How to Choose a Camp Coffee Maker

There is no best camp coffee maker, only the right one for a specific weight budget and tolerance for mess. Work through these four questions in order and the field collapses quickly.

1. 1

   Set your weight budget honestly

   This single number eliminates most of the field. A thru-hiker with a 0.5oz allowance and a car camper with no constraint are not shopping in the same category. Be honest about which you are on a typical trip rather than an aspirational one.

2. 2

   Count the people

   Single-cup brewers are fine for one or two and become tedious for four. Brewing four sequential cups takes twenty minutes and someone drinks theirs cold. Group brewers like the 6-cup JavaDrip or a 32oz press solve a real problem.

3. 3

   Decide how much cleanup you will accept

   This is the most underrated question. An AeroPress ejects a dry puck in two seconds. A French press leaves a slurry that must be scraped out with a spoon and packed. Both make good coffee; only one of them is pleasant at 6am in the rain.

   Grounds disposalHandling wet grounds responsibly

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4. 4

   Set your cup standard

   If instant is acceptable, stop here and buy instant — you will save weight, money, and hassle. If it is not, the question becomes whether you want the convenience of pour-over or the quality ceiling of an AeroPress, and whether you will also grind at camp.

   Hand grinders explainedThe single biggest upgrade to camp cup quality

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