When it comes to coffee I consider myself to have a slightly below average addiction, but I'm a big fan. I don't have to drink it every morning, but there's plenty of mornings when I do. Often, during the colder months, I'm drinking it as much for the morning warmth as for the caffeine. And caffeine aside, I'd be lying if I said I didn't just love the taste of coffee.
One time when I feel like I need a cup of coffee is when I'm camping or backpacking. Whether it's waking up knowing I've got a big day of hiking in front of me or just sitting around the campfire from the night before with some cobwebs in my head, there's nothing like a good cup of coffee when you're waking up in the woods.
Car camping makes that easy. There are plenty of metal coffee pots and percolators you can set right on your camp stove or fire grate, and we've ranked every method from cowboy coffee to French press in our camp coffee guide.
Backpacking is another story. When every ounce counts, it's impossible to justify carrying a coffee pot, and for years that meant one thing: instant coffee. Amazingly, there's a few words in the English language that sum up both how instant coffee tastes and how it makes me feel. I'll refrain, but let's just say I'd be perfectly happy to never have a cup of instant coffee again.
The good news is that the gear world solved this one. The solution I found years ago was a small screw-on filter that attaches to a wide mouth water bottle: spoon in your grounds, add boiling water, and you've got real coffee with no mess to clean and no picking grounds out of your teeth. These days there are even more featherweight options that work on the same principle:
- Collapsible pour over drippers that weigh an ounce or two and fold flat against your pack.
- Ultralight single-cup filters that sit right on top of your mug and drain while you break camp.
- The cowboy method, if you're feeling rustic: grounds straight in the pot, let them settle, pour carefully. Free, and better than it sounds.
Whichever route you take, the destination matters as much as the method. Pour it into an enamel mug that can sit by the fire and keep your hands warm, find a couple of good trees for your hammock, and drink your morning coffee swaying gently above the forest floor. I promise it beats the drive-through.
