If you’re anything like us, you might find yourself craving a cup of coffee while enjoying the great outdoors. The well-prepared among us might pack an AeroPress and a hand grinder for just such an occasion, but sometimes there’s no space or you might simply forget. But fear not! Whether you’re halfway up a mountain, camping in the woods, or on the beach, as long as you have access to fire and a saucepan you can make pretty decent coffee.
What you’ll need:
- A fire or other heat source
- Fresh, clean water
- Ground coffee (medium grind is best, but whatever you’ve got will work)
- A pan or kettle
- A cup or other receptacle
Cowboy coffee is so named because it was the preferred method of brewing while driving cattle on the American trail. Luckily the coffee quality has improved since then, but the technique remains pretty much the same. While we usually suggest a 1:16 ratio in our brew guides, with cowboy coffee it’s okay to wing it a bit: aim for roughly two tablespoons of coffee for every 250ml of water.
Method:
- Add your water to the pan and place it over the fire or on the camping stove.
- Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and add your coffee. Give it a stir and put the lid on top (or use a plate or something else)
- Wait about two minutes, stir, and wait another two minutes.
- Remove the lid and sprinkle some cold water on top. This will help the grounds sink to the bottom.
- Carefully and slowly pour the coffee out of the pan or kettle into your cups, trying to avoid agitating the grounds that have hopefully settled at the bottom. Enjoy!
Notes:
- If you want to prepare and ensure the best possible cowboy coffee, before leaving for the wilderness you can portion out both your ground coffee and your water and keep them separate from your other provisions.
- The traditional way of brewing cowboy coffee is just to throw everything into a pot and let it boil before pouring into cups. This is fine, and if you’re out in the wild will probably taste pretty good, but following the steps above will help to really elevate your cowboy coffee to the next level.
Brewing using a different method? View all of our brewing guides here.
