Coffee Break

Posted on | August 13, 2008 | 9 Comments

Regular readers of this blog will know I like to brew up while I’m out, whether that is with the mutts or out on the hill.

Let’s start with the brew kit, which if you are on the hill is also the same kit you will use for cooking with as well.

My current brew kit consists of a MSR Titanium mug and the MSR Mug Mate (you know what is shocking? On the MSR Titanium mug page for related products on BPL.co.uk, the MSR Mug Mate is not listed!!!), a film canister for powdered milk, and a film canister for sugar. Along with which ever stove and pot I decide to take out with me.

But there are so many options in this area and they are all down to personal preference. I like the MSR Titanium mug, and to drink real coffee the perfect partner for it is the MSR Mug Mate. But it is possible to get a filter basket elsewhere that will fit inside a mug. Kate had a mug and filter basket combo given to her as a present a couple years back. I soon took over ownership of that So a good coffee shop should be able to sell you one. One thing this mug that Kate had given to her was a lid. It is surprising how much difference a lid makes in keeping a drink hot. The MSR Titanium mug manages to keep a hot drink remarkably hot for a long time, but add on a lid (I made a home made one out of this stuff) and it remains even hotter.

This brings me nicely onto the Insulated mug. You can get various versions of this. Mine is one from TGO Magazine that they did about three years ago. Until I got the MSR Titanium mug, this was the mug I used to go out with all the time. Infact my best friend Mark has this mug, and it is the one he uses on our walks together or on camping trips.

Ok this next one falls under two areas in the brew kit, and I think deserves a separate mention. The Jetboil (a stove I love using, and a favorite piece of kit) is a great stove. It boils water really quickly and does exactly what it says on the can. But add to it one of it’s accessories and this stove becomes even better. That accessory is the coffee press. This is THE accessory to get for the Jetboil.

There is also nothing stopping you using one of those small single Cafetieres that you can get from supermarkets, or coffee shops.

If you prefer espresso to filter coffee, then you can always take a GSI Outdoors Mini Espresso maker with you.

You can’t have a brew kit with out a stove and this is such a big area to discuss, and once more a very personal thing. Regular readers know how many stoves I have. Yes I have favorites, as will others out there. Some will prefer a gas canister based stove, others meths based stoves, etc. Here basically you just need to pick a stove that meets your needs. I had a friend whose son was going to buy a £80 multi-fuel stove for a DoE trip he was going on. After hearing that he had no plans on going abroad, and it was for sole use on the DoE, I pointed him in the direction of the Outdoor Designs Mini Stove at a fraction of the price. The stove I put him onto met his needs and saved him money.

Unless you are using a Jetboil (or competitor) you will also need a pot/kettle. These range in capacity, size, cost, weight and material made from. And is another personal thing. Plus one of the deciding factors on the pot/kettle you buy is the stove you are going to use it with. For example if the stove you have is the White Box Stove, then a pot like the Alpkit Myti or the Vargo Ti-Lite would be no good as they are not wide enough. Where as if using a Triad stove you could get away with using a MSR Titanium mug as your pot. Don’t forget also to get a pot big enough to boil the quantity of water you want to do. No point using a pot that holds enough water for a single brew if you are going to be boiling water for three people each time.

If you start to look at options when you are “car camping” then you can get all kinds of cool stuff for brewing up like the Brunton BrewFire Dual-Fuel Coffee Maker, or Cafetieres, or even stovetop espresso makers.

I think that has covered the brew kit and the options available. So let’s now move on to…

Caffeine The Options

The easiest one to start with is instant coffee that you have in a container of some sort. Just pick your brand, and use that. What more can I say, you are either a fan of instant coffee or you are not. It’s light, quick and easy to use.

Becoming more popular at the supermarkets are the packets of coffee that promise instant latte, or frothy coffee. The picture above shows just a small selection of the ones available. The main advantage of these is that you don’t need to carry separate milk (and sometimes sugar) as the packets contain everything required to make the coffee. I’ve been trying them on walks with the dogs to see how I get on with them. One or two I have found are dire (like the double mocha chocolate thing pictured). But then one or two I have found aren’t bad, and are just as good as some of the instants out there.

One I haven’t seen in the UK, so is an order from the States is Java Juice (currently there is a deal like this one at BPL.com Java Juice Promo Pack that maybe worth looking at). I’ve yet to try this myself, but if I remember correctly this is a favorite of John Manning.

The Java Juice brings us nicely to real coffee. This is why you need the MSR Mug Mate or the Cafetiere. Take a Ziploc bag of your favorite ground coffee, and just enjoy it. It maybe a little bit more work in preparing and cleaning up after but it’s worth it.

For those days when you want that caffeine hit, but for some reason you can’t or don’t want to brew up there is caffeine gum. The one I use is from the US and is called Jolt Caffeine Energy Gum. For a brief period I did find 24-7 Caffeine Energy Gum in the UK. I have to say I do like the Jolt gum, and it does work. Two pieces is the same as a mug of coffee.

If you don’t drink your coffee black, then you will either have to use powdered milk, coffee whitener or my personal favorite condensed milk. The nice thing about the condensed milk is that it comes these days in nice handy tubes.

One final thought/tip. And if you get in trouble it’s not my fault. But whenever you go to a restaurant/fast food place and they have the little packets of sugar (or even condiments) left on the table for you to use. Help yourself to one or two extra to take home to use on your next brew up on the hill.

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