I personally perc but many have touted presses and very few want drip. Presses are usualy glass and in my experience break very easily. A friend and one of the leaders for my DGS's BSA troop is a welder and on site often and camping with the scouts at least once a month. His all time favorite press is a GSI Outdoor, Java Press. It is plastic and it is insulated, has standard press. There are several sizes and are pretty sturdy. Look them up on line, he has the small one and it comes with a matching cup. Insulating sleeve is removeable for washing. He throws it in the washing machine when his wife does dark stuff.Just and FYI.

After playing around with French press coffee in the rig as a way to make coffee by just boiling water on the stove it was apparent that results were pretty good. Getting rid of the grounds is easy if you keep a fine hand strainer to dump them out into. Make getting rid of the grounds real easy.That's not for my main point, though. French press coffee is nothing more that cowboy coffee. All you are doing is soaking the grounds in hot water for a while and then using the "press" to push the grounds to the bottom so that you can pour out a cup without any grounds getting in the cup. That press does not push down on those wet grounds in the bottom of the French press to somehow impart some magical property to make a wonderful cup of coffee. You don't need a French press !All you have to do is steep those grounds in hot water for, say, five minutes and then dump that coffee water into your cup through a fine hand strainer. I've been using a large glass measuring cup that holds four cups (32 oz) with some additional room at the top so that grounds can be put into the measuring cup without over flowing the water. And you have a pour spout, too, by using a measuring cup.

I went to a "cowboy cookout" in the Tetons several years ago. They had a huge pot of hot water on the campfire and put the ground coffee in a sock, knotted it, and dropped in in the pot. Some of the best coffee I ever drank. BTW, they assured us that they used a clean sock. :)

Press is great if the maker knows what he/she is doing. Personally I don't. I like perc, but there is nothing like the convenience of drip. The C.B. coffee sounds intriguing. Wonder if we can get Starbucks to start carrying it?

Perc is the best once you know how to time it. Problem is its slow and you have to watch it. Press is just a PIA in my opinion. Drip is the easiest can make great coffee when used with good quality coffee to begin with. K-kup is way over priced, even with the expired patent now. Better off with good quality coffee and a standard drip machine.

Press Perc or Drip | Good Sam Community

Leo_Benson
Explorer
Jun 15, 2013
I think I've used just about all methods.
As a little kid I was taught how to use the glass percolator on the electric stove (with a star shaped wire to keep the glass pot off of sitting on the burner directly). It was for my father, not me, but I learned how to measure it and time it and judge by the smell and color.
Then we moved on to drip. That was ok but the real difference in a pot of coffee is the quality of the coffee itself. I can't stomach the maxwell house my parents would drink.
From there, I moved on to a French press, small one, since now I'm the only coffee drinker in the house. I took that camping, too. And used my favorite coffee beans from an independent (non-chain coffee roaster) I drink flavored decaf.
Since I couldn't drink the real caff at work, I experimented with a drip cone and filter positioned over an insulated carafe. That was ok, but just ok.
Then I got a Keurig for home. In 18 months I went thru four of them- very unreliable machines. Even though I de scale regularly. I grew to like Newmans own organic decaf. Good stuff. Plus I used the reusable filters with my own grounds.
Now I have a capresso that I really love. It uses steam and mesh baskets for my own teas and coffees, large or small single cups. And it has a carafe too so I can brew a pot if I have company. I moved the old Keurig upstairs so I can grab a quick cup of tea in the morning or my legs are aching too much after chemo to go downstairs, but once I'm downstairs I use the capresso exclusively.
I'm also a tea lover and buy a variety of loose teas and appreciate the tea basket on the capresso. No carryover of coffee flavor into my green tea. And without pods, more environmentally friendly.
RoadLife
Explorer
Jun 12, 2013
After using all three, press (We still have two), perc, and drip, our favorite is the Keurig. We bought those "café cups" at walmart - you can put your own coffee in them and insert like a k-cup. Wonderful fresh brewed coffee everytime. I like dark roast - he likes medium. Works out great.
WrongWayRandall
Explorer
Jun 11, 2013
dks wrote:
Melitta #2 filter. Quick, easy to clean up, and produces the best coffee for me. Use for backcountry camping, rving, and home use.

Same here, except since I'm the coffee drinker I use a #1 and a small filter holder. Works well at home, the office, and in the bus.

- R
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Jun 07, 2013
We like the French Press and use this one:Bodum Stainless Steel French Press

Insulated too. Lots of ways to make coffee, this is just one.
dks
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
Melitta #2 filter. Quick, easy to clean up, and produces the best coffee for me. Use for backcountry camping, rving, and home use.
Stephany
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
Hi All,

Here is a pic of the Italian coffee pot that we now use on our stove (no power needed) for amazing coffee in the fiver:

It is not the same as a French press or an Aeropress.

Stephany
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Jun 07, 2013
Drip - I don't want to fuss with all the other stuff just for a cup of coffee, we drink it all day and night and I'd be fussing too much. We make coffee and then put it in a Thermos coffee butler to keep it hot, but not on the burner getting awful tasting. If it's not quite warm enough, we pop it in the micro for a few seconds.
SWMO
Explorer
Jun 06, 2013
Stephany and all reading, don't think that the French press and the Aeropress are equal or the same thing, they aren't even close.
Stephany
Explorer
Jun 06, 2013
Sorry, I know this is an older thread, but since I am a coffee purist from Seattle, this thread is near to my heart!

Our preferred was drip when we had the luxury of power. But for those times we don't have power, we tried perc, Melita, French press and cowboy coffee. None of them were consistently great - just okay. Then we went to Italy and discovered those cute little Italian coffee pots. We now use 2 Italian pots to brew 2 cups on the stove at the same time (no fights that way!) and I steam a pan of milk. Camping lattes! Yum!

Hope this inspires other coffee purists!

Stephany
Trailering_Texa
Explorer
Jan 16, 2013
I've been doing the Melitta one cup at a time plastic holder for the filter thing for years - nothing to break on the road, can use it if in a park or dry camping, and every cup is a fresh cup. But we are sitting in FL for a couple of months so I sprang for one of those 4 cups brewers, just to be lazy. But I don't think it tastes as good as the Melitta thing - the secret to which is to get boiling water, pour in the center of grounds and see them sort of bubble up and be patient and add water slowly.