Imagine that you’re deep in the Wasatch Mountains, hiking up to Mount Timpanogos 20 miles away from your favorite coffee shop or your fancy espresso machine at home. Scary thought, right? When you’re planning for a weeklong backpacking or camping trip, excessive gear is tossed out left and right, but for everyone’s sake and sanity, keep the coffee. Follow these steps to beat any “cowboy coffee” or Starbucks instant packs when on the trail.
Snow Peak’s French Press, the best camping French press in my opinion, is so lightweight, it’s always worth bringing along. I store all my coffee supplies for the trail inside and use it as a pot, since it can be placed directly on coals. The only drawbacks are that it doesn’t make a lot of coffee and it’s a little pricey — $55.99, to be exact.
To use it, just follow these three simple steps:
- Boil water
- Add grounds (my favorite is Cuarenteno from Jack Mormon Coffee Co.)
- Sit for three minutes and filter.
- To clean, rinse out grounds with a little water
Another alternative is liquid coffee concentrate, the perfect solution to serve high volumes of hot coffee quickly. Plus, the concentrate can be used to make iced coffee by diluting with two parts cold water and ice.
- Place two cups of ground coffee in a pitcher and cover with six cups of water at room temperature. Cover with a tea towel and let sit a minimum of 12 hours, 24 if you want it to be stronger. When camping, prep ahead and let it sit overnight.
- Strain coffee concentrate with a coffee filter.
- Dilute the concentrate with two parts boiling water. I tend to do a ratio of one part concentrate to two parts water, but over time you can experiment to see what tastes best to you.
- Depending on how long your trip is, grab some cream from the 7-11 before heading up the canyon or buy some Milkman instant low fat dehydrated milk from Amazon or REI.
You never need to give up a cup of coffee, even when you are out in Utah’s wilderness surrounded by red rocks or pine boughs and the crunch of snow. You can awaken to the sounds of unzipping bags and tents and the smell of a smoking campfire with the knowledge that delicious hot coffee awaits. You and your friends will be even happier with caffeine pumping through your blood.
Photo by Sam Guiguis