Coffee Beyond the Kitchen: Packing Up Your Brew Kit for the Trail

If you share our devotion to coffee, few pleasures rival a naturally processed Ethiopian poured at the edge of the world. Alright, perhaps we haven't pushed things quite that far—not yet, anyway.

The two of us crossed paths at a latte art throwdown in Portland, Oregon. Each of us was wide-eyed, hunting for mentors who could help turn our enthusiasm into the next step: competition. Bethany had her sights set on the United States Barista Championship. My target was the Brewer's Cup.

Mentors never materialized, so we teamed up instead and made learning an adventure. Bethany floated the idea, and it turned out to be exactly the challenge I needed to prepare for the Brewer's Cup. The plan: head outside, see more of Oregon, and bring the coffee along. If we could handle the difficulties of brewing well outdoors, the pressures of competition would start to look more within reach.

Our first excursions were wildly ambitious. We intended to brew by every method, shoot piles of photos—let the whole thing run away with us. We launched a blog to record our outdoor brews. But the ideas and directions multiplied until they were crowding out the actual work of brewing really good coffee. Playing in waterfalls was a blast; make no mistake about that. Still, we soon got more serious about our trips, giving them clearer purpose and concentrating on simplification so our coffee could reach its potential.

Brewing outdoors demands plenty of preparation, and the variables shift with your destination and how far you'll walk: distance, weight, bulk, and how much effort you're willing to invest in the cup. Some trips call for greater efficiency than others.

A few steps will make the outdoor brewing experience go more smoothly. First, bring a familiar coffee scoop whose volume you know, or weigh your coffee ahead of time. Second, know the volume of water you're aiming for—either fill your Aeropress to a set point or know the volume of your cup or kettle (or whatever vessel you use to heat water). Third, use a stable camp stove and always carry backup fuel; a brew cut short is a special kind of sadness.

Below are scenarios and brew setups drawn from what we learned—but experiment, learn, and work out which setup suits you best.

Brew scenario 1: Road trip

While you fill the tank, duck into the mini-mart for hot water. Your road trip companion should have spent the last mile or so grinding coffee you weighed out in advance. Then brew a few Aeropresses on the hood of the car.

Brew scenario 2: Backpacking

Backpacking calls for just an Aeropress or a Snow Peak pour-over—both light and easy to pack. Heat water in a pot and pour. For packability, a bag of ground coffee is hard to beat, so know how much your scoop holds. With an Aeropress, pick a recipe that lets you fill it without fretting over water weight. If you're pouring over with the Snow Peak, know the volume of your chosen cup and fill it. When water remains in the slurry, let it drain back into nature. (Paper filters are biodegradable!)

Brew scenario 3: Picnic

This is the most flexible scenario, and one of the few occasions when a Chemex outdoors isn't the worst idea. Short walks or multiple trips mean you can brew as nerdy or as relaxed as you like. Try a big batch of Chemex coffee, or pack a Kalita Wave next to your Aeropress and brew both at once for a neat barbecue trick. If you have ice on hand, this is a great chance to show friends and family how awesome flash (Japanese) iced coffee tastes outdoors.

As we spent more time outside with our coffee, we found that half the fun of brewing is the community it builds. Bringing people along on our outdoor brews—from inside and outside the coffee world—is ultimately what kept us chasing adventure, finding new places to explore and new mountains to brew atop. Best of all were the conversations we had with others on the trail. We discovered that the only things truly essential to a great outdoor brew are the coffee and a passion for it.

Some recommended gear (pick and choose): • Gooseneck kettle • Aeropress • Kalita Wave • Snow Peak drip brewer • Hand grinder (Porlex or Hario) • Tins for pre-dosed coffee • Coffee scoop • Gram scale • Sturdy camp stove, backup fuel • Senses of adventure and humor