Waking up to the rich smells of coffee and having a good cup in the morning can surely be a great way to start the day. Learning how to make coffee while camping over a campfire is not the same as preparing coffee with the coffee maker back at home.
Today, the art of making coffee the old fashioned way may not be so easy for most. Automatic coffee makers and instant grounds are widely used. However, there are different ways to prepare your favorite cup coffee – from the plain black to other blends.
Basic Things You’ll Need For Making Coffee at Camp:
- Pot – to boil water.
- Coffee grounds – depending on what will suits your taste, from finely ground to coarsely ground coffee beans.
- Potable water – make sure use clean water.
- Insulated potholders – for your protection against heat when pouring hot water from the pot and avoid getting burned.
- Mug or any drinking cup – make sure you brought your favorite
Building the Campfire
Start your fire with small pieces of dry woods. Make sure that you will use only enough wood to bring your pot of water to boil and not waste precious firewood. You can put the pot directly over the fire or over the coals so as not to cause too much blackening of the pot’s bottom.
Making the Coffee
- Pour enough water into the pot. You may want to ask fellow campers if they want to have coffee.
- Place the pot over the fire or coals and until it boils.
- Get the pot out of the fire using your pot holder and put it somewhere safe. Add some fine coffee grounds depending on how much you want your coffee – strong or not.
- Pour the coffee straight into the drinking cups.
- You can now personalize your cup of coffee by adding sugar or maybe some milk.
Other Ways Of Making Your Coffee Over The Campfire
If you have a coarse ground coffee, you may want to have it filtrated first. There are actually many ways to make coffee with coarse grounds. Let the following concoctions tickle your taste buds.
When the water is still boiling, add the desired amount of coarse grounds for your coffee. Let it boil for a minute or two. Then, remove the pot from the fire. Let it settle for a few minutes. Add few tablespoons of cold water to settle the grounds. You can also use an intermediate container to further filter out the left over grounds at the bottom. Then simply pour the hot coffee into your cup and enjoy with the first rays of the new day at camp.
Here’s another interesting way to enjoy your morning cup. You will need a raw egg and cheesecloth or gauze for filtration.
- Put about 6 oz. of coarsely ground coffee on a piece of cheesecloth or gauze. Then place the raw egg (still in its shell) in the middle of the coffee grounds and tie the cheesecloth or gauze with a clean string.
- Beat the eggshell on a hard surface to crack the egg so that it will mix with the coffee grounds. Remember that the egg and the cracked shell are still inside the tied cheesecloth or gauze.
- Drop the mixture (still inside the tied cheesecloth or gauze) into a pot of boiling water.
- Then promptly remove the pot from the fire and let it set for 8 to 10 minutes. The coffee has enough time to steep then. Make sure that the egg doesn’t get into the brewed coffee.
- Remove the cheesecloth or gauze ball and pour into your cup. Enjoy.
Additional Tips To Enjoy Your Coffee
Making coffee with a campfire may not really be a pleasant thing for some but then a camp stove or percolator can always be easier and quicker ways for making coffee. Nothing like the comforts of home at camp, especially when it comes to your coffee.
Using a Percolator
Using a percolator is one of the most common practices by campers when making coffee. Although it also means that they will need to bring extra equipment.
When using a percolator, you will need coarsely ground coffee. After adding coffee grounds, place the percolator over a camp stove or a low campfire with grill over the top. It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to completely percolate the coffee. The intensity of the coffee will actually depend on how long the percolator has been left over the fire. After your desired intensity has been achieved, you can pour the coffee into your favorite mug.
Espresso Makers for Campfire
Espresso makers can be brought along on your camping trip if you really want to. Just be sure to follow the directions that come with your specific model. This is actually a great idea for the adamant espresso drinkers who simply cannot survive a day without their special tonic – a hot cup of good coffee.