Coffee: How old is too old? Coffie pot & maker review

[drew23]

hey folks,

sorry to dredge up an old topic, but I've read through with interest, and had a question...

I currently use a stainless steel Bialetti moka pot on a Coleman camp stove on my boat - I have a nice big Sigmar diesel stove, but frankly it takes a half-hour or more to get up to cooking heat in the morning and I just can't wait that long for my coffee.

My one complaint about making coffee onboard has nothing to do with the maker, but rather with the grinds - I find myself having to resort to pre-ground coffee from the grocery store.  I've got no grinder, and while I guess I *could* fire up the generator and get my grinder out of storage, that thought is distasteful to me.

Has anyone found a decent manually-operated (ie crank) burr grinder?

This one looks ok: http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.hario_skerton.php - but I'd rather it not have the glass part, I'm kind of a klutz.

I miss good coffee.  When I lived on land, I had a little home roaster machine, a beautiful italian grinder and an excellent drip machine.  Now I'm drinking the grocery store brand.

[tomwatt]

I sympathize. I was looking at a number of 12 volt coffee makers, thinking that there's a limit to roughing it at my age, but most of them come in at a 13 amp power draw. Ouch.
Amazon has a handful of stainless steel hand grinders listed... I haven't settled on a solution for myself yet, but several of the grinders out there seem to be "chef quality".

[Delezynski]

Take a look at our 2 year gear report on our web site under our "Position Reports" topic. We tried a number of different ways to get what we consider "GOOD" coffee. NONE came up to the ease of use and quality of what we get from our current cups and pot!!

And I am here to say Jill LOVES good coffee!

Greg

[Tim]

French Press is definitely the way to go.
The beans don't have to be ground as fine either.

Though I have no personal experience with this grinder



it is available at backpacking kind of places like here;

http://www.riverconnection.com/lexan-java-grind-hand-crank-coffee-grinder-p-468.html

[CharlieJ]

I've posted this before but-

When Laura who is a coffee hound first tried a French press, she pitched the electric Mr Coffee in the garbage can.

After several different presses, we now use a stainless one (from Starbucks of all places-can't stand their coffee) which makes four nice cups. Since we have no beans or grinder we just use Folger's but that works for us .

As for hand grinders- google 'Lehman's) or some spelling closes to that- they specialize in non electric stuff.

[Mr. Fixit]

Due to the high mineral content of the local water(17grains hardness) To keep coffee makers working it is necessary to flush with vineger on a regular basis.I got tired of buying 2 coffee makers a year and came up with a variation Of "Maine Guide" coffee. I bring water to a boil in a small pot, remove from heat add coffee stir a few times run thru a resuable filter(similar to previous post) held by a hand held screen. Some sediment goes thru, i dont drink the last 1/4" in the cup. If camping try Maine Guide coffee. Heat water, add
raw egg to coffee,dump in water,stir, after brewing thro in a few ice cubes (if you have them) grounds go to bottom of pot. Pour carefully untill you get to grounds on bottom. Grounds will settle without ice--takes longer. I roast green beans on the stove top, I need a better grinder-use a blade type and the coffee grind is not uniform. Green beans last for years, once roasted the quality drops off with age.

[Delezynski]

Another SIMPLE idea is one we see used in Mexico all the time. It's a reusable cloth bag made for making coffee. SIMPLE IS GOOD!

You should be able to order them from places on the web.

Greg

[CapnK]

Here's yet another way to brew, using a 32oz Nalgene bottle - My brother gifted this to me at Christmas, but I haven't tried it yet. It does look like it will work well, I'll let you know after camping next weekend.

The GSI H2jO! Coffee Filter insert- it screws into the top of a normal Nalgene bottle, and is a stainless steel 'cage' filte, so to speak. You can put grounds either 1) into the bottle, and then this thing then strains them when you pour, or 2) put grounds into this filter, cap the bottle, and let them steep for a bit, remove filter w/grounds, and then pour your joe.

