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Possibly more one for the Gravellers/Bikepackers/Walkers so I've put this into the Chat Forum but as the days are getting colder and shorter I'm warming to the idea of an early morning ride to a local hilltop to enjoy a hot drink and a peaceful sit. Obviously I could take a thermos (I have one that fits into a cage nicely) but I think it's partly the process of brewing out in the middle of nowhere that appeals.
Please share your outdoor stove/hot beverage making setups, anything from basic to needlessly extravagant would be appreciated 😀
I've recently invested in a Outin Nano portable espresso maker. About the size of a small thermos, heats the water and makes a surprisingly decent espresso. I previously had a ?Handpresso - that you pump up like a tyre, and it was far too much faff.
I am a filthy instant coffee drinker so I have a Alpkit Brukit to boil water. Doesn't get much more basic than that I guess.
In faff order:
An MSR GXK (probably) mk2. Very old. Burns anything, but incredibly loud, like some sort of jet engine sound. Impossible to talk to anyone nearby when it's one. Dangerous when priming too. Needs a rebuild...again, but it's years old and done well, so only fair to strip it down, give it a clean up and go again for lots of years.
A kelly kettle. The opposite of the MSR. Nice and simple. Collect sticks, light a small fire, boil water. Easy. Bulky though and more of a group use size.
Generic epigas alpine stove. The easy option. Small gas stove, nice and stable. Combined with a moka pot for nice coffee anywhere. It too it also very old, but works fine. Bit dull though when the loud and dangerous MSR or the mini-fire kelly options exist.
I flip between a Jetboil and my MSR Pocket Rocket with a 100g cartridge and an Alpkit titanium mug. Increasingly though it's the latter as it's much lighter, more compact and only a smidge slower than the Jetboil. For actual coffee making I have tried: Aeropress; Collapsible silicone V60; Jetboil cafetiere attachment. The Aeropress makes the best coffee, but is a little bulky if you are travelling light. The folding V60 is a bit floppy and unstable. The caffettiere is OK but messy, leaving your Jetboil mug in a bit of a state. If weight and faff are a real issue when bikepacking for example, then Taylors of Harrogate coffee bags are a last resort. A bit weak and bland, but way better than (the horror) instant. Life is too short to drink instant coffee.
Honey stove and a trangia burner trangia kettle. Vietnamese filter and sachets of condensed milk.
Pocket rocket deluxe is awesome, I have one.
I also have a one man Kelly kettle, an M-kettle. Awesome, take a fire lighter to guarantee success. Carries the water inside so only mug/filter required. On wet days take your dry twig stash, you don't need many
A trangia burner and stand is great, very compact and has Backcountry fire appeal.
Otherwise I use a chilly bottle with hot water in, which is ace
Speedster stove, meths, home made windshield/ pot stand, old Alpkit ti mug, GSI pour over pouch, wee bottle of milk.
Lovely.
OEX equivalent of the jet boil and the Aeropress travel (handily fits a few servings of ground coffee inside the plunger, and has a small filter paper holder in the lid) here. but take a stainless steel mug, the plastic aeropress one isn’t good.
Have a Kelly kettle, and they also are a bit dirty to carry after burning the sticks.
jet boil with the French press attachment or a bialati mini espress for me. the jet boil French press is good but the mini espress makes 25 ml of rocket fuel and comes with a demi tasse tin mug which I love
I have 2 options
- MSR Windburner stove (think Jetboil, but an MSR version.
- alpkit Ti mug + small gas cylinder + an Optimus Vega stove. It folds small + has a pipe so the gas cylinder is seperate to the stove - no teetering on top of the cylinder like some. All fits inside the Ti mug.
And the travel sized Aeropress, which ever water boiling method.
Outside did some small plastic bottles for a quid or two that perfectly fit inside the aeropress when packed down, to carry rhe ground coffee or milk.
Kelly Kettle is great for the beach when you're lounging around and it creates some entertainment and there is nothing flammable about but can be a faff.
Planetx jetboil copy is great for making up to 4 cups of tea or coffee, convenient and quickish but a bit bulky.
For 1 person I have a BRS3000 titanium stove which is cheap and very light. Stainless steel mug from Decathlon fits the stove and gas canister inside and is OK to drink your mug of tea from. Light, compact and fairly cheap setup. (Less than £20 including a tin of gas).
I have an old baby bottle with lid from when the kids were tiny for carrying milk.
Alpkit's version of a JetBoil and M&S #6 coffee bags - so much nicer than instant... but I'm not enough of a coffee snob/connoisseur to go to any further trouble.
BRS 3000 stove a pot with a plunger lid and a plastic mug to drink it out of. Nothing worse than drinking out of metal cups.
A flask
A flask
A Primus lite (similar to a jetboil) and aeropress works for me. I guess the relative bulk isn't an issue as you're not carrying a camping load.
For the Kelly kettle users - I have a 3yr old who would love collecting twigs and pinecones to use for making a hot chocolate when out on walks. As is on my purchase list for this autumn.
Question being, from the stage of having boiling water, how long does it take for the embers to cool down enough to responsibly leave behind and resume the walk?
how long does it take for the embers to cool down enough to responsibly leave behind and resume the walk?
