If you love coffee like I do, you would want to be able to enjoy coffee even at work (where bad things happen to coffee flavor), at the airport - on the fly (where bad things happen to your wallet in the context of flavor - you can buy a freakish cup of coffee but it'll cost you your savings), or in the wilderness/the park (where you need to bring everything with you).
You could, of course, revert to mediocrity at any time (I do too... Perhaps not so much, but that's me).
This page will bring you my way, and please share with me your way
Preparing Coffee on-the-go
A Crup espresso machine for work
Second Hand shop for 80 SEK
Coffee at work
At many Swedish workplace environments, coffee is offered for free, and many have coffee machines or at least vending machines.
But, as Crocodile Dundee put it:
“you could live on it, but it tastes like shit.”
So is the free coffee. Whether it is the brand or the machines? Hard to put the finger on which. Caffeine is plentiful, but the gastronomic experience is mediocre at best. Even without being a connoisseur of coffee.
So I came to work, I stood the choice - either:
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skip it. Take the caffeine kick that tastes like your sorrows when you absolutely need a kick.
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Instant coffee with the boiled water alternative
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a sweetened variety (“Wiener Melange”, “Cacao”..) i.e. a sugary solution, which is not an option for a High-Fat-Low-Carb health nerd like myself.
The milk powder in there is as “pure, white and deadly” as sugar. -
to have my own machine to prepare coffee.
At the time, some colleagues ordered coffee capsules for a Dolce-Gusto machine already standing in the pentry.
I bought a few capsules, but the shear waste these capsules stand for just repelled me.
The solution became a cheap espresso machine (second hand machines are dirt cheap) and have it at work.
And that has made the whole difference.
On the Fly - Airport
(and hotels)
Many airports have at least some possibilities to buy coffee. Sounds great, and simple.
I like simple.
However, many times it is made from a machine and tastes like coffee from a vending machíne, because it is. Same same, no difference. With the added benefit of depleting the wallet and, if you're lucky, a little fancier cup.
The other variety, often found in a larger airport, is a real human barista with a fully equipped barista station. Some of these are quite good, when the responsible also has some decent coffee beans. It could work, even if it costs about the same as ½ kg coffee beans. Ridiculous in my opinion, but at least you have a cup.
My style?
Previously, I used to travel at work more (now everything is deranged due to COVIDiot-restrictions) and I felt uneasy when having to invest any sum of money on coffee I don’t really like.
After starting to roast coffee beans myself (which is not crucial) I also bought several hand grinders, which have made it super easy to enjoy freshly ground (and freshly roasted) coffee wherever I go.
Mostly, there is somewhere a cup available, and if you have an Aeropress Go, it includes a cup.
If Aeropress is your thing, go with it. If not, try it. Here is a review of James Hoffmann:
AeroPress has already become a cult thing, for a good reason, and people seem to love it for both the versatility and the good coffee it can brew.
I like my coffee more like espresso, so I have purchased the Staresso Mirage, which makes a decent espresso. The Staresso Mirage is the double espresso variant to the original Staresso.
Again, as with the AeroPress - all you need is some boiling water and your coffee - or beans and a grinder (which can hold the beans too).
Boiling water can be readily found in an airport, or can be boiled in a microwave oven, which is not uncommon in such places.
Frankly, I even skip all the tech and go for brewing in a cup. Just ask for a cup with boiling water, grind a good heap of coffee,17-20 gr, stir it, let it sit for a minute, and enjoy.
If you cope with the coffee residue in the bottom (a non-issue for me).
Mini-Trangia on the beach
3 alcohol stove models, two of which are made of beverage cans, the Trangia in the middle, and the last one to "bloom"
DYI alcohol stove
From a beverage can, with a simmer/extinguisher
My humble wilderness outfit
Contains: a pot with a grip, a spoon, a lighter, an alcohol stove, water bottle with a windscreen wrapped on it, alcohol bottle, stevia bottle, coffee, knife, a towel
Look at this cute little thing - enough for 2 cups
My humble wilderness outfit
In a not-so-cool-anymore coolbox
Wilderness Coffee
A word on cooking in the wild is due.
When going out of home, hot water is not attained by pushing a button, as you might have noticed. You may light a bonfire, if that is the go-to thing for you in this specific environment, or equip yourself with a stove. This way, you can do it more quickly and probably more safely as well.
Camping Stoves
Growing up, there weren’t many options back then.
Most times, we cooked on gas stoves. In the army, we had a tradition of having milk coffee every morning, which we boiled on a camping gas stove. One liter milk, instant coffee and sugar.
Then, the 90s in Israel, there was a hype of bensin driven stoves around my friends, and especially gas stoves with disposable gas tubes were very common.
When I came to Sweden, I got acquainted with the Trangia storm kitchen brand, which was my first spirit stove. First the original version, then the Mini Trangia that served me a long time.
In recent years, an internet journey revealed a bunch of other spirit stoves spin-offs.
Compared to Trangia stoves, many of these alcohol stoves are lighter and the time to “bloom” (when the outer flame circle is litt) is much quicker. On top of that, you can easily make many of them in the comfort of your home (or lack thereof, then and there) with a pair of scissors, or a more elaborated, fancier version… And your fantasy.
They cost almost nothing. A beverage can? Or a couple of them? You don’t even have to buy the can yourself.
If desired, there are quite a few models to go for, just search “Alcohol Stove Comparison” and you’ll find several, then search for the instructions.
I have made a few myself, just to try a few concepts and stayed with one model which was easiest to make and was also the fastest to “bloom”, only a few seconds, from a beverage can and a pair of scissors. The drawback of this model is that it cannot be turned off, like the Trangia stove can, so alcohol needs to be measured, so as not to waste fuel. It burns much stronger than the Trangia stove and also burns the alcohol pretty fast (a potential drawback).
One method to save fuel and cooking time is to cut a couple of beverage aluminum cans (for example) and make a wind screen, which prevents flare offs to the surrounding of the stove and keeps the fire around the stove, and hence the water is heated quicker. This is a real benefit on a windy day, a game changer indeed.
My Wilderness Coffee Kit
My cookware is either a Trangia pot or a similar pot with a similar grip, made of metal sheet.
You’ll need a set of
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A stove. My choice is this one here - a simple alcohol stove.
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fuel bottle
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a lighter
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coffee can and/or a grinder with coffee
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water (for washing afterwards as well)
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cookware (and a grip, if the pot has no handle)
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wind screen (optional but a very good idea, as it makes a big difference in efficiency)
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Cup(s)
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A little towel (optional, makes life cleaner)
You can freely add in herbs/tee, just as fair as coffee, coconut oil (for fat coffee), Irish cream/liqueur...
Where to store everything nice and neatly? Your fantasy is the limit, but a little bag can do the trick.
I use a cooler box that my kids don't think is cool anymore.