instant coffee?

[Summit]

it was narrow and difficult to clean.

The press part should be able to just be twirled around under a trickle of water. The cup should come clean from swirling around water 1/3 full twice, and pitching it. At least that works for my Jetboil. If it's a little bit of stain on the sides, I sometimes clean that off and sometimes don't. Not a big concern for me.

[Sailing_Faith]

In my receint couple weeks hike in the SNP I brought Folgers singles and Starbucks....

The Starbucks were vastly superior to the Folgers, but one night I shared the shelter with a guy named Mark.

He snored so bad that even after my nightly ration of cognac AND ambien... I still got very little sleep.

I woke to his stirring the next am... he was not on my list of favorite people.....

Then he pulled not only a jetboil from his pack, BUT a coffee grinder! He brought out beans from starbucks!

I watched as he ground and placed the coffee into his jetboil french press....

In an instant he went from 'the snoring oaf who kept me up all night' to 'the best guy ever' when he uttered the sentence;

"Hey man, I have plenty of coffee here, would you care for a cup?"

Do not underestimate the value of a good cup.

Best trail story ever.... were you dreaming?

Sure felt like it that morning!

[LDog]

Or some Tobasco. That seems to be the other standard for hikers.

Seriously though, I really enjoy my coffee. I am no connoisseur, and I really don't like the flavored coffees. I just like a flavorful blend. Last year, a friend introduced me to a French press, and after trying hers, I thought it was a good way to go. So I picked up a Snow Peak titanium French press. I tried it out a few times before taking it backpacking. Unfortunately, I found that, though it made great coffee, it was narrow and difficult to clean. I have yet to put it in my pack. Shortly after that, I started to really work to lighten my load. I doubt I will ever take it, except maybe car camping, where I have access to good running water for cleaning.

I take Via on my backpack treks now.

That story sounds familiar! When Mary and I were planning to sail our old sloop from the Chesapeake to Michigan, we wanted to find a better solution to the old percolator 9ugh0 we had. We had a two-burner propane stove onboard, 120v service in port and 12v at sea and at anchorage. We weren't going to compromise battery power by trying to run a 120v coffee maker off an inverter when not into shore power, so we decided to try the french press. We got a sweet Zassenhaus brass, hand-cranked mill. That combo worked great for our whole trip, and we've never gone back to using a drip coffee maker.

I too picked up a backpacking press. I was thinking I could use the pot for all my cooking. But as you found, it's too skinny and unstable, so it never saw the inside of my pack. I found a cheaper alternative to MSR's in-cup coffee/tea filter at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Finum-63-421-5...dp/B000I68NCS/, used it a bit and found it worked well by pouring the hot water thru it slowly.

Now, I do love my coffee, but as I got deeper and deeper into reducing my pack weight, I found I couldn't justify carrying something extra for coffee ... At this point, eliminating all the fuss, extra packaging and dealing with spent grounds by carrying Taster's Choice in a baggie seems the ideal solution to me ...

[mfshop]

If you don't drink your coffee black, they sell single serve 3in1 instant coffee with sugar & cream. Not very tasty, but a convenient way to get your caffeine fix. If you find them on sale at your local asian market, they can be pretty affordable too...

[Ewker]

I use Starbucks Via - they also make it flavored - Vanilla, Cinnamon and Mocha if you like them that way. We've also done cowboy coffee and it works just fine too.

just wait until you try the Christmas blend or the Christmas Blend Expresso coffee. Unfortunately only the regular Christmas blend comes in the instant Via packs

[Creek Dancer]

yet another vote for starbucks vias. i wouldn't call it good, but it was fine by me. also, you can re-hydrate them with cold water which was great for folks like me who find stoves inconvenient. come in several flavors too. my favorite was the iced coffee that is sweetened. mix that with 2 carnations instant breakfasts, some dehydrated milk, add water and that was my breakfast of choice on the trail.

I like this idea. Sounds perfect for those rainy or lazy mornings when you don't feel like breaking out the stove. You'd get hydration, protein, vitamins and caffeine. Pretty much everything I need to get going in the mornings.

