No coffee, no walkee as they say. How then do you get a good coffee in the middle of nowhere? Is it worth a five mile detour to get a lovingly crafted flat white or is there something you can carry to satiate cravings until you throw yourself upon the sympathy and dubious charm of the local barista?
I’ve pondered these questions over long drudgerous miles, when all that keeps me going is imagining the most exquisite coffee known to humankind waiting for me at the end. What follows is a few solo coffee options for ultralight hiking and wild camping. Speaking as a not even slightly reformed coffee addict I have considered various criteria, I’m not going to patronise you by rating them with funny little stars. You know what to try, and what works for you.
When really overthinking hiking coffee options, we might have the following caffeine considerations:
- Specification - Brew gear weight, size, robustness.
- Adaptability - Can the brewing gear be used for anything else?
- Disposal / Environmental Impact - We leave no trace, so what are we left carrying?
- Faffage - Practicality of the brewing method on the hills
- No cook compatibility - Does the method require carrying something to (nearly) boil water?
There are bonus points for gear used at home to avoid purchasing even more hiking gadgets. All Options are for solo coffee and listed in ascending order by approximate weight.
Do without
The lean hikers first option is to challenge comfort levels and learn to do without. Highly sustainable as most coffee production and transport is detrimental to the environment. The hardest and lightest option, except its not a viable option is it?
Weight: 0g
The lean hikers first option is to challenge comfort levels and learn to do without. Highly sustainable as most coffee production and transport is detrimental to the environment. The hardest and lightest option, except its not a viable option is it?
Weight: 0g
Sachet Coffee & Instant
Better than nothing? Certainly low faffage and very lightweight. Not sustainable if using single use plastic sachets, recyclable paper ones are better. Micro ground coffee is pretty good these days and can be made cold so it's no-cook compatible. My go is a cappuccino mix and extra dollop of micro-ground, not exactly a gourmet experience, but quick to make and welcome in the middle of nowhere.
Requires: Mug, Heat optional
Better than nothing? Certainly low faffage and very lightweight. Not sustainable if using single use plastic sachets, recyclable paper ones are better. Micro ground coffee is pretty good these days and can be made cold so it's no-cook compatible. My go is a cappuccino mix and extra dollop of micro-ground, not exactly a gourmet experience, but quick to make and welcome in the middle of nowhere.
Requires: Mug, Heat optional
Cold Brew
This is one of my favourites, a no cook option yielding a really smooth cup, although forward planning is needed. Put some ground coffee in a suitable pot with some fresh river water, leave overnight and wake up to a luscious brew. It's efficient, using far less coffee than others and can be used to make a concentrated brew for dilution later. I use a lidded cup to avoid leaks when it inevitably falls over at night. I also have reusable tea bags for convenience of packing, brewing and cleaning.
Requires: Mug or bottle, reusable tea bag or filter.
Requires: Mug or bottle, reusable tea bag or filter.
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| Waking up to a kick of cold brew |
Reusable Coffee Bags
The first of the methods requiring heat, simply put ground coffee into reusable tea bags before you go, or clean and reuse the same one en-route to save a whopping 0.5g per bag. Super light, the only waste is the grounds, with a bit of stirring it yields similar results to cowboy coffee and cafetiere.
Requires: Mug, Fire
Cowboy Coffee
Cowboy coffee recipes use various schemes to limit the amount of grounds ending up in the mug, including adding egg shells, pouring cold water at the end, or filtering through teeth, a handkerchief or your friend's expensive down jacket. Grounds could just me be left to settle, but are prone to finding their way back into the drink, ideally needs two containers to work, something to brew in and something to pour through the filter into. Arguably this second mug is a more versatile item to carry than any of the following single purpose coffee makers. The main difference between this and other filter methods appears to be the filter is improvised on trail.
Requires: Mug, other Mug, Fire.
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| Coffee with a crunch |
All in one cafetiere / french press mug
Low volume, low faffage There are various cafetiere mugs on the market, a neat convenient solution especially if you want a large brew - downside is the weight of the press, upsides are no consumables and robustness. It also won't fall over in the wind. There’s no need for a second brewing vessel, though the weight of the press attachment might be similar, and the second mug is more versatile.
The ‘press’ element of a French Press or cafetiere doesn’t do anything for the coffee flavour, (unlike an aeropress) it’s just a way to avoid getting grounds in the cup so pouring through a filter cowboy coffee style yields a similar result with less weight.
Requires: Mug, Cafetiere Adaptor, Ground Coffee. Fire.
Vietnamese Phinn
Often over looked for hiking the Phinn combines percolation and immersion brewing, giving a unique taste somewhere between pour over and press, and the ability to make seriously strong brew. It needs no filter and is cheap robust and light. Can be quite tricky to master, and like a pour over requires a stable, flat, non windy base to do it’s thing. It takes even longer to drip through than pour over, and while the lid helps it can lead to a just about warm cup.
Requires: Mug, Phinn, Fire.
An aeropress, sawn off or otherwise, is quite a heavy brew method, but it is reliable, robust and gives fine cup of coffee. They can be cut down extensively. The faffage rating is low because it produces relatively dry grounds which can easily be stored until a bin is found. Filters are small and can be reused a few times, although their weight is insignificant compared to the press itself.
Requires: Mug, press, Fire.
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| Who doesn't cut the top of their Aeropress? |
Pour Over
A fine way to make coffee at home, but does it work on the trail? A conventional pour over hopper is robust and quite large, although that’s somewhat compensated for because things, like coffee, can be stored in it. Assuming you can find something to balance it on, it requires one filter per brew (they often split if you try to reuse them). The biggest drawback is length of time to brew, pouring in stages outdoors yielding a warm to tepid coffee. Accurate pouring is tricky without a kettle or other spouted vessel. If volume is a concern, Sea to Summit and various others sell collapsible versions. Someone at the GSI design team has clearly been working long caffeine fuelled nights and concocted a bewildering range including collapsible, ultralight and compact versions
Requires: Mug, Dripper, Filter, Fire
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| Worth every gram, pour over luxury on the trail. |
I’ve kept the list to low weight options I've used, there are other brilliant, clever coffee makers out there, and things like Moka pots are a lovely luxury on a trip. All fine if you’re prepared to carry the weight, or are just photographing in a field against a sunset for an affiliate blog. If weight is no object look out for my forthcoming article ‘Best ultralight backpack systems for carrying industrial bean to cup espresso machines’.