[pct-l] Coffee

[Steel-Eye]

Good morning, Wayne,



It's good to hear from you again.  Today if we find a way to roast our 
coffee beans on the trail, grind them, then brew our beverage we will have 
equaled the methods of the early trappers and Civil War soldiers of 150-200 
years ago.  They traded for, or were issued, green coffee beans which they 
roasted .. fried actually .. over the campfire, then crushed with a rifle 
butt to make grounds.  A few decadent souls had small grinders, but they 
also usually had to travel light.

Steel-Eye

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Kraft" <wayneskraft at comcast.net>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 5:37 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Coffee


> If you are serious about your coffee and willing to spend $30 and add 8 
> oz.
> to your pack, there is nothing better than the Aerobie Aeropress:
>
> http://www.rei.com/search?vcat=REI_SEARCH&query=aeropress&x=17&y=7
>
> It produces coffee far superior to a drip coffee maker and better even 
> than
> a French press.  It produces a small quantity of highly concentrated 
> coffee
> to which you may add hot water for a perfect Americano.  The maker of this
> device unfortunately insists that it makes espresso.  It really doesn't
> quite do that and I think some have been disappointed in the Aeropress
> because they purchased it expecting some sort of crema-topped perfect
> espresso. Not really.  Just great coffee. I use mine every morning at 
> home.
> It cleans up quickly and easily.  A single filter can be rinsed off and
> re-used for at least a week. This is a rugged piece of equipment and 
> should
> last years.
>
> For a few ounces and another twenty bucks more you can add a small hand
> crank burr grinder to your kit and have freshly ground coffee, packing 
> fresh
> roasted beans instead of pre-ground coffee:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Coffee-Burr-Grinder-Small/dp/B000SZPK2U
>
> I have one of these, too, and it does a great job providing a quite
> consistent grind.  Unfortunately, it takes a long time to grind a batch 
> and
> I just don't have time to deal with it every morning, resorting instead to 
> a
> quicker but less acceptable electric blade grinder. On the positive side,
> the Aeropress doesn't seem to clog even if the grinder produces some fine
> dust along with the rest of the grind.  The handle fits in the body of the
> grinder.  Irresistible.
>
> Now, if someone can show me how to roast green coffee with my esbit stove,
> we could turn backpacking into a totally coffee oriented experience, 
> hiking
> perhaps 2 miles per day and spending the remainder of the day perfecting
> tomorrow morning's cup.  In fact, I'm wondering if there are backpacking
> destinations in the coffee country of Costa Rica, Guatemala or Ethiopia
> where one might dispense with carrying beans and just pick them along the
> way.
>
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