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Paul writes periodic travel and tech articles on Dappered.com. Follow his travel blog, drivinginertia.com, to read more about his adventures.
Some of us are particular about our morning routines. We like our coffee just so. We need it just so. If we don’t have it just so, we may not be able to function.
Coffee can be tricky while traveling. Not every trip passes through Seattle. Some will pass through Utah. Try getting coffee in a small Utah town. It won’t happen.
What then to do? I started with a Bodum French press mug combo thing. It worked OK (but not great) and was impossible to clean. I love my French press normally, but as a transportable device, it sucks. There’s just too much going on. Most of the big ones are glass, the screen thing doesn’t rinse well. It just doesn’t work out unless you travel with a dishwasher. Most of us don’t.
Instant is another option. You could bootleg those little Starbucks packets. But what if you don’t like Starbucks?
Well, there’s this, the Melitta single-cup funnel. It’s perfect. It’s a single piece of plastic – no moving parts, easy to rinse clean. Bring a Ziploc of coffee and a couple filters and you’re set. You will, of course, need hot water and a cup. Bring a mug too if you are driving (and a camp stove for the water if you’re camping). Score both the mug and the water from the motel if you’re flying (balancing on the smallest sized Styrofoam cups can be a bit tricky, especially pre-coffee).
Note: the Melitta is also a Keurig
Paul, does it taste as good as coffee that has been French pressed?
This is all I use for coffee. It’s fantastic.
Paul,
I like the Melitta as well and used it for years but then I discovered the Aeropress and haven’t looked back since. It’s the perfect travel companion and the coffee is even better than French press. Cheap on Amazon. The Japanese have Aeropress coffee making contest on You Tube. The best thing to happen to coffee since the grinder.
GSI makes a backpacking french press that’s awesome. the trick is not to get super fine grounds, have your beans ground just a little coarser and they rinse out easier.
That’s cool. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Have you tried the AeroPress yet? I love that thing. It is a little bit more to lug around than this Melitta, but I swear it is the best coffee that I have ever brewed at home.
(Edit: Looks like CigarSmoker already beat me to the punch)
Aeropress would seem super convenient. Bespokepost.com has that dealio right now with a hand burr grinder and coffee to boot.
Combo it with a Hario coffee hand grinder!
http://prima-coffee.com/grinder/hario-coffee-hand-grinder-skerton
This is the first Bespoke Post thing I’ve signed up for. I’ve tried “high end” coffee a few times: I melted the handle off my stovetop ‘espresso’-maker and got sick of drinking the grinds out of my French press. Been using an inexpensive drip maker for a while. I hope the Aeropress lives up to its reputation.
You can always make it “cowboy” style. Just watch out for grounds in the last sip.
Sweet. I want one.
Seems like a bear to clean. Worth trying though.
Not quite as good, honestly, but pretty close. One trick is to rinse your filters — pour a bit of water through before adding the grounds. This supposedly cuts down on any flavors the filter may introduce, but it’s a pretty subtle difference to my palate.
Also, Cooks Illustrated did a test of drip machines and nearly all had trouble getting up to max temp. Boiling your own give you control of that step just like with a French press.
I do think the Melitta does a better job than most counter-top machines. It could be the temperature thing.
My father-in-law goes this route. Turkish coffee is sometimes done similarly.
Wow, three votes for the Aeropress! I’ll give it a shot, but the Melitta is pretty amazing. I love the simple clean-up.
Careful! I have a friend that seems to have become addicted to them. He’s even got a monster-sized one that can do a full pot and one that has a release valve so that you have more control over the steeping time. 😉
Give it a shot. I think you’ll really like it. There are several YouTube videos on the Aeropress. Here’s one that’s especially useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uad09dUncHo&feature=related
For travelling, especially flying, where every cubic inch of space counts, don’t you think the Cuissential SlickDrip is an even better option?
Sure, the SlickDrip costs a bit more, but the Melitta – which I adore for home/office use – is a relatively bulky and breakable contraption.
I’m not sure if I’m innocent or ignorant, but I’ve found the Bogum French Press Combo to be perfect. It’s my first and only, so far, experience with french press coffe. I’ve found it to be excellent in every way. It travels well and I’ve taken it on many weekend road trips and several vacations. I simply follow the instructions that came with the unit. 1. Boil two cups of water (microwave for me). 2. Place two heaping tablespoons of coffe grounds into the insulated cup. 3. Pour hot water into cup, making sure sides of the cup are flushed as you pour. 4. Let stand 4 minutes. 5. Place the top (plunger) onto the cup, screw down tight.
6. Push the plunger down in one move, slowly. After drinking, remove the plunger and rinse in hot tap water. Wash the cup and you’re ready to go again tomorrow.
Excellent coffee every time. What am I missing?
I must say, I can’t stand Starbucks coffee, it is over roasted, the beans are dry and it is acrid…but those Starbucks insta-coffee sticks are not bad when travelling. While they aren’t what I would call “good coffee”, they are better than Folgers or whatever other crap hotels use in the house coffee.
The Aeropress is awesome, but you do have to wash the grounds away. Also, I have had issue with the grounds clogging the sink.
Not at all my friend. After the water is pressed through the grounds. you just unscrew the filter and shoot the “hockey puck” spent grounds in to the trash, run it under some water, and you’re good to go!
Aeropress is excellent. I personally prefer Chemex though… and both are sold at widely accessible price points. I would suggest trying both out if you have the counter top space, and see which one you like best. Either is going to make your morning quite good. Just my $0.02!
Probably worth stating that Chemex is NOT travel friendly! Unless you are comfortable packing up a nice glass vase wherever you go, which I certainly wouldn’t be.
I’ve made coffee by just pouring water and grinds into one cup and letting them steep for 4-5 minutes and then transferring to another cup with some sort of filter. I’ve even used paper towels before. Not ideal, but I was not going to be deterred from having some coffee.
You might also look into cold brewed coffee. It keeps good for about 2 weeks, so you could fill a 64oz nalgene bottle and have a couple days worth of coffee with you. I’ve actually convinced my boss at work to get us a cold brew setup so we can brew this stuff in advance. Researchers drink a lot of freaking coffee, as you could imagine.
I cannot recommend the Aeropress enough. IMO it tastes better than high end coffe house machines. Cleaning takes about 5 seconds- it basically cleans itself as you use it, you just gotta dump out the used grinds and rinse it off. Really cheap, too. For other coffee addicts out there, this thing is an absolute godsend. Even those who hate black coffee could easily get by on the black from this guy. PS- the key to using it, IMO, is mastering the “upside down” method. There is an annual contest for “recipes/methods”, so there is a lot of stuff available online as far as variations.
Swissgold KF300 is my fav, got one at a Peet’s coffee shop for $10. Indestructable (mostly), permanent filter, works great for one cup at a time.
http://www.amazon.com/Swissgold-KF300-Pour-Coffee-Maker/dp/B000FDL66O/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
I’ve used a slurpee cup with a hole melted in the bottom for the spout and two melted through the top for a piece of clean stick to function as a handle. In went the coffee filter, out came great coffee. All you really need is a filter and some way of containing it.