[Moderator's note: A later topic on the same subject has been merged with this one.]

Original post:

We are going on our first campout in our Scamp, and I have our old tenting camp utensils including a small coffee pot thing--but it has nothing inside. Am I missing parts i don't remember, or can you make coffee in this thing. Most rv sites say get a percolator pot for stovetop or campstove. I do have a french press, but it's glass.
any suggestions, recipes???

I think one possibility would be a Melitta drip thingy. Boil your water on the stove and pour it into this coffee grounds filled filter frame placed over your coffee pot.

We like strong coffee so we use a stovetop (stainless steel) espresso contraption from the kitchen store (try looking for one at an Italian deli). We also sometimes use a french press that we got at Ikea for 12.00 so no big deal if it breaks. Someone told me about another Italian kind that you flip over or something?? I'm still looking to see one as I don't really know how it works or what it would look like.

I have Grandmas old espresso pot. It makes real coffee, in small amounts.

I actually make it more strong than anyone would drink, and then "thin" it with water a bit. The problem with this type of pot is that you cant make large amounts and then keep it warm. You have to make each cup, unless you use the thinning method WHILE IT IS STILL FRESH.

Here are my pots.. the red one is a regular perc maker that serves double duty for making many cups at once, or keeping the strong stuff warm. (Pour the strong suff in it and leave on burner).

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Also, look up "cold brew" coffee. It is basically making coffee paste and adding water for a full brew "instant". I tried it once.. was not overly impressed, but some folks swear by it.

We found an insulated French press that works good for us.

I found a new unbreakable french press (acrylic) at the kitchen store lately and a a;; metal 12 oz one that is a commuter mug at the same time at Starbucks. And for expresso I use an old stove top expresso maker along with a stove top milk steamer... Yes I am into coffee.

Roy

Me Too!

Folgers makes coffeee dunking bags like teabags. We use those with a teapot and/or water that I heat in the 30-cup percolator. The rest of the water goes to wash the dishes. (When I have more time, don't need as much hot water, or want more flavor, I percolate flavored coffee in this pot.)
You could buy these bags and use the hot water from your pot.

CindyL

We have an older, large camp cook kit that came with a coffee pot perculator. It may be the same coffee pot you have but your missing the guts. It makes about 6 cups (3 mugs for me) and has a holow tube that holds a basket on top where you put the coffee grounds. / when the water boils it comes up the center tube and spills over the grounds and on a cool damp morning it is just the smell you need to get things started.
Gerry

They still sell the expresso machines exactly like the one on the right at Target stores here.

When we went out for a week recently, we used a French press.

Here's what we use.

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We have a french press like Byron's that we use at home, but I find it awkward to clean the press while camping. Spooning out wet coffee grounds into a garbage sack was a big nuisance. Now we use Frederick's suggestion of Melitta coffee filters. Ours is called Ready Set Joe and it's particularly nice because it has a hole at the base of the plastic funnel that lets you see the level of coffee in your cup, to help you avoid adding too much water. It works best with very finely ground coffee. It makes a great cup of coffee, with instant cleanup!

Jeanne

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I, like Roy, can't imagine camping without that first cup of coffee in the AM. And I collect coffee pots! I have four currently in my camper, all of them purchased at second hand stores, (Goodwill, Savers) for very little.

They are all (except one) based on adding boiling water to grounds. The big one is a three section aluminum drip pot consisting of a top section for the boiling water, a center basket for the filter and grounds, and a large bottom pot to hold the brewed coffee. It will make about 6-10 oz cups. Next is a Melita one cup filter, great for making one insulated mug of coffee, with very easy clean up. One is an Italian expresso maker, making coffee with steam that fits in those Little Bitty cups that hold about two thimblefulls of very strong stuff. The last is the French Press. I also have the metal one, that makes about two good size cups, or can be used as an insulated mug. And I also carry an old fashioned coffee grinder (yes, the kind with the crank on the top).

Now you see why I had to get the Scamp 5th Wheel, only way to carry all the coffee makings.

All of these beat making anything drinkable out of those "crystals" they call instant coffee.

Just a little food for thought:
Unattended Coffee Pot Ignites, Destroying RV

You mean that people actually camp in places WITHOUT a Starbucks??????Isn't that taking roughing it a bit too far ?

Personally I have 2 percolators in the egg- one for the stove top and a small electric one. That way no matter where we are I can have my cuppa joe.
Then there is my itty bitty drip pot that only makes 1 cup at a time that I found at a flea market- great for a quick cup for 1. I carry pre-ground coffee and some round filters that fit all 3 pots. Nothing makes the egg feel more like home than the smell of decent coffee brewing.


