As the arrival of spring becomes more apparent by the week, it’s natural—especially after a relentless winter—for thoughts to turn to summer vacations. And if this daydreaming should carry you to remote destinations, you’re also going to want to start thinking about how you’re going to satisfy your coffee fix.
Before you tumble down that rabbit hole, we did it for you. And by “it” we mean, scoured the internet for the most efficient—and, of course, tastiest—brewing methods when you’re on the road or out in the wild.
Nonnegotiable tools
While it’s true that brewing coffee has become very travel-friendly in recent years, we eliminated a lot of these fancy new tools right from the start because we prioritized, as we believe many would, quality and efficiency. Ideally, we’d like our vacation coffee to come as close as possible to the coffee we meticulously brew at home every morning without having to dedicate a backpack or carryon to all our gear.
We narrowed our must-haves down to three items, and one of them is a 12-ounce bag of coffee beans, so really, two pieces of equipment.
The first is a travel/camping stainless-steel, manual burr coffee grinder. Expect to pay somewhere between $35 and $75. You’re looking for one with a range of grind settings (although, you don’t need many), a professional-grade ceramic conical burr, durable stainless steel, and a compact design.
This one depends on preference
The second piece of equipment will depend on your preferred brewing method. We’re partial to French Press, largely because the It’s American Press Definitely Not a French press is so dang user-friendly. The carafe is shatter-resistant and the pod is easy to clean, not to mention impressively effective at keeping the grounds out of the coffee. And it’s a little larger than a typical travel grinder, which makes for happy packing (and repacking).
If you’ll be brewing for more than two people, you’ll probably be better off with an enamelware percolator coffee pot, which can make several cups at a time, compared to the one the not-French press manages.
The obvious tradeoff is size—but not as much as you’re thinking. An eight-cup percolator will generally run about eight inches wide and nine inches tall. And you won’t need any add-ons, like paper filters, either.
Look for one that disassembles easily for quick cleaning and has some kind of indicator that lets you monitor the brew cycle. Also, it should be lightweight, yet capable of withstanding some banging around.
Perhaps the most important bit of advice we came across is this: Show yourself some grace.
The idea here is to aim for a quality cup of coffee each morning. Should it fall short, it’s fine! After all, you’re on vacation, and there will be plenty else to appreciate about the morning.