Coffee - How To Make The Best Cup While Traveling

Fully Equipped Galley With Coffee Maker!

    Mmmmmm....coffee. Whether it's for a morning "jolt" to get the day started or as a mid-day "pick me up, " coffee is a good thing! There are many ways to prepare coffee, less ways to prepare good coffee and just about as many opinions on which is best. To give you an idea where I stand, one of the MUST HAVES for my ideal RV was some kind of coffee maker (or two.)  On the road it can be a challenge to make a good cup (or pot) of coffee. There are easy ways to brew some and more complex ways, we'll take a look at a few of the more mainstream methods.

What's In Coffee?

Let's start with the basics. What makes a good cup good? I believe it's the water that begins the perfect cup. The more impurities in it, the lousier the coffee. Clean, filtered or even bottled water will be fine. Yes, I know there are REAL coffee fanatics that will argue the mineral content and mix will affect flavor, but that's WAY outside the scope of this article! Next is the coffee itself. It's always best to start with beans rather than ground coffee, since the flavors in coffee will begin to oxidize (lose/change flavor) as soon as it is ground. You can even find drip coffee makers that will grind your beans for you! Or simply use a small grinder (about $15) As a bonus, you can use this to grind spices and other small foodstuffs as well. If you want to use ground coffee, do yourself a favor and find a way to seal it into a container and pump out as much air as you can. This will keep it fresher, longer. The ratio of coffee to water is critical, but based upon personal preference rather than science. As is the choice of your coffee.

My Electric Under Cabinet Drip Maker

First of the brewing methods is the electric "drip" coffee maker. This is the most basic and usually the least expensive method. A current 10-12 cup unit can cost as little at $15 at the local mega-mart. While these will make a decent pot of coffee if you measure carefully, they aren't the best. They are, usually, the fastest. If your schedule or your brain says, "NEED COFFEE NOW!" than this is the easiest route. Bear in mind you will need 120V power to use it. Whether a generator, shore power, or inverter with a decent sized battery bank.  It will require some serious short-term Amps. This makes an OK cup of coffee, a bit on the weak side and is pretty wasteful of the coffee itself. They even make a version of the drip coffee maker that's PROPANE powered. When you're in a hurry, though, it cannot be beat.

Let's take a quick sidestep. When I use my large 12 cup coffee maker (when I have the power to spare) in the summer, I'll usually make a pitcher of ICED COFFEE with the remainder. Nothing beats iced coffee in the summer months!

4 Cup Aluminum perk Pot

Next up is the tried and true, old fashioned "Perk Pot." This was originally designed to brew coffee over an open flame, so will work with almost any high heat source. Your propane stove-top is particularly good at evenly heating the pot. This method boils water into steam and circulates it through a basket of coffee at the top of the pot. There is a small glass "Percolator" at the top where you can watch the color and strength of your brew. In my humble opinion this method really smells the best. I love the smell of coffee in the morning!

Basic French Press

Some folks say the absolute best flavor from coffee can be had from a "French Press." This device takes a coffee and water solution after it has sit for a few minutes and slowly strains out the coffee by pressing it down with a plunger. The spent coffee ends up at the bottom, locked away by the plunger and you pour off the brew from the top. It does work. You WILL end up with some grounds in your cup AND you have to boil the water before you can use it. It's a bit fussy to use, especially for me in the morning, but it does make a rich flavorful cup. Afterwards you have to disassemble it and clean up. Since there is no filter the grounds have to be rinsed away. If I have lots of time, I would use one. Not often, but sometimes.

Typical Pre-Measured Coffee Maker

What about pre-measured "K-Cup" style? This could also be "Nespresso" or "Tassimo" pre-measured style. While you can get a pretty good cup of coffee with these, the power requirements usually rule them out except on shore power. They ARE convenient and you can get a variety of different beverages including many coffees, hot chocolates and even tea! I have a friend that uses one on an inverter for multiple cups. He's got 2 house batteries and about 500 watts of solar panels. If his batteries are low, he fires up the generator. For him, it's more of a convenience factor. The coffee itself can be a bit pricey per cup. Figure around 70 cents or more. And you have to deal with the plastic trash. The machines come in various colors to match your decor! I use them at home.....


Instant coffee. Bleh. I put that right up there with non-dairy creamer! I guess if I was backpacking and could only take a tiny amount of stuff...maybe. Now that I think about it....nope. Not even then!

There are many other ways to make coffee in an RV, I have a Vacuum pot in my office that is pretty cool to watch, but really isn't practical for an RV

You could always just buy a cup at the local convenience store/gas station/coffee shop, but what's the fun in that?

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com