Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/21/power-outage-coffee-using-sta.html
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I have a Nissan stainless french press that gets used every day.
My problem with a power outage is the beans as they don’t get ground till just before I make the coffee. So power outage is our small jar of instant.
I guess a hand grinder may be useful but as even when the power is out being in the city it is only out for a few hours. So some instant to tide one over or just heading out for coffee are good enough replacements.
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If you take your french press camping, you are definitely NOT camping.
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My stainless steel french press gets used every day. A big step up from the glass ones. It is vacuum insulated and essentially perfect.
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A French press is a bit heavy for actual camping but surely not entirely out of the realm of possibility?
I take a little folding pourover filter holder when I go camping (if you’ll allow that riding a bicycle to a campsite counts), and even a hand-crank grinder, though if I were going for more than one night or not on the bike I think I’d pre-grind.
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Once while visiting my parents we woke up to find the fancy coffee maker (which they’d bought on my recommendation) had died. This was awkward until, over the course of the next few days, we learned that everyone in the neighborhood’s coffeemakers had mysteriously died on the same night. Our theory is that there was a power surge, and that coffeemakers are somehow particularly vulnerable.
In any case, most drip coffeemakers can be used for manual pourover in a pinch.
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Years ago I was at the local coffee store to buy filters, and bought a french press on a whim because I was tired of buying filters. I’ve never looked back. It doesn’t have to be cleaned often - a quick rinse is enough to keep it in good shape for a long time. When the coffee is made, I pour out the grounds into a dedicated sieve, then dump them in the trash or save them for composting, also very quick to do. So it’s low maintenance, low carbon footprint, and makes great coffee.
I also use fine ground coffee, a number 2 on the grinder dial if you’re getting it pre-ground. There’s no point in the course grind most stores sell as “french press” grind, you just have to use more coffee for the same result. I’ve been told it’s “not the right grind” but no one has explained why, or why the fine grind makes such good coffee if it’s so wrong.
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I have a Lexan french press that I’ve taken on multi-day backcountry canoe trips. I don’t know if that meets your criteria for camping.
For backpacking I’ve usually used instant or just steeped the coffee in a kettle.
During power outages we use one of our camp stoves and the same Melitta cone pourover system that we use everyday.
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Travel kit:
- Hand grinder
https://www.hario.co.uk/collections/coffee-grind/products/skerton-hand-coffee-grinder - And an Aeropress. Sorry, it’s just that good. So much easier to clean too.
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I gotta say that i decided to check out this press and $50 bucks sure is asking for a hell of a lot for a french press. Apparently the strainer is weak, reading from the reviews and people swap it out with replacement parts from Bodum french presses as those are better built.
I think one would be better off making coffee by other methods and just pouring the hot coffee in a thermos.
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That looks like a fun thing to take through airport security.
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Its pretty damn handy for car camping actually. Percolators taste awful and require heat, and any other maker is simply more complicated/rugged version of a press.
When space and weight is a concern… yeah, time to bring along the instant. 
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If someone wanted to make coffee the really lazy way, without heat even, they could make cold brew in any container (or bag even). But if i went camping i would opt for just brewing the coffee in a saucer with water, the preferred method of coffee making for my grandma… which i admit that i quite like.
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If you think the point of camping is to suffer, just stay home and put some rocks in your slippers.
Cheaper, faster.
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Like a little tiny shallow saucer, saucer? That’s not camping, that’s just weird! Lol
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Might be my poor poor brain picking the wrong word, but you know what i mean. A small pot.
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A plastic pourover cone works well and isn’t at all complicated. Make the coffee into your cup or directly into a thermos if you’re making more than one.
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Saucepan?
I, too, would like more coffee makers that I could not easily break because of my own negligence.
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