Best Coffee Makers For Backpackers
Making sure only the essentials are taken is one of the easiest ways to keep your pack weight as low as possible and as all coffee-loving backpackers know, a coffee making set up is one of the essentials. We review lightweight coffee makers which are easy to clean and use, perfect for backpackers.
Campers who do not have to worry as much about the weight have a few more options which we have reviewed here, we cover a few more coffee makers suitable for families and those that want a more glamping experience.
We have rated the coffee makers in order of your coffee snobbery, the lower tolerance you have for bad coffee (instant coffee granules anyone?), the higher the coffee snobbery rated products you should aim for.
For all the coffee makers below, you will need some method of boiling your water you can check out our top picks for lightweight outdoor gas cookers.
For the weight conscious backpacker that still needs a cup of coffee in the morning made from a freshly ground coffee bean, a simple steel infuser with a ultralight titanium backpacking pot is one of the smallest and lightweight setups for making a fresh cup of coffee on the trail. The steel filter can also double as a loose tea filter as well if you want the option of drinking a nice cup of Sencha or a cup of coffee on the trail.
Andy Timinsky with a great video on enjoying a cup of coffee on the trail using a simple steel filter.
For backpackers that consider them consider themselves coffee sommeliers, the Aeropress is probably the best compromise of weight, portability and taste. The Aeropress was invented by serial inventor and engineer Alan Adler. He also invented of Aerobie frisbee and has given lectures NASA and Stanford. The Aeropress combined with its simplicity, value for money and qualtiy of the coffee it produces has quickly developed a cult like following and even has its own coffee making AeroPress world championships.
The AeroPress is used by cafes, hikers and has even been featured on the Late Night Show with Jimmy Falon when guest entrepreneur Tim Ferriss explained how to make the perfect cup of coffee using the Aeropress including the use of a thermometer, scale and stopwatch.
Tim Ferris demonstrates how to get the most out of the AeroPress – a little overboard for backpackers but you get the idea
For backpackers, it is a good idea to go for a reusable steel filter instead of disposable paper filters. There are a few reusable filters available on Amazon including:
Hikers going on a shorter weekend hike that are not going ultralight and love a good espresso in the morning could consider taking a moka pot. They come in various sizes from 1 cup to 12 cup versions and are made of aluminium.
This is definetly a luxury item not the best option for thru hikers, put it this way there is a zero percentage chance for this to pass the Mountain Trail pack shakedown. The 3 cup version weighs in at just over 1 pound and is over 6 inches high. It isn’t suitable for much else other than making an espresso and you would still have to carry a cooking pot as well to boil water for cooking.
However, this does make a really good cup of coffee and when not going on an extending thru hike, this is defintely one of my favorite coffee makers.
The only one that is likely to make it past any pack shakedown for thru hikers is instant coffee packets.
To a coffee purist any instant coffee no matter the quality is probably not going to be good enough, however for those that are okay with a passable cup of coffee without the hassle of any extra equipment a good instant coffee brand is the sadly the best option.
An instant cup of coffee is definitely one of the lightest and easiest options available and only requires hot water. For the ultra weight conscious backpacker, just use your lightweight pot and skip the coffee cup.
The extreme ultralight hikers who are going stoveless can also just cold brew their instant coffee in their water bottle and still enjoy (drink) a cup of coffee on the trail.
Some of the most popular brands on the trail are:
Starbuck Verona
Checkout this video by Darwin on the Trail who reviews some coffee brands readily available on the trail including Nestle, Folgers, Alpine Start, Starbucks VIA and Kuju.
Overall results were obvious for Nestle and Folgers – not very good.
Starbucks and Alpine Start – good but pricey
KUJU – Portable pour over style – not very practical for hikers, especially those conscious of leave no trace as you are left with a soaked paper bag filled with coffee beans to pack out.