Cowboy coffee, how do YOU make it?

[simon1]

I'm not talking about an aluminum percolator that's over a fire...I mean the regular coffee boiler, sauce pan, or kettle.

What's your technique for over a fire?

 

[Pebcak]

Aeropress or in a pinch a pour over. Just because you're out in the woods is no excuse to drink bad coffee.

 

[dundak]

Boil water, pull it off the fire and let it cool a little, Stir in my grounds, let it sit 4-5 minutes and drink up.

 

[emwolf]

I've never made it, but my mom (who turns 89 next month) told me many years ago who they used to make it at home. Saucepan, coffee, water, bring to a boil, drop in a raw egg and pull off heat. She said the egg keeps the grounds down so it won't pour into the cup. Then there's this.

 

[bberg100]

Boil water, take off heat, stir in grounds when the boil stops, a couple minutes later I stir in a whipped egg or two. Still get a few grounds in the cup, filter with your teeth. Every pot comes out different.

But anymore a Melita pour over is my "cowboy" coffee maker. Leave the pot on the edge of the fire and still get that nice scorched camping flavor.

 

[Toothpick]

IIRC (which I probalby don’t) an article said to put in a little cold water before pouring a cup because that will cause the grounds to sink. ?? Also, egg shells will help settle the grounds and remove some bitterness.

Or take a regular coffee filter, add grounds, tie it off with twine to make a “tea bag” and brew the coffee.

 

[TexLaw]

The short answer is: whatever it takes.

The technique always is, pretty much, the same. Boil the water, take it off the fire, stir in the ground coffee, cover it, wait about 5 minutes, and dive in. Serving involves . . . whatever we feel like trying. We've strained it, ladled it, ladled it through a strainer, added egg shells, poured carefully, dipped our cups in (a pot, obviously), and just said "to heck with it" and run the stuff down our gullets quickly and without regard for any grounds.

That's been years, though, if I'm honest. These days, the closest we get to "cowboy coffee" is to heat water and add instant. I don't even heat the water sometimes. Instant has gotten pretty dadgum good, so I don't see a lot of sense in trying to futz around with grounds like that unless I were to do some sort of reenactment.

 

[cw62803]

Over campfire, add water and grounds. Bring to a boil, take off the fire, let it cool a while - then pour it into cups. If you have some kind of screen, towel, or something you can ad lib with, you can strain it as you pour. If not, just let the grounds settle a little - they won't kill you.

 

[BigFoot]

I find power to plug in my Keurig.

 

[Mempho]

Took a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon 20 years ago and the swamper dumped 7 or 8 double handfuls of coffee into 5 gallons of water, let it boil 15 minutes and ladled it out to us paying guests. Absolutely the finest coffee I ever tasted in my life. But maybe the surroundings had something to do with that.

 

[Mike H]

Never had any luck with cowboy coffee. Damn grinds never sink, at least not enough of them to suit me.

 

[Bhugo]

I put the grounds in the water the night before. That’s how a real cowboy from Wyoming taught me long ago. Bring it up to a boil for a minute or 2 and throw in a cup of cold water. I have never had a problem with grounds. I use a huge enamelware pot similar to the ones in the OP. You can make a massive quantity of coffee with this method.

 

[simon1]

I do pretty much what some others have said...bring the water to a light boil, take it off the heat for a minute or so to cool down a bit, then put in the coffee grounds and let it sit for 4-5 minutes still off the heat. Then put in a bit of cold water to settle the grounds. That seems to work better than egg shells. Tastes almost as good as my vac pot stuff...to me anyway.

 

[jar_]

These days you ride up to the nearest QuickStop or McDonald's.

 

[Raissermesser]

1. Boil water.
2. Pour in cup.
3. Open packet of instant coffee.
4. Stir in packet.

 

[mauser44]

ok. This is how we make middle eastern \ Turkish coffee. Same concept, slight variation
- boil water
- add coffee ground off the fire and stir
- put the pot back over the fire and bring it to a gentle boil, then remove from fire before it spills over. The coffee will "froth" and rise, so you want to keep an eye on it and pull it off the heat source.
repeat 2-3 times
- let it rest for a couple of minutes
- the ground always appear to be "heavier" with that method and will all settle to the bottom.
If you gently pour you can drink 90-95% of it with practically no grounds in it.

 

[JamesBlades]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a fine mesh strainer.

I make cowboy coffee the same way everyone else mentioned - Bowl water, throw grounds in, stir, let sit, then it's ready to drink.

Then pour it into cups through a fine mesh strainer to catch all the grounds. Best coffee ever. It's like having a french press in the woods.

 

[Toothpick]

I’d bring some extra coffee filters from home to strain it through while pouring in the cup. Then just throw the used filter on the fire.

 

[JamesBlades]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a fine mesh strainer.

I make cowboy coffee the same way everyone else mentioned - Bowl water, throw grounds in, stir, let sit, then it's ready to drink.

Then pour it into cups through a fine mesh strainer to catch all the grounds. Best coffee ever. It's like having a french press in the woods.

Pro Tip: All fine mesh strainers are not created the same because some of them aren't fine enough to strain out coffee grounds.

 

[TexLaw]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a fine mesh strainer.

Well, ...

We've strained it, ladled it, ladled it through a strainer,

I also agree that not all strainers are made equally. It's always worth a quick look at one when buying it.