For those of you who can't remember the OLDEN days of truely roughing it, you can still make boiled coffee in any old thing that will hold water- Set the water over the fire and throw a handful of coffee grounds into it when it boils. Let it simmer till dark enough to suit you. Just remember to let it sit for a few minutes so the grounds will sink to the bottom before you try to ladle it out into cups. Not recommended for the weak of heart or sensitive taste buds.

We have tried the "Coffee Bags" and I guess they might do for someone who only drinks a cup of coffee once a year, but we could not handle them as being anything like real coffee. Don't even get me started on instant coffee!!!!

Patricia,
What ever happened to the old idea of putting the grounds in an old sock which acted something like a filter. One didn't have to wait for the grounds to settle out.

Personally, when at home, I prefer a one cup Mellitta funnel and filter set-up which I have to use by filling twice with water because of the size of the mug. When camping, my insulated mug only holds one filling of water so I don't often get to consume as much.

I think I enjoy the smell of the coffee as much as the actual drinking of it.

Kurt & Ann K.

Perc missing inside coffee ground holder = camp coffee. Any old container that can hold water, throw the grounds in, let boil.

Pour carefully! Or don't sip the last bits. (Not "good to the last drop"?)

My mom had an elegant old perc, beautiful to look at, shined to a gleam, that she would watch over, knowing exactly the moment when the colour of the liquid in the bubble at top meant it was ... Perfect Coffee.

You can also get little round coffee filters with a hole in the middle to put in before spooning in the ground coffee. Very classy.

If you perk coffee without the inner thingy (boiling water with grounds dumped in) you can at the last moment dump in a little cold water. This is supposed to bring the grounds down to the bottom of the pot, so you can pour out just brewed coffee.

I remember a discussion on fgrv.com a while ago about "cold brewed" coffee. People made coffee "essence" and kept it in the fridge. They then mixed this with warm water when making a cup of coffee.

Can we revisit that discussion?? Who was it??

That would be me (I think). I had Cold Brewed Coffee over thrity years ago and it was great. It is sorta like SunTea only with Coffee and much stronger. So you add Hot water with the Cold Brew to make a cup of coffee. This is Really Rich, Smooth, Great Tasting coffee. (No Acid bite.)

Just found these links,
http://www.toddycafe.com/customerservice/instructions.php
http://www.toddycafe.com/shop/product.php?productId=67

PS: I can’t seem to duplicate the coffee my friends made. Maybe my tastes have changed.

when i was a kid, about 55 years ago, we hauled bees in the spring into the northern calif. mountains and slept on the gound.
coffee was made in an old coffee can....throw in a handfull with water and put it on the fire untill it boiled for awhile.

today, we have a cuisinart that grinds the beans first.
of course that means starting the generator first, which means, with others in camp, waiting untill after 0700.

We use a cold brew system from www.ToddyCafe.com and love it. Make your concentrate before your trip and then add 1/4 concentrate to 3/4 hot water. Produces a cup of great coffe with less caffine and less acid...................nice to know for old stomachs which don't appreciate either!

When we're camping, we rough it, so:

We grind the beans before we leave home and keep them in the Casita's freezer 'til time to make the coffee.

mr coffie the only way to go its the first thing that goes in the tt when we get ready to go

Mr. Coffee sleeps pretty late when there is no outlet in the trees

I tried the cold brew stuff. It was "ok". For me, an ex chain smoker, I thought it was a bit weak for my tastes after 30 years of making it spoon stand up strong just so it would penetrate the nicotine haze in my mouth.

As an ex smoker, I STILL like it that way.

PS...

Quitting Ciggies = misery, uncomfortable and not easy, but I got over it.
Quitting Caffiene = IMPOSSIBLE!!! The longest I went was 3 days and I wanted to shoot myself. That first cup of real joe after 3 days of caffiene free was as good as heroin is to a junky...

awwwww.... sweet relief!

You haven't found the right kind of current bush? Tsk tsk tsk.

Well, neither have I.

Sense we no longer have Burning Bushes, you might try “Fireweed”.
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You have to plug into one of these:

Currant Bush

you all are getting pretty funny! thanks for all the ideas. i may try the camp coffee thingy again, but use those round 'grounds in the filter' for those fancy single cup makers and see what that does. We may have a 'coffee making' contest! ha!
thanks again.

After a recent trip to Ft. Bragg, I learned several things:
1. You can buy a camping percolator, stainless steel, with the little glass top at WalMart for $32.00 before you go on the trip.
2. All the other campers in town beat me to the thrift shop.
3. All the other campers in town beat me to the local Rite-Aid.
4. The one coffee pot left at Ace Hardware had no guts.
5. There are no WalMarts in Ft. Bragg, CA
6. The one surplus store in town had one coffee pot, old blue enamel look, for $24.00
7. Drip filters folded over don't make good perc filters. The water doesn't drain through fast enough.
8. Paper towels torn properly and folded over (about 1/4 of a towel) make great perc filters.
9. Coffee is the reason one must have a cook top in a trailer. Especially if you pour up the water and get the percolator ready the night before. Turn on the coffee, crawl back under the covers and wait for the chill to leave the trailer. Turn off stove and sip first cup under covers.

