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Somene mentioned that having a few luxuries would be nice in any SHTF situation.

Coffee:

Woodpile Report
The author recommends a French press. Most laudable, but second best. I've given various methods a couple year's trial and settled on cold brewing. Brews overnight, or twelve hours minimum. Mine's a Takeya. Nineteen bucks or near enough. Two of 'em, one for drinking while the other's brewing in the refrigerator. Pour a cup 'n heat it in the microwave. Every cup is a fresh cup. Those who don't know why "cafe Americain" is on offer abroad will want to dilute it.

If your idea of "real" coffee is Starbucks, hot brewed from burn-roasted so-so beans, you have a pleasant surprise in store. Even store brand supermarket coffee grounds taste smooth and satisfying when cold brewed. I use dark roast, whatever's on sale. No need to go Full Fanatic and hang around the waterfront for incoming beans to roast and grind yourself. It's coffee, not a calling.

The Takeya blurb says, "The traditional hot brewing process releases undesirable acids and oils, resulting in bitter flavor and acidity that is intolerable to many. With cold brewing, only the naturally delicious coffee flavors are extracted, leaving behind the bitter oils and fatty acids, creating a perfectly balanced, smooth extraction of concentrated coffee." If it's over the top it ain't by much. Here's a field expedient: use a Mason jar as a canister and make a "coffee bag" from a coffee filter. Works at 33°F and above.


If you want to use one purpose made.
https://www.amazon.com/Takeya-Coffee-Maker-1-Quart-Black/dp/B00FFLY64U
Add Coffee
Add 14-16 tablespoons of your favorite medium roast, coarsely ground coffee to the infuser, then twist into lid.

Brew
Add 32 ounces of cold, filtered water to the TAKEYA pitcher, fill 3/4 full, then lower infuser into water.

Seal lid airtight, shake well and store in refrigerator overnight or up to 36 hours to cold brew. Occasionally twist open and swirl infuser. Remove infuser when brewing is complete. The result will be a brew of concentrated coffee.

Serve Hot or Cold
Hot Coffee - mix 1 part coffee concentrate with 2 parts boiling water. If desired add sweetener and creamer of your choice.

Iced Coffee - simply pour coffee concentrate and add milk or soy over ice.






A French press screen in a mason jar can work too - or any screen filter.

Save the grounds, you'll need a garden in the brave new world.



(Sorry - but I do not see any images in my original post - don't know what's up with the graphics.)

View attachment 306820 View attachment 306821
 
I do not like coffee.

Cold brewed coffee done right is almost as tasty as tea.


Great post - I think too many people settle for that burned acidic taste...

If Starbucks had good coffee they wouldn't need to add 800 calories of sugar to it to make it tolerable.
 
Camping I do:

Instant. Handy if cycling / backpacking to get going faster, or for after dinner.

Drip. I use Medics method above, over a butane stove, then pour the coffee through a filter into an insulated plastic jar. I'll see if I can't find a link to one I use. I do fine grinds, but not Turkish. Comes out better than home drip. Yum.

Drip. If I don't want to wait too long, I use the system above just as a pour over setup. Pretty good.

Espresso. Use a bialetti stove top espresso maker. Good stuff.

Better espresso. Aeropress. That thing makes outstanding coffee. No 'crema though. But still, if you haven't tried one, give one a try. Relatively small, skip the metal filters and use a paper one they sell. Can fit hundreds in a small ziplock.

Best espresso. Mypresso, freekin outstanding! Like a multi thousand dollar machine God shot. Pricey & too many consumables to be useful long term, but a nitrogen cartridge is good for about 3 shots for me.
 
This is what I use for drip.

50 fl. oz. JavaDrip - Blue

Mines an older version, it looks like they changed the insulation - maybe sturdier?

They make a 30 & a 50 oz, the cone filter holder fits both. Don't throw out the cheap nylon filter, use it as a paper filter liner, or you won't get hardley any coffee flow. I use a metal home drip coffee filter as the paper filter liner to get good flow now a days.
 
Oh for gods sake!

Boil some grounds in a frying pan with some water over a campfire.

For crying in the night. This is the apocalypse! Not date night. :rolleyes:
Campfire coffee is awesome ... As for date night during the apocalypse that could be interesting depending on just who ya pick. LOL ( Linda Hamilton comes to mind )
Andy
 
I've been making cold brew coffee for several years - without the special device. It is much better than hot brewed. That said, my experience has been if you re-heat cold-brew coffee, you will still get that bitter/acid taste to come back again. I prefer to save cold brew coffee for iced coffee use only.

For hot coffee, I'll use a french press, or even better a campfire percolator.
 
Oh, and if you ever get a chance to try an authentic Vietnamese iced coffee, you'll be knocked on your backside. It's like drinking candy.

Yup, forgot about those little guys. Have a bunch of the presses I take out everyonce in a while.

You can buy them at Asian markets here, and they sell sweetened condensed milk in plastic squeeze bottles in the US now.
 
Yup, forgot about those little guys. Have a bunch of the presses I take out everyonce in a while.

You can buy them at Asian markets here, and they sell sweetened condensed milk in plastic squeeze bottles in the US now.

I bought one of the little filters to make it myself. My sister is dating a half-Vietnamese guy who has made it for us before. It's really great stuff, but almost too sweet.
 
I bought one of the little filters to make it myself. My sister is dating a half-Vietnamese guy who has made it for us before. It's really great stuff, but almost too sweet.

I was cycling Vietnam during holidays so about the only things open were coffee stands, beer stands and noodle shops.

Caffeine, sugar, carbs or beer...what to choose? All of the above...
 
I have a propane powered coffee maker. I will leave the wife and kids at home to make space for the coffee maker.

Ive worked for several coffee companies a the management level . The adage is that a good cup of coffee will taste good cold but a bad cup of coffee will only taste OK hot. My coffee WILL BE 120 degrees Apocalypse or high water or Chinese invasion..
 
Don't look at me, I'm no connoisseur... all I care about is that the stuff be so strongly caffeinated it reaches up out of the cup and SLAPS you awake, the more so the better.

What can I say, just tryin' to be like Gibbs... Excuse me, have to go find a DiNozzo to whack on the back of the head. :p
 
Don't look at me, I'm no connoisseur... all I care about is that the stuff be so strongly caffeinated it reaches up out of the cup and SLAPS you awake, the more so the better.

What can I say, just tryin' to be like Gibbs... Excuse me, have to go find a DiNozzo to whack on the back of the head. :p

Remember - the lighter the roast the more caffeine left in it. If you want to avoid acidity go with volcanic soil grown beans (Kona, Kauai, Jamaican blue mtn, and one of my favorites - sumatran light roast)
 

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