I don't have direct experience but, given that it's only a few twigs, I'd have thought a splash of water and a good stomping under the sole of a hiking boot would render them harmless pretty much instantly.
Please share your outdoor stove/hot beverage making setups, anything from basic to needlessly extravagant would be appreciated 😀
I've tried various gas and meths burners... eventually settling on this setup.
It's a Caldera Cone ('fissure' =Ti version that splits in two). The cone itself acts as a wind shield, as well as the pot support. Very efficient. It comes apart and fits inside the pot. Mine's an 830 ml pot, though they don't sell that bundle anymore. Here's the 650ml version which comes with a meths burner in a tin.
https://www.traildesigns.com/products/ul-toaks-650ml-ti-pot-fissure-ti-tri-bundle
I added the Caldera Caddy as a mug because it's a perfect fit inside the pot (I only use one half of it). With the 650ml version, you might get the pot to fit inside the mug depending on which size caddy you go for. I made a cozy to either keep my drink warm, or keep my porridge warm.
https://www.traildesigns.com/collections/stove-accessories/products/caldera-caddy
The whole thing fits together nicely... and there's even room for a folding spoon and lighter.
I never went for the optional wood burning floor... but on one wild camp, I realised I left my meths bottle at home. Knowing the cone was compatible, it was easy to raise the pot on two tent pegs (as designed) and burn some twigs to get a brew on. Nice rescue. 👍
For say, two nights, you can't beat meths in terms of weight. Remember with gas, you're carrying a steel canister with you (even if it's empty). If you're going for a week or two, the weight efficiency advantage diminishes.
One last thing to add - the quoted volume of these Ti mugs is usually upto the brim... so say you want a 400ml brew, you're better off with a 600ml Ti mug else it boils over.
Small Bialetti espresso machine and a pocket rocket gas stove works for me.
It might fall under needlessly extravagant but I also take a Porlex hand grinder so a) freshly ground coffee smell in the tent and b) something to do (+to keep warm) while waiting for the water to boil. It fits inside the aeropress and I just store the beans in it as well so it's not realy taking up much more space. The v1 I've got is a few years old now and I think has been superseded somewhat by other brands but still does a good job - certainly good enough for filter / aeropress. Espresso lovers may need something better at finely ground coffee.
Small Bialetti espresso machine and a pocket rocket gas stove works for me too
I've recently invested in a Outin Nano portable espresso maker. About the size of a small thermos, heats the water and makes a surprisingly decent espresso. I previously had a ?Handpresso - that you pump up like a tyre, and it was far too much faff.
I recently bought something similar as I got an early buyers discount:
https://wacaco.com/products/pixapresso
I've used it a few times - makes decent enough coffee, but it's heavy to carry around and not much use for a multi-day trip as the battery only lasts for a few of coffees (they say 5 espressos - I reckon 3-4).
It'll get used, but I reckon a little gas burner like those above (I have a PX model that works well) and an Aeropress or Nanopresso is more versatile and reliable.
How are you finding yours? Happy with the results so far?
I take a collapsible silicone pourover cone with the coffee pre-dosed into some filter papers that are taped shut. Along with a collapsible cup it's super-easy to pack into bikepacking bags and has just the right faff/enjoyment ratio for me. Stove-wise I tend to take my jetboil but I did just find my old Ti mug so I might think about a little meths burner for that to make an even more compact set up.
If I was getting a filter cone now I'd probably pat the couple of quid extra for tis nice looking restrap one:
https://restrap.com/collections/accessories/products/coffee-dripper
How are you finding yours? Happy with the results so far?
Yes, pleasantly surprised, but as you say, too heavy to carry around. It's more for car or hotel room duty.
By the time you've spent 15 minutes drinking you coffee/tea/Horlicks then about half a litre of water is ample to cool it back down for packing up. It gets sooty but has a drawstring bag for packing and you can put that in the washer if it gets filthy.
The bigger issue is that you need a level stone to sit the kettle on as it will leave a scorched ring on any grass. Also in summer when everything is tinder dry I wouldn't use one in a field or moor due to the fire risk. Beaches, including near a river, are usually fine and have a ready supply of water for dousing down any sparks or embers.
Taylors of Harrogate coffee bags are a last resort. A bit weak and bland, but way better than (the horror) instant
I find they are pretty good, but you defo need two bags per cup. Otherwise they are too weak as you say.
Cheap and simple brewing thing. Works great
With some filter papers
https://www.melitta.co.uk/filter-papers/melitta-original-coffee-filters-size-100-40-pack
And some individual milk portions from Tesco
With this stove setup
These coffee bags from rave are decent enough for emergency use, I always buy a few boxes for my mate when I buy a kg of beans every month
https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collections/coffee-bags?page=1
Thanks for all the options, plenty to work through! I hadn't considered a small Bialetti Moka Pot, that also has the advantage of pre-loading the coffee and just pouring some water in.
I currently have a Planet-X rip-off Jetboil but the cafetiere attachment is really naff and leaky so you just get a cup of grit instead and because it's only designed for the built-in mug you can't really put another cup/saucepan etc. on top of it.