What's your travel setup?

[joel]

The Mrs. and I have been doing regular weekend getaways and I generally have never traveled with any coffee gear, but the older (and grumpier) I get, the less tolerant I am to awful diner coffee, or K-cup coffee. Recently, I'be started taking equipment along with me - a Baratza Vario grinder, a large glass chemex, fiters, a scale, airscape container with my home roasted beans, etc - but it's a pretty ridiculous setup to lug around, and it would be wildy impractical to take on a plane. Being my compulsion to evaluate and test - I'm going to experiment and try multiple different setups (and i'll report back to the group) but in the mean time - if you take equipment with you when you travel, what is it and how do you like it?

Things I already have in the pipeline to test are:

1. Battery powered Outlin Portable Espresso Machine - which actually heats the water, which is neat.
2. 1ZPRESSO K-Ultra Grinder - will handle ultra fine top tier grinding for espresso (see above) but has the flexibility to cover pour over as well. I am a big fan of 1ZPRESSO hand grinders, I have a J Ultra for espresso, and that $200 hand grinder generates results every bit as good as my $2,300 Compak grinder - so I have high expectations.
3. Collapsible silicone cone drippers.
4. Collapsible electronic silicone water boiler.
5. VSSL Nest Pour Over Kit (integrated with two 10oz cups and actually has a small allegidly top quality hand grinder that fits into the thermos looking setup and can hold 10oz of beans).
6. Aeropress Go Plus.

The Outlin setup certainly has my interest piqued the most though. Being able to pull fresh shots from anywhere, even while on an airplane is pretty wild.

 

[mikhou]

Aeropress. 1) It makes a great cup of coffee. 2) It packs down pretty nicely. 3) You can't break it.

For coffee, if you're just going for a weekend, while not ideal, you could just grind some coffee before you go and keep it in an airtight container or a ziploc bag. I always carry an Aeropress when I travel and throw some coffee in a ziploc bag.

 

[deafficianado]

My out of the home setup includes a pour over phin filter, 40oz insulated mug, temperature controlled kettle, Nespresso frother, and pre grounded coffee in an airtight container.

 

[Leverspro]

I also travel with my own coffee, mostly so I can drink my own home roast.
I've had an Orphan Espresso Lido grinder for years. It's fine for car trips, but for motorbike trips it takes up a lot of room.
We have a little hiker's torch thing to take if necessary, but generally rely on being able to get hot water during most trips.
We do pour over when travelling. Presently our favorite is the Kalita Wave 155.
There is a lot of different kinds of kit that could be explored for throwing in a travel bag.

 

[Old Hippie]

I'm not old enough or grumpy enough yet to do it every time, but when I travel with coffee tools I take:

Old Hippie's Hack-A-Vac (a Bialletti New Venus modified into a vacuum pot).
Insulated 500ml mug with pour spout.
Some random ceramic mug that I don't care if I break or lose as long as I've drunk the coffee first.

This implies I'm staying somewhere with a heat source. And running water...

I buy some kind of coffee where I end up, and usually use bottled water. Makes me a decent cup of coffee to get the day started.

The only thing I might add, which I have not yet settled on, is a small induction hotplate.

O.H.

 

[Mesquite]

What about a Moka pot? If you’re staying somewhere with a stove at least, otherwise add a small induction plate (need an induction-capable Moka).

I’ve been enjoying making pourover recently at work, if I was taking a long trip right now I’d probably bring that and a collapsible kettle. My 1Zpresso is compact enough to bring, although for a shorter trip I might pre grind. I like Old Hippie’s idea to just buy beans at the destination, time permitting.

 

[Whisky]

If I’m backpacking I have a French press that fits inside a Nalgene bottle. It even has a screw down lid so it works like a travel mug. I pregrind my coffee at home. I find that with beans that I’ve roasted the coffee doesn’t deteriorate much in 7 days stored in a small Mylar bag. At 2 weeks it’s not great, but still drinkable.

If we’re car camping it’s all pour over. I’ve got a little isb charged grinder that does fine for pour overs but I wouldn’t want to try it for espresso.

 

[KW Driver]

Aeropress Go (full package in a 12oz package) and a Herio skerton grinder. A 750ml Ti pot to heat water with a MSR rocket stove in it for off grid cooking. That and a pound of coffee for a 1gal ziplock

I like analog systems.

 

[joel]

What about a Moka pot? If you’re staying somewhere with a stove at least, otherwise add a small induction plate (need an induction-capable Moka).

I’ve been enjoying making pourover recently at work, if I was taking a long trip right now I’d probably bring that and a collapsible kettle. My 1Zpresso is compact enough to bring, although for a shorter trip I might pre grind. I like Old Hippie’s idea to just buy beans at the destination, time permitting.

I am not a Moka pot fan. I did stay at an Air BnB a month ago that had a vintage Termica Express though, and after using it - I immediately hunted down the best condition one I could find on the internet - and bought it. Hardly travel worthy - but it makes a unique and punchy cup of coffee.

 

[linty1]

Looking forward to your Outlin testing, I had a good long look at that before settling on the picopresso.

When I travel, we usually travel to cities, not rural areas, and I will do a little googling to find a nice coffee shop and make that part of our route, as I like finding new coffee shops and it kinda flows with us going around. I try to find where they get their beans from and use googoe images to see if I can see how they make their coffee etc.

 

[Quaznoid]

I take a little instant just in case I can’t get a cup somewhere else.