Camping Coffee Dilemma Solved

I am not a coffee snob nor am I considered by some as a "real" coffee drinker since I only drink iced coffee.  But I like my morning coffee. Oh who am I kidding? I MUST have my morning coffee.  I have developed a way to ensure I have iced coffee at home daily. However, making sure I have a morning coffee while camping at The Shack has been a problem.  Fortunately, I am reminded that a Moka coffee pot is the solution to most of my camping coffee problems!

My Process for Making Iced Coffee at Home Does Not Work Well for Camping

Some time ago, I had been buying coffee (and usually donuts) at a local coffee shop every day.  Determined to save money (around $1,800 a year!) and to get my iced coffee made how I like it (closer to black than the splash-of-coffee-over-creamer I often received at the coffee shop) I learned how to make my own iced coffee. The very summarized version is:

• using a typical 12 cup drip coffee maker, I brew my coffee
• I let it cool down sufficiently to avoid melting a plastic/lidded pitcher (I learned my lesson - pouring hot coffee into a glass pitcher is not a good idea)
• I place it in the fridge over night
• in the morning, I pour the cold coffee over ice and add my tiny splash of creamer

This method keeps the coffee from becoming diluted when poured over the ice. Then I use my AWESOME Bubba Tumbler to keep it cold and carry it safely with me to work or prevent nasty spills if I'm just hanging out at home.

Making Iced Coffee at The Shack

When camping at The Shack in cold weather, having cold coffee should be easy, right? I make the coffee as usual and take the coffee jug with me when I drive up there. Easy, right? Nope.  I tend to forget the coffee jug in the fridge. And once, I remembered the jug but I spilled a good portion of it in the Jeep because the lid wasn't tight enough. Maddening.

stove top percolating coffee pot

In cold weather, I can brew it in an old fashioned percolating pot. Easy, right?  Well, no.  My wood stove doesn't seem to get hot enough to cause it to percolate. 

I could use my BBQ grill. It doesn't have a side burner, so I have to sit the pot on the grill.  The fire of the grill gets plenty hot enough, but how clumsy sitting a little coffee pot over one of those large grill burners. Seems like a too much flame and propane for one tiny pot.  Not to mention that I can't seem to add the right amounts of coffee to water in my little percolating pot.  

However, I have had some successes with the grill and the stove top percolating pot method. Then, if it is cold enough, I leave the pot outside to cool. Not quite iced coffee, but close enough. 

Single Burner Camp Stove

I did finally figure out how to use a small propane single burner camping stove with the stove top percolator coffee pot. Propane camping stoves are awesome and work well for a variety of things. And they work well in all seasons. But that didn't solve the ratio of water to coffee problem I have. And the fact that the pot is so tall makes me a bit nervous on top of the propane bottle/stove set-up.

Moka Coffee Pot - The camping coffee solution

Just yesterday I found a Moka Coffee Pot review. Voila! My solution for making good coffee while at The Shack. I had already known about the Moka coffee pots but I had forgotten. Years ago I went camping with a friend who brought one on our camping trips. The measuring of the coffee and the water was almost fool-proof. The water heated quickly and the coffee "brewed" quickly.  

The only drawback is that it doesn't hold enough water for multiple large mugs of coffee. But that's okay.  I'm typically camping at The Shack with just the dogs and I. And thus far, they haven't asked for a cup of coffee. 

The Moka expresso coffee pot my friend used

Thank you Brenda at Culinary Favorites from A - Z for the Moka coffee pot review and reminder of the perfect coffee solution for making coffee while camping at The Shack. 



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