Best Ways to Make Coffee While Traveling

Brewing Methods:

If you're sick of compromising your morning espresso in the great outdoors, I’ve found a few light-weight, bushcraft, mountaineering & thru-hike-friendly options, so you can make the perfect brew when you're waking up on the trail. I am going to show you a few brewing methods that fit into three main categories:

• Portability
• Ease Of Use
• Minimal Additional Equipment (meaning that all you need to make coffee at an unknown location in hot water and nothing more)

Best Ways to Make Coffee While Traveling:

So, to keep that energy up, here are the five best ways to make coffee while traveling:

1. Portable Pour Overs

For this, you need an extremely portable pour-over. As long as you can access hot water and fresh coffee, this is just what you need. Portable pour-overs are made especially for minimalist backpacking scenarios and won't take much of the room in your backpack. To use a portable pour-over, you need to clip it onto a mug.

This portable pour-over comes with a fine mesh filter, so you don't need any additional filter. However, having just hot water isn't enough as you will need to have a way to pour manually and precisely over a pour-over. I was lucky enough to have a pot that poured a nice, even, and steady stream. There are options out there for a portable kettle that you can carry. 

2. The Aerobie AeroPress

One of the homebrewers' favorites, the Aerobie AeroPress, is a great and versatile brewer made solely for portability. Though it has some small paper filters inside it, there are plenty of metal filters out there you can use. In my case, I brought the fellow primo along. The AeroPress fits all the criteria you are looking at, such as portability, ease of use, and no additional equipment.

The AeroPress is a great brewer, and I used it to brew coffee at multiple places and loved it. The only downside about the AeroPress is that it isn't the smallest brewer and doesn't have the best shape. When you are backpacking and making every inch count, you can't afford to have anything bulky like the AeroPress in your bag.

I regret not buying the Wacaco Nanopresso earlier. However, after using it for almost two weeks, I am convinced that this is a must-have product on every journey. As the name suggests, the Wacaco Nanopresso is a portable espresso maker.

It is super tiny, and when compared with the Aerobie AeroPress, the Wacaco Nanopress easily comes out on top. You don't need any other component except finely ground coffee and access to hot water to make yourself a delicious espresso with the Wacaco Nanopresso in minutes.

However, it isn't the easiest to use, and there are many little parts inside it that you have to keep track of, and the Wacaco Nanopresso is a bit heavier than the Aerobie AeroPress. But if you are willing to carry it around with you, you won't be disappointed. 

4. Instant Coffee Packets

This one is my personal favorite to use when traveling. It is also by far the easiest, most portable method and requires the least amount of additional equipment. Out-ranking all others, these instant coffee packets fit everywhere, including your wallet.

However, instant coffee has always had a bad reputation and is usually not a high-quality coffee. But companies are now coming out with instant coffee that tastes incredible. These instant coffee sachets are available at every general or drug store. All you need to have is access to hot water, and these instant coffee sachets will do the trick.

Similar to the size of a tea packet, you have to dump these coffee crystals into your mug, add hot water, and you're all set. While the quality of this instant coffee isn't as good as freshly ground or freshly brewed coffee, it gets the job done. 

5. Stove-Top Espresso Maker

If you like espresso, the Stove-Top Espresso Maker is your ticket right there. Though you get close with the Aerobie AeroPress, the Stove-Top Espresso Maker will get you the best espresso cup while you travel.

Non-acidic, this espresso maker will make your coffee just the way you like it. Also called a Moka Pot, this machine brews coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee.