Anywhere, Anytime, Making Coffee Outdoors
Your Essential Travel Friend: The Aeropress
With the Winter months in full swing, are you maybe thinking about going camping to catch those fantastic foggy mornings and therefore also thinking about how best to enjoy your speciality coffee when you’re not at home and potentially far away from speciality coffee shops? Or, maybe not just this Winter, nor camping, we can also include all other months of the year, beaches, holiday trips and other outdoors occasions too. Here in the UK, we’re blessed with some pretty idyllic countryside, beautiful coastal towns and rolling hills. All beautiful, all popular for weekend escapes and camping trips, but maybe not great if a cup of instant coffee at a roadside rest stop or greasy spoon simply won’t cut it. So, here we’re going to talk about the perfect solution to ensure you can enjoy speciality coffee wherever you end up on your trips.
A lot of people when first getting into speciality coffee can find the process of making great coffee themselves quite daunting and we're here to reassure you that it’s not as difficult as it may seem. It’s also quite affordable and you may even have some of the equipment needed lying around at home.
Our recommendations to enjoy coffee anywhere, anytime:
1 Aeropress coffeemaker
The coffee enthusiasts' no nonsense brewer, the Aeropress is the brewer we'd recommend. Lightweight, easy to use, easy to clean and extremely compact. If you’re on a hike or on a camping trip then throwing one of these in your bag is a no brainer. Put simply, you load your coffee into the chamber, add boiling water, and plunge the coffee straight into your cup - job done!
The Aeropress expects to be used anywhere anytime. When you purchase one they include a carry pouch, a stirrer, as well as a pack of filters. They also do a smaller Aeropress Go which is even more well equipped for coffee on the move, featuring a reusable cup as part of the product. The Aeropress is great for filtered black coffee and makes coffee strong enough for those who enjoy their coffee with milk.
2 Good coffee, of course
This is really down to you. The great thing about the Aeropress is that it can be brewed using a variety of different coffees so really it’s just a case of choosing what coffee you want to bring with you. We’d recommend weighing out your coffee at home before your trip and storing the beans (or grounds if you want to grind them at home) in a container for your travels. For good coffee, you know which coffee subscription service is worth trying...
3 Portable hand grinder
If you're not one to prefer weighing your coffee beans at home and storing them ready for your trip, then it’s worth investing in a portable hand grinder. Once you’ve ground your coffee the clock starts ticking in freshness and so grinding only when you’re ready to make a coffee will always provide the best results.
There are a load of great hand grinders on the market but, if your budget allows. The Hario Mini Mill Plus, for example, is affordable and also includes some measuring options which will help you in the field… possibly quite literally.
4 Camping stove or kettle
If you’re off camping or heading into the wilderness then chances are you’re already thinking about bringing some kind of camping stove or kettle to enable you to boil your water. These can be really inexpensive and very compact.
If you do want to spend a little extra then the Jetboil series of camping stoves/cooking systems are a firm favourite amongst many outdoor enthusiasts who need that caffeine hit on the move. A small canister and burner sits on top a small collapsable tripod making it the perfect portable solution to carry in your backpack.
5 Coffee brewing guide
Making great coffee is all about timing and measurement. The great thing about the Aeropress is that the chamber does the measuring for you with guides along the side to help you identify when you’ve added enough water. However, the timing aspect of when to add the water, how long to leave it brew, and when to plunge it are all things we sometimes need a hand with.
We recommend using an app called Brewtime. This app is free of charge from the app store. Within the app, simply select the Aeropress brewer, and select the amount of coffee you’ve added (this is why it’s a good idea to weigh your coffee at home before your trip) and the app will start the timer and prompt you step-by-step. This is something we sometimes use at home ourselves when making a V60 and over time you’ll be able to do it with just the timer on your phone. We’ve also an Aeropress brewing guide too if you'd like to read our timings, weights and recommendations.
We hope our recommendations here prove that making coffee anywhere can be easy. It may require a bit of kit but all of it is perfectly accessible and affordable. Of course, if you’re wanting to make espresso and steamed milk then you’re going to run into problems but if you just want a no nonsense cup of coffee to cap off a great trip then this method will serve you well.
GUSTATORY (adjective): curating excellence in taste.