Good ready to drink coffee?

[Turtleburp]

Is there a good brand of bottled/ canned ready to drink coffee in the states?

I am looking for something strong & unsweetened to make espresso martinis and this would