The Best Way to Make Coffee While Camping

Today we’re looking at the best way to make coffee while camping We’re talking about our GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker.

Making great coffee while camping is easy with this little item. This is the best way to make coffee camping, period. Actually, this isn’t bad for day-to-day use if you’re the only coffee drinker in the house.

No need for those coffee singles. This GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker is better. Check out our review here.

The Best Way to Make Coffee While Camping

After a few weeks of use, we’re writing up our thoughts, opinions, and lessons learned by making coffee while camping and around the house.

We were looking for a better way to make coffee while camping. We had used a French press in the past, but that was too bulky and a messy clean-up getting the grounds out of the screen filters.

Single-serving coffee teabags are convenient, but they don’t have that coffee flavor we’re looking for. Even if you use a bunch of them.

GSI Collapsible Java Drip Coffee Maker

So after a bit of research, looking for options, we purchased our GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker from Amazon.com for just over $12.00 with free Amazon Prime 2-day shipping. With well over 400 of mostly 4-star reviews, and the Amazon’s Choice banner, we hit the buy it now button and waited for the delivery truck.

The GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker is a 2-piece system. You get a collapsible java drip coffee maker and the lid, which the GSI website says doubles as a trivet. Both items and the paperboard owner’s manual were enclosed in a LDPE recyclable plastic sleeve inside a paperboard box.

At first glance, we were not disappointed with the appearance of the coffee maker. It appears to be of sturdy construction and without that it-might-break-if-I-touch-it feel. The trivet easily snaps on or off the top of the collapsed drip cone, making for a lightweight and easily packable camp coffee maker.

Specifications

This is our off-the-delivery-truck, and out-of-the-shipping-box specifications:
Trivet length: back edge to the front tab edge, 5 3/4 inches
Trivet width: side edge to side edge, 5 3/8 inches
Height: collapsed with trivet snapped in place, 7/8 inches,
Weight: 4 3/4 ounces, 136 grams
Coffee filter size: #4 GSI recommended

The box label says this item will brew from 1 to 12 cups of coffee.

GSI says that the base is translucent to help prevent spillovers. While the idea is good, I don’t think this feature is too effective for coffee-making purposes, as the steam from the coffee fogs up the base. Much like any other single cone drip maker, you probably need to measure your water out beforehand to make sure you don’t over-fill your cup.

Camping Coffee Filters

GSI recommended coffee filter is a #4 size. We like Melitta super-premium coffee filters for our day-to-day coffee brewing. They’re just as good outdoors camping as they are indoors in the wee hours of the morning as you stumble around getting ready for the day-to-day.

After a couple of weeks of use, go with the GSI recommended #4 filter size. Don’t skimp. You might just end up with a mug full of spent coffee grounds as the water washed over the top of the filter.

They double crimped for extra seam strength, chlorine-free, and compostable – along with those used coffee grounds. Melitta says these natural brown filters are the only ones with patented flavor enhancing micro-perforations that provide a more decadent coffee.

We have composted several of these filters and coffee grounds near one of our campsites. We’ll revisit these composting sites later to see what happened and how well they composted.

These #4 cone-shaped filters average around $13.00 for three boxes of 100 each. That’s 300 coffee filters. You can check them out here, the #4 size Melitta super-premium coffee filters, on Amazon. With an average rating of 4.7 out of 5-star customer reviews, you can’t go wrong.

These are just what you need for this GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker for the best camping coffee to get you going.

The Best Way to Make Coffee While Camping

The best way to make coffee while camping is as much art as it is science.

One of my camping friends also uses one of these GSI collapsible java drip coffee makers. His method is to boil water and just pour it in, all of it at one time. Then letting it drip through.

My own method for a single serving is a just bit more involved. It’s part art, part science, and part enjoyment of the outdoors.

Bring 16 ounces of water to a boil on your camp stove.

Meanwhile, set up your GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker with a #4 filter. Spoon in two heaping tablespoons of your favorite grind.

This is the art – pour in 4 or so ounces of your just boiled water over the coffee grounds. We’re going to moisten the coffee grounds so that it blooms. That is, you see some foam rising from the grind. Don’t forget to cover the cone with the lid – retaining heat.

I’ll lightly jiggle and shake the GSI collapsible java drip coffee maker to swirl the water and keep the grounds level and well-saturated.

For the science – pouring just boiled water over coffee grounds releases carbon dioxide. That carbon dioxide will make the coffee grounds float. So dumping the water in all at once will cause the coffee to float up against the filter while the water pools down into the middle.

More art – after your first few ounces of water have seeped through, pour in a bit more. Enjoy the morning, the sunrise, and the woodland critters scampering about. Let the water seep through the filter, then repeat. Maybe letting your water trickle along the edges of the coffee maker to wash the grounds to the center.

Again, I’ll lightly jiggle and shake the coffee maker to swirl the water a bit as it sits on top of my stainless-steel camping mug.

Your just boiled water will make more contact with the coffee than simply dumping the water all at once.

Finally, enjoy the coffee straight up or pair it with your favorite coffee mixers. My favorite mixer is straight-up light cream, 18 percent dairy fat when I can find it. That is the best way to make coffee while camping.

Repeat for another brew as you watch the sun rise and the fish jump.

If you have your own coffee-making method while camping, why not share it here? We’ll give it a try.

Here are the links again to Amazon.com for the GSI java drip collapsible coffee maker and the Melitta super premium coffee filters in a size #4.