I recently bought a toddy coffee maker. Had one years ago. Don't know what happened to it. The stuff is great. I'll take it along on the trip. This is especially good for folks that like lattes. Heat the milk and pour in concentrate. MMMMMMMMm. rich taste.
I'll probably also take along the percolator. (See 9 above.)

Why aren't any of the happy faces drinking coffee????

Here is a recipe for "cowboy coffee". Put 2 measured cups of water in a pot and heat until it just starts to boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and add 3 level tablespoons of ground coffee, and stir once. Remove from the heat after 4 minutes. Place one ice cube in pot (or small amount of cold water) and let sit for 1 minute. Pour carefully (or use a ladle) unless you like chewy coffee.

I'm a retired Army cook and made coffee by this method for years in a "field kitchen". Of course, we were using 15 gallon pots and fixing breakfast for 300+ soldiers. It's not Starbucks, but it will give you a recommended daily allowance of caffine.

Tom Trostel

I found a personal coffee maker at Wal Mart in their camping section. It consists of a cup, a top section for coffee, and a lid. You add one spoonful of coffee, a cup of boiling water and let it drip through. Takes about a minute or two and you've got your coffee high.

I have tried a lot of ways--but my favorite has been the Coleman Drip Coffee maker.
Make a great pot of coffee---goes over the burner on the stove.
I think Target carries them in the camping section---only $30 something, I think.

The Coleman drip coffee maker is our choice. Or actually my husbands choice since I found out he hated the cowboy coffee I was making. So, I found the coleman under the Christmas tree last year and it wasn't even on my list.

Karen K.

And how long before you let him out of his room to give it a try???

I cannot wake up in the AM until I have had at least 2 cups of coffee. I cannot stand perked, boiled, coffee.
I was at wal- mart yesterday and found a Coleman 10 cup drip coffee maker in the camping section. I tried it this AM on my gas range in the kitchen and the coffee was just as good as if I made it in my everday drip coffe maker.
It is designed to fit on gas campstoves. It fits my burro range well and cost $39.95.

Hope this helps,
John Perry

I am sold.....this is one thread I have been folowing......I am going with the coleman as my first coffee making thing a ma jig...........I just hope for no drama at the local Wal Mart
thats twice in 1 year we have had Wacko's with guns here in Simi...and of all places...Wal Mart?

Cover me..Im going in

Hi,

I saw the story on the TV.

We have the coleman too and it makes great coffee. It is just too slow. I have a small 2 cup pot for a quick cup in the morning.

Hi: Just bought a Black & Decker 5 cup(dcm500) Cofeemaker. Seems the right size for a 13' boler. Everything must be teeny tiny... Being Canadian I bought at Canadian Tire store as I don't like Wally Mart either...but I don't own a gun either... from the north shore of Lake Erie

P.S. I forgot to mention the price $9.95C. D.

This looks like a very nice coffee maker, just about the right size. One problem for many of us, it requires a 120 AC current bush or tree to work.
Thanks for pointing this one out. I would probably get one if I was usually camped with hook-ups.

I wish Coleman made a stove top this size.

Stick with your press pot, Byron - the consensus of coffee cognoscenti is that press pots make the best java!

Check: http://www.ico.org/making_coffee.asp - "The plunger method, said to have been invented in 1933, extracts the most flavour from the ground beans."

And you can't beat it for convenience, either.

Ya, I really like the coffee out of the press. I'd complain about the clean up, but since Anne takes care of that, it works great for me. She doesn't seem to mind the clean up. I guess we'll stick with that.

Click to view attachmentA french press is my choice

Hey Jim,
It's been 3 days. Did you make it OK?
John

I am taking 2 of my grandsons camping this weekend. I will set the coffe pot up the night before and make sure the kids turn on the stove when they get up. They are always up before me.
John

That's how I do it. Can light the stove practically from under the covers.

Hi: Personally I don't perk in the morning. I am more of a drip!!! However I do like mine Black & Decker Regards Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

1. open up can ( nite before)
2. measure coffee and put in basket
3. pour in water
4. set timer for coffee to perk before I get up

Yup, that's how it's done at my house. Not so in my Scamp Kerby doen't like his Scamp to be near the right kind of current bushes. (See avatar for a picture of Kerby). Anne don't like "cowboy" coffee. So what's a guy to do?

About percoloated coffee, the ICO (International Coffee Organization, flagship of the world coffee trade) says this:

"There is possibly no worse way to make fresh coffee than this."