Travel Coffee Set

[Blakey]

We have a handy 12v kettle which I'm going to pack in the Beach. The question is, does anyone have a neat coffee/tea set to keep in their van? I'm talking a way to store everything you need to make a brew on the road, which can live in the van full time.

Options seem to be:

- Tupperware pots with small portions of tea, coffee, sugar and coffee-mate.
- Sachets that you get in hotels and cafés (would have to go on a spree to collect these)
- Other

I guess it is the "other" that I'm interested in - what do you guys use?

For water, we'll stick a sealed bottle of mineral water in the van somewhere for this purpose.

Cheers
Blakey

 

[bvddobb]

I kind of like the principle of the 'handpresso':

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHcVbLv7APg[/youtube]

They have 12V versions as well:



Never used one, though. We boil water in the morning, put it in a thermos, and use Nescafe espresso sachets underway. Quite decent coffee, we think.

 

[Bearonwheels]

I just love this:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerobie-AeroPre ... ffee+maker

It produces great fresh REAL coffee and you can just 'pop' the grounds into a bin bag! Coupled with a decent insulated mug this is the bees knees for the van!

 

[Blakey]

I just love this:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerobie-AeroPre ... ffee+maker

It produces great fresh REAL coffee and you can just 'pop' the grounds into a bin bag! Coupled with a decent insulated mug this is the bees knees for the van!

Neat.

Does it make tea at all?

 

[Bearonwheels]

I haven't tried it but i suspect with some fresh tea leaves and some really hot water it would do a decent job!

Alas when it comes to tea I'm less of an aficionado… so builders grade PG Tips left until it resembles road tar plus a dash of milk does the trick!

 

[MattBW]

Hi I have Mini Presso and a Mokka style kettle for a gas burner.

 

[Corradobrit]

Ressurrecting an old thread...coz why not

Just completed a dry run using my Cali Coffee setup. Just over 10 mins from grinding the beans to sipping the cappuccino. Most of that time was waiting for the water to boil in the 300W kettle.

Sometimes its little luxuries when travelling that make all the difference.

 

[CoffeeOnTheBeach]

Always take our time for a good coffee

We use two different coffee sets depending if we have electric hook up or not.
Using only freshly roasted beans for those delightful coffee drinks.

It’s a Mahlkonig Vario grinder with a Lelit espresso machine

Or

Kinu manual grinder and Aeropress

We prefer gas for water heating.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

I have been impressed by my Wacaco Pipamoka:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083FSGH45/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[Wildcamper]

Can't be bothers with these gadgets. Hot water, instant coffee job done!

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Can't be bothers with these gadgets. Hot water, instant coffee job done!

Totally agree, depending upon which instant.

 

[Barbara]

We have a handy 12v kettle which I'm going to pack in the Beach. The question is, does anyone have a neat coffee/tea set to keep in their van? I'm talking a way to store everything you need to make a brew on the road, which can live in the van full time.

Options seem to be:

- Tupperware pots with small portions of tea, coffee, sugar and coffee-mate.
- Sachets that you get in hotels and cafés (would have to go on a spree to collect these)
- Other

I guess it is the "other" that I'm interested in - what do you guys use?

For water, we'll stick a sealed bottle of mineral water in the van somewhere for this purpose.

Cheers
Blakey

12v kettles take a long time to heat so take a thermos flask from home with hot water so so can reheat it quicker for your first cup. Preheating before bed also makes it quicker in the morning. I store coffee in small sistema pots just enough for 1 cup. I use a collapsible filer cone and filer paper as easy to clean and dispose of the coffee grains. I have tried lots of options over the last 20 years and although some methods give better coffee than others for me this method takes up less space and is easier. What do you use at home? A good place to start looking as that is how you like your coffee now.

Milk is a problem, I have yet to find a good way of using fresh milk, it can curdle with the movement even in a cool box and small bottles are difficult to clean. I buy 200ml boxes or long-life milk in Spain but have yet been unable to get equivalent in the UK. It used to be posible to buy sachets but I have not seen any in shops for several years, In hotels so they must be available somewhere but most likely in 100s, Dried milk is a emergency compromise, I do not like coffee-mate.

 

[Lee.Van.Cleef]

Aeropress or 'Handpresso' for me depending on how much prep i can be bothered with. I'm not sufficiently dedicated to bring a grinder, so compromise with pre-ground coffee in tuppaware.
Coffee bags as a fall back option.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Ressurrecting an old thread...coz why not

Just completed a dry run using my Cali Coffee setup. Just over 10 mins from grinding the beans to sipping the cappuccino. Most of that time was waiting for the water to boil in the 300W kettle.

Sometimes its little luxuries when travelling that make all the difference.

View attachment 107716

Oh my god what are you playing at????

Where are your scales, measuring jug and timer?

If you’re not having using 1g of coffee per 20ml of water, with a brew time of 100 seconds, you’re in serious danger of ruining your morning!

 

[Corradobrit]

Oh my god what are you playing at????

Where are your scales, measuring jug and timer?

If you’re not having using 1g of coffee per 20ml of water, with a brew time of 100 seconds, you’re in serious danger of ruining your morning!

I know its an illness.
But I will make concessions and leave the balance (I just count the beans for consistency) and WDT tool at home.

 

[ivan & jill]

I also pre-grind some beans to take with us but I am impressed by some people's dedication to freshness. I have become a fan of the Clever Dripper (mix of cafetiere and filter). So much so that I sometimes use it in the house as well. It's very compact and lightweight and the grinds stay in the filter paper for easy disposal.

Clever Dripper | Ozone Coffee

The Clever Dripper provides all the wonderful flavour of full immersion brewing mixed with the filtration of pour over brewing.

www.hasbean.co.uk

 

[CoffeeOnTheBeach]

It takes less than 1 minutes to grind the coffee with a manual grinder, for me that’s not much. But the difference in taste is big.
I don’t try to convince anyone, but after you’ll get your routine you won’t feel that time. Let’s say that it will become like brushing your teeth’s.

 

[Corradobrit]

It takes less than 1 minutes to grind the coffee with a manual grinder, for me that’s not much. But the difference in taste is big.
I don’t try to convince anyone, but after you’ll get your routine you won’t feel that time. Let’s say that it will become like brushing your teeth’s.

Its meditative

 

[Viktorgeorge]

It takes less than 1 minutes to grind the coffee with a manual grinder, for me that’s not much. But the difference in taste is big.
I don’t try to convince anyone, but after you’ll get your routine you won’t feel that time. Let’s say that it will become like brushing your teeth’s.

Somewhere in the middle, I prefer real to instant: but a simple black coffee enjoying the variety of flavours you can find (Peru currently, Brazil before that).

But, over the years, whilst admiring all the different grinders - and loving fresh ground in a quality café - I have never bought one. The many alternatives both of brand and manual/electric always have caused me to balk with indecision.

At the risk of increasing that: what grinders do fellow California coffee drinkers like: ideally one device for home and van?

 

[CoffeeOnTheBeach]

Somewhere in the middle, I prefer real to instant: but a simple black coffee enjoying the variety of flavours you can find (Peru currently, Brazil before that).

But, over the years, whilst admiring all the different grinders - and loving fresh ground in a quality café - I have never bought one. The many alternatives both of brand and manual/electric always have caused me to balk with indecision.

At the risk of increasing that: what grinders do fellow California coffee drinkers like: ideally one device for home and van?

If you want one device for home and van, you should go for a manual grinder.
To get the same grind quality with an electric one, it will be heavy and big, not a pleasure to carry with you.
I can recommend Kinu grinder, i’ve decided between Comandante and Kinu.
You can find comparisons on you-tube, or read some specialty forums but probably you will get back to initial state “i have never bought one”
You cannot go wrong with any of the above.

 

[Corradobrit]

If you want one device for home and van, you should go for a manual grinder.
To get the same grind quality with an electric one, it will be heavy and big, not a pleasure to carry with you.
I can recommend Kinu grinder, i’ve decided between Comandante and Kinu.
You can find comparisons on you-tube, or read some specialty forums but probably you will get back to initial state “i have never bought one”
You cannot go wrong with any of the above.

Agreed. I used my manual 1zpresso JE manual grinder in the house and love it for espresso drinks. Packs into its own padded case and is easy to care for. Can't beat freshly ground beans for maximum flavour.

 

[Barbara]

I also pre-grind some beans to take with us but I am impressed by some people's dedication to freshness. I have become a fan of the Clever Dripper (mix of cafetiere and filter). So much so that I sometimes use it in the house as well. It's very compact and lightweight and the grinds stay in the filter paper for easy disposal.

Clever Dripper | Ozone Coffee

The Clever Dripper provides all the wonderful flavour of full immersion brewing mixed with the filtration of pour over brewing.

www.hasbean.co.uk

This looks interesting as with a normal filter to get most flavor it is a 2 stage action first slightly wetting the coffee then topping up to allow flow.

 

[Barbara]

It takes less than 1 minutes to grind the coffee with a manual grinder, for me that’s not much. But the difference in taste is big.
I don’t try to convince anyone, but after you’ll get your routine you won’t feel that time. Let’s say that it will become like brushing your teeth’s.

While staying with a relative as a teenager she felt she needed to keep me occupied or maybe just out of her way. She asked me to grind some coffee beans, did not say now many and as I had never done anything like that before I ground a whole bag (a lot) and 50 years later I still get reminded about it.

 

[capt kirk]

12v kettles take a long time to heat so take a thermos flask from home with hot water so so can reheat it quicker for your first cup. Preheating before bed also makes it quicker in the morning. I store coffee in small sistema pots just enough for 1 cup. I use a collapsible filer cone and filer paper as easy to clean and dispose of the coffee grains. I have tried lots of options over the last 20 years and although some methods give better coffee than others for me this method takes up less space and is easier. What do you use at home? A good place to start looking as that is how you like your coffee now.

Milk is a problem, I have yet to find a good way of using fresh milk, it can curdle with the movement even in a cool box and small bottles are difficult to clean. I buy 200ml boxes or long-life milk in Spain but have yet been unable to get equivalent in the UK. It used to be posible to buy sachets but I have not seen any in shops for several years, In hotels so they must be available somewhere but most likely in 100s, Dried milk is a emergency compromise, I do not like coffee-mate.

We got some off amazon but they exploded in the heat. Messy

 

[Wildcamper]

Totally agree, depending upon which instant.
View attachment 107725

I have to admit that Taylor's coffee bags are quite good and better than instant. But pouring hot water over a coffee bag is almost instant.