He also added a SplashGuard and an insulated Built neoprene cover for the Nalgene bottle. It's the Super Duper Deluxe Nalgene setup, lol.

The Splashguard-making company has some interesting products, worth looking at with a small boat galley in mind.

[tomwatt]

Looking at the Nalgene insert, something crossed my mind...
I've seen and used the "sun tea" routine... has anyone tried anything like that for coffee?
Just curious. It would be a pain trying that while backpacking, but since a boat is camping while dragging the campground along with you, it might just work.

[Delezynski]

I have heard of people who make a concentrate  by putting a lot of grounds into cold water and letting them soak over night. Then making the mooring ?Joe? by adding some of the concentrate to hot water.

Have not tried it myself, but it sounded like an idea, as long as the anchorage was calm.

Greg

[CapnK]

Tom and Greg - Cold Brewed coffee - yep, have done that myself, works great for summertime, since you only use fuel / create heat long enough to warm your joe to taste, not bring it up to boil. There is some discussion about it here - far back in this thread, IIRC...

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php?topic=1411.0   <- there

[Delezynski]

I knew I heard it from some one reliable!   And worth listening to.

Greg

[Manannan]

Tom and Greg - Cold Brewed coffee - yep, have done that myself, works great for summertime, since you only use fuel / create heat long enough to warm your joe to taste, not bring it up to boil. There is some discussion about it here - far back in this thread, IIRC...

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php?topic=1411.0   <- there

There is people eating out of a can to save fuel too.... That is everybody choice, but please in this case drink this if you want but do not call it coffee.

[Captain Smollett]

There is people eating out of a can to save fuel too.... That is everybody choice, but please in this case drink this if you want but do not call it coffee.

I've had coffee this way and it is quite tasty.  You get the full flavor of the coffee without the bitterness.

Heat KILLS coffee flavor.  The cold-brew method exposes the coffee to as little heat as possible (just enough to warm it at drink-time).

[Manannan]

If your coffee is bitter to start with, it is a bad coffee no matter how you brew it. I have lived long enough in the States to know that I was not impressed with the coffee. But I won't argue on the subject. I know how I want my coffee and it is definetely not cold brewed.
The heat does not kill coffee flavor,Though  it is right that the water should be just below boiling temperature.
It all depends in fact if you really love coffee, if you don't fancy it that much,  instant coffee can do too, even in cold water, just have to pinch your nose, and swallow it at once 

[Captain Smollett]

I know how I want my coffee and it is definetely not cold brewed.

Fair enough.  Just out of curiosity, have you tried cold brewed coffee?

The coffees we drink come from all over the world.  It's not a "States" issue at all.

To each his own, and there's no accounting for 'taste.'  Even in coffee.   

[Manannan]

Yes I did, and also cold brewed tea. For the coffee in the States, I agree, it is the way it is roasted, and I know also that taste differ from country to country, some like it with more Robusta, some Arabica only. But I do not think we are on a coffee afficionados forum., but just to show that we can live without the electric coffee maker and still make good coffee to anyone taste 

[tomwatt]

CapnK, thanks for the link... great thread, and the link to the chowhound discussion was informative too.
That's something to consider. I'm big on being an energy miser when it comes to trying to conserve fuel sources and amps, so if there's a way to get this down pat (like start making tomorrow's coffee while heating up this morning's coffee) into a routine, I would like to make that work.
Because as much as I like it, Kona coffee is kind of expensive as a routine.

[SV Wind Dancer]

Kona does nothing for me...all price and no delivery IMO...but what do I know; cold baked beans out of a can? Yummy. (When I shake the inverted can to drop the last solitary bean into the abyss I hold my pinkie extended to compensate for my gaucherie)

[geneWj]

We tried the fancy french presses, tried drip and other methods.  What works best for us, is to boil water for 3 cups of coffee, put 1/1/2 spoons full of coffee directly into water, give it a chance to absorb, stir it let it set for 5-10 minutes, use a screen filter and pour directly into cup! walla!!