Coffee Preparation 101

A general guideline for coffee preparation: 1-2 tablespoons of coffee per 237ml of water. Which is about 1 measuring cup, not a coffee cup. You should start with 2 and adjust accordingly to taste.

The French Press: Many prefer this method. For us we use a glass press at home and a Jet Boil when out on trips. While your water is heating in a tea kettle or pan add the coffee to the press with a tea spoon of cold water. Once the water is heated slowly pour it in a circular motion (this helps "stir" the coffee in), let it steep a couple of minutes or so then slowly press. For a Jet Boil, heat the water first then stir in the coffee, let it steep from a couple of minutes or so then slowly press.

Automatic drip: We like the Braun Brewsense KF7170 cone filter coffee maker. A great feature is the brew strength selector that allows you to slow down the brew. This makes a cup that is hard to tell apart from a manual pour over. If you have a Bunn coffee maker toss it and get a maker with a cone filter.  You will find that you will need to use twice as much coffee with a Bunn as the water flows thru too fast to get extract good flavor. Bunn is designed for speed, not extracting the quality of the coffee.

Pour over filter: It has become the standard for coffee preparation in coffee shops all over the country. It provides a great cup of coffee by allowing the individual to control the flow. The slow pour from inside to out and back in is a great way to extract flavor. In the field we use the GSI Coffee Rocket single cup pour over attachment.


On The Water or Trail: We use a either the GSI Coffee Rocket (backpacking where weight is critical) JetBoil Flash (2 people) or JetBoil Sumo (4 people). 

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