Tips for Making Coffee Outdoors
Tips for Making Coffee Outdoors
Summary:
- Use plastic brewing devices when possible to retain heat.
- Plastic is also less likely to break when packing/hiking!
- If using a thermos to transport hot water make sure to pre-heat it.
- Also grind a bit finer as the water will still lose some heat in transit.
- Keep it simple! Enjoy nature, not fiddling with your kit ;)
- Try brewing 'cowboy coffee' - which is basically just cupping! Ground coffee in the cup, water straight in, wait a few minutes before stirring the top, wait a few more minutes - enjoy! Just stop before you reach the grounds at the bottom!
- If making coffee for a few people try 'jug coffee' which is cowboy coffee as above but in a large vessel you can pour from (and brew multiple coffees at once).
Transcript (Adam Marley speaking):
(00:01):
Hey everyone. Welcome back for another tips and tricks with me, Adam. This week I thought I'd do some tips and tricks around making coffee outside, and then also kind of coinciding with that, making coffee for a lot of people, which might be the case when you're camping with a bunch of friends or something like that. So there's some short and shiny tips if you're making coffee outside, like I am at the moment. At the roastery, and those are weeds. But Hey, it looks like [inaudible 00:00:30]. Well, it is outside, but hey, nature.
(00:35):
So you're outside, you're making some coffee, some short and shiny tips are, first of all, this is assuming you're outside, like camping or going on a bike trip or in a park or something like that. Not just like outside your home with your kitchen right there. So assuming that, let's just say camping. First tip is to use plastic brewing devices and whatever you're brewing into.
(01:00):
So that might be like an AeroPress or if you're doing a pour over, then use a plastic cone, which is always my recommendation for a pour over anyway, because it has better thermal insulation. If you're going to be doing a plunger, I guess it's hard to find a plastic plunger, but get one with a really strong, like an unbreakable glass, like one of those Pyrex type glosses that's really durable. So basically whatever you're brewing with, make sure it's plastic because for obvious reasons, it's not going to break. It's also going to have a lot more thermal stability. And so, cause you're outside, there's wind and stuff. You don't want your coffee cooling down too quickly, either when it's brewing importantly, when it's brewing, but then also when you're drinking it. So you use plastic vessels in brewing devices is the first tip.
(01:45):
My second tip would be if you're not going to be heating the water up outside, if you're going to be bringing a thermos of hot water than one preheat, that thermos because you are going to lose some heat and really whenever you're brewing coffee, filter coffee, you want the water to be effectively as hot as possible. And so preheat that terms before you fill it up with boiling water. Also, even then you're going to lose some heat by the time you get to brewing. So for that situation, you want to grind a little bit finer and or agitate your brew more than you usually would. So basically now we're just increasing our extraction with other variables to compensate for the water, being a little bit cooler.
(02:28):
My third tip would be to keep it simple. So when you're camping or you're outdoors, you don't want a huge amount of kit. You know, for instance, you could pre grind your coffee and not bring it with you. You don't have to worry about scales. You could. So for me, I would pre dose and pre grind my coffee. Yeah. It might not be absolutely perfect, but you're outdoors, and that's going to be a fantastic experience that will kind of compensate for the slight loss in quality, by not grinding. Of course, you can grind fresh. That's one way you could keep it simple.
(03:01):
The biggest one is for me, I don't like to bring a huge amount of kit, even though an AeroPress is designed for, well not really designed for, but really popular for outdoor usage, camping, bike trips, that kind of thing. I used to bring an AeroPress with me. I used to use AeroPress. I don't any longer because I can't be bothered with all the faff.
(03:21):
So my way of making coffee outdoors, or basically in any situation where I want it to be simple, and I don't want to bring too much stuff like when I'm traveling is if you've got a [inaudible 00:03:33], which we will be releasing soon, that's all pre-packaged ready to go. Fantastic.
(03:38):
But putting that aside for a second, if you were going to be more manual than what I do is, I call it cowboy coffee. I think there's other names for it as well, but I think that's the American name, but cowboy coffee. I've talked about this previously. It's basically a cupping, but you drink the cup. So all you really need is ground coffee, hot water, a cup to drink out of, and a spoon to break the crust. And you can even get away without the spoon.
(04:02):
It's basically if you add ground coffee into the bottom of the cup you're going to drink out of. Pour hot water over the top, wait a few minutes. Don't bother with a timer. You know, this is camping, outdoors. There's other things to worry about. Coffee's still going to taste good if you start with good coffee and then after a few minutes break the cross. Now you could do that with a spoon, or if you don't have a spoon or can't be bothered, you just kind of give a gentle swell to the cup and that will loosen up all the crust. Give it another minute for all the grounds to sink and then drink and savor and enjoy your coffee. Just make sure you stop before you get to the grounds at the bottom.
(04:37):
Bonus tip is, this is a great way to make coffee for a lot of people, whether you're camping or even just at home. And I think I have mentioned this one before, but what I'd call this as jug coffee and basically do a really big, well there's two ways you can do it.
(04:49):
Do a really big version of that in something that you'd pull water out of or measure water in. So like a big Pyrex measuring jug, do all the coffee for everyone, all the water for everyone. Break that crust, wait for it to sink and then just serve out for everyone. No filter required. Nice and simple. Your only waste is a little bit of ground coffee, which you can throw in the garden. So that's a simple [inaudible 00:05:11].
(05:10):
The other way you can do it if you don't have a big jug is to just do individual cowboy coffees for everyone. So everyone has their cups. Everyone has their ground coffee in it. Water, water, water, water, all the cups. And then everyone just takes that cup breaks the crust and drinks whenever they're ready.
(05:25):
Nice and simple. This is my method for making coffee outdoors and for big groups of people. Hopefully that was useful. Useful tips and tricks. I was about to say, go out and enjoy the nice weather and make some coffee. It looks like the change is coming, which I'm actually kind of excited about because it's really hot in the roastery. Anyway, thanks for tuning in everyone. And we will see you soon. Bye.