method was better for making multiple cups.
Oh, btw, don't boil the water with the filter in the pot - it will melt as mine did one cold fall morning when I wanted a little extra boost. Small holes appeared in the filter element (most likely nylon mesh).

[Tinker]

Link to MSR coffee filter review:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...thread_id=6999

[Skidsteer]

as usual, skids is too much of a gentleman to bring up the best trail coffee maker ever.

I've got to give props to skidsteer for his coffee maker because it is nearly weightless from the multiuse angle.

AG. I've use all the coffee making methods you reference except the "foo foo" device with the italian name <G> each makes an acceptable cup of coffee (by my standards).

But, if you use a Heine Pot stove setup, it needs stored so that it doesn't get crushed in your pack. Those ziplock containers form the basis of the coffee maker.Add a filter and mini cone and you're ready to brew.

HELL OF AN IDEA, SKIDS!!!

Grinder
PS Full Disclosure: although I can't live without my coffee at home, I don't bother on the trail.
With 10 or 12 hours sleeping, it just doesn't seem worth the trouble to muck around on a cold breezy morning, burning my fingers while I freeze my ass off

I'd rather break camp and get moving. I drink an instant breakfast and eat a bagel on the move..

Glad you like it guys. Thanks.

[snaplok]

Glad there's alot of other coffee addicts like myself. I have tried just about all the makers out there, except the snow peak ti french press and I still have to say I like the Montbell the best, cause it's esy to use, 4 grams in wt., makes several strong cups, and reminds me of the Melita one I also use. At home I use a Borum french press. But like I said my coffee drinking is different than most. To me coffee is both luxury and neccessity.

[Wise Old Owl]

At first I didn't get it:

Tea bags for coffee have been proposed before, but they have usually run into problems posed by the nature of coffee. Unlike tea leaves, coffee grains release little flavor unless they come into contact with water that is not only hot but also agitated. The water may simply flow through a sock filled with ground coffee, or it may be thrust up through a percolator, but it must be moving. This limitation has traditionally made brewing coffee by the cup messy and inefficient.

Today there is a fix:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...5AC0A966958260

Folgers which suck possibly adopted it (see previous posts)

I am just surprised nobody thought a wicking sock with a disposable filter .... Nevermind.

Skidster you still win hands down. - WOO.

[Deadeye]

Good old camp coffee (aka cowboy coffee) is the lightest option out there - zero added weight. Just add some coffee to a pot of boiling water and let it sit. Let the grounds settle, and decant into your cup.

[Tinker]

I boiled coffee in my cookpot and filtered it through my bandanna into my cup on the first half of the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Sept. That was my experiment for the trip. It actually worked like a charm, but I started to wonder exactly what I was filtering through after a few days. I ran out on day 5, suffered on days 6 and 7, and, the first thing I did upon reaching the store at Abol Bridge was to pour myself a nice, big cup from the pot there.
Honestly, I can go a day or two without caffeine, but I'd rather not.

[mkmangold]

Stumpknocker uses the jetboil with the french press coffee maker attachment.

http://www.jetboil.com/products/accessories/coffeepress

Grinder

I have the same thing (even though I carry a Pocket Rocket or one of Zelph's alky stoves, my son has a Jetboil so I bought the French Press).
But I modified it to make it lighter and more convenient to carry: get rid of the screw-in pushrod. In the screw hole, fit a screw in that goes in slightly lower than the sides. Then use a tent stake to press the French.

[stumpknocker]

Stumpknocker uses the jetboil with the french press coffee maker attachment.

http://www.jetboil.com/products/accessories/coffeepress

Grinder

Yep...used the JetBoil this year, but going back to my old way with the alcohol stove for my '09 walk. I liked the JetBoil fine and I enjoyed about 24.7 ounces of GREAT coffee each morning, but I'm going to revert back to my old ways.

Here's a link that shows my old system best. It shows the acohol stove and pot outside the tent. I use an old Dunkin Donuts mug with a MugMate trimmed to fit inside the top lip and pour hot water through that. After I fill the mug, I sit the filter outside the tent and put the lid on my mug and slowly watch morning arive. http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=121412

I like good hot coffee, so I carry the mug. The coffee cools way to quickly if I make it and drink it out of my cook pot.

Note the hiking shoe that my mug fits in...keeps it from tipping over inside my tent.

I could probably be a light weight hiker if it wasn't for my love of a good, strong, hot cup of coffee every morning.

[gearfreak]

I don't find the Maxwell House instant so awfully bad that I'd go through the trouble of all these other options. That's just me.

[Strategic]

I just whipped this up a few weeks ago after running across the raw materials while holiday shopping.

I've used about every filter method available and had come down to the old Melita cone & paper filter as my least bad option (at least it makes decent, strong coffee.) Then I found this little permanent filter bit sold for the Keurig single cup coffee maker (one of those machines that uses pre-measured coffee packs, not something I'd usually use anywhere) and it had exactly what I'd been looking for as a permanent filter element for a better trail coffeemaker. I found it at Macy's, but I betting they're available elsewhere. It was also fairly cheap ($12).

The first picture is of the filter basket. It comes inside the gray plastic cone below it, but this isn't needed for the project. Extract the filter and save the rest.

The second photo is the ring support I cut for the filter basket from heavy aluminum flashing. The central hole is 1 3/4" in diameter, the outer diameter of the blank disc was 4" (to the end of the turned-down tabs.) I cut out the central hole first (drill a small hole and then snip it out with scissors) and then cut in the tabs from the outside edge and cut arcs out of the spaces between them. Center the support on your mug (mine's an MSR titanium 11oz) and bend down the tabs to fit close but not tight on the edge.

The third photo shows the filter basket pressed into place in the middle of the support ring. If you make sure to cut carefully, the filter will press in firmly and stay put without any other attachment.

The fourth photo shows the filter in place on the MSR mug. The four tabs keep it supported and the basket down in the cup. It will easily take 2 tablespoons of coffee of any grind (I usually use espresso grind, very fine but not quite powder) and you can pour the water through easily.

The last photo shows the filter stowed in the mug. Just turn it sideways and it slips right in.

I've found that it makes great coffee and it takes a lot of the hassle and mess out compared to using the Melita. But the real bonus isn't the good trail coffee, it's the filter itself: it weighs in at just 10g with the support. Now that's what I call an ultralight coffee rig.

[Tinker]

Very nice, Strategic. The only improvement I could see to that setup is to use three hooks on your filter rather than four. You might save 1/2 gram .

[aaroniguana]

Also remember that the coffee you use is as important as how you brew it. I use Pilon in the 1# brick. It's made for espresso so it's a dark, fine grind and a brick lasts me about two weeks. I strongly doubt I'll find it within 50 miles of the trail.

[Mags]

How about following one you guys, using my most pathetic look and begging for a cup of joe?

Mooching is the lightest weight (but may not make me many friends in the long run.. )

[snaplok]

Also remember that the coffee you use is as important as how you brew it. I use Pilon in the 1# brick. It's made for espresso so it's a dark, fine grind and a brick lasts me about two weeks. I strongly doubt I'll find it within 50 miles of the trail.

I use the same stuff, though I go thru it in less than a week. I drink lots of coffee.