[LDog]

My niece is turning into a foodie snob, and prides herself on being on the cutting edge. One of the trends in coffee is the "Pour Over." She recently posted this NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/di...pagewanted=all. I realized that what was old is new again, albeit with some technique involved. Howsomever, it is easily adopted to the trail. All you need is one of those Melitta cup-top brewers, some filters (I suppose you could use yer bandana), some grounds, and a way to make hot water ...



... I'll still use instant on my thru attempt.

[T-dub]

Like cream or flavor with your coffee but cant justify the extra weight? add a packet of breakfast essentials powdered drink and you have a great tasting coffee with extra goodies to help you on your travels!

[ChinSpinach]

Go for the real deal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=_Rfwd5TW50c

[Chaco Taco]

I use a mesh tea ball, fill up a 6oz nalgene container of whatever Im drinking at home after grinding it. Put a few scoops in the ball and let it steep in hot water. Perfect cup of coffee on the trail.

[Chaco Taco]

Like cream or flavor with your coffee but cant justify the extra weight? add a packet of breakfast essentials powdered drink and you have a great tasting coffee with extra goodies to help you on your travels!

Wife likes to add hot chocolate to am coffee

[Tinker]

I carry ground coffee and this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B000DLB2FI

I boil water in my 1.3 liter pot, put the basket into my cup (actually a small Snow Peak pot with handles), add some grounds (amount varies depending on what strength I want), and pour water over the grounds. I lift the basket several times to wash the water over the grounds and then take it out and add cream (powdered creamer or the individual restaurant servings) and sugar. For several people I can fill my large pot to just below the rim of the coffee basket, add grounds to the basket, and allow it to sink into the pot to steep.
This basket cannot be immersed in boiling water over a flame. I found out the hard way. The basket weighs 1/2 oz.

I'm sorry, I should've answered the OP's question.

No. There's no instant coffee that tastes like good fresh coffee (I've had some pretty terrible fresh coffee ).

[Tinker]

I use a mesh tea ball, fill up a 6oz nalgene container of whatever Im drinking at home after grinding it. Put a few scoops in the ball and let it steep in hot water. Perfect cup of coffee on the trail.

Coarse ground coffee - or do you just dump the dregs in the bottom of the pot?
I find that even with my reusable filter I get fine sediment on the bottom of my pot.

[Tinker]

Like cream or flavor with your coffee but cant justify the extra weight? add a packet of breakfast essentials powdered drink and you have a great tasting coffee with extra goodies to help you on your travels!

Freeze-dried ice cream is available at most backpacking shops (I've only seen Van/Choc/Straw, though).

[Papa D]

http://www.amazon.com/Medaglia-Oro-I.../dp/B001E5E24A

[Sal-XK]

My niece is turning into a foodie snob, and prides herself on being on the cutting edge. One of the trends in coffee is the "Pour Over." She recently posted this NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/di...pagewanted=all. I realized that what was old is new again, albeit with some technique involved. Howsomever, it is easily adopted to the trail. All you need is one of those Melitta cup-top brewers, some filters (I suppose you could use yer bandana), some grounds, and a way to make hot water ...... I'll still use instant on my thru attempt.

This is what I use all the time just get the reusable filter and there's no trash other then the grounds it's self. With my pocket rocket I can be drinking hot fresh coffe in about 2 minuets. I put the basket right on top of my travel mug and pour. It takes a few attempt to get the amount of coffe and how fast you can pour the water in correct.

[rocketsocks]

I take some coffee beans lightly crush them up,put them in one of my socks and dip in hot water like a tea bag.Works pretty good and the salt in my sock gives it that doughtnutt shop taste.Let me lay ya'll on to a little sometin.......Instant coffee SUCKS big time.IM not so HO

[fiddlehead]

KISS.
Instant coffee is great.
I recently was in the states and had a friend over who insisted on real coffee every morning.
Yeah, it tasted great. Took a bit longer to make, cost a lot more, had waste to deal with and I was glad to get back to Thailand where our Nescafe instant is tasting great every morning.
Enjoying mine as we speak.
Good stuff.

Don't complicate your lives just for the sake of a better tasting coffee.
You can get used to anything.

[rocketsocks]

Yeah,..................I drink it too.

[boyinasuitcase]

if there is a Trader Joe's near you, they have single serving instant coffee with sugar and cream already in it. out of luck if you drink it black, but it's pretty decent for the money. i'll be taking it on my thru hike attempt, but mostly i'll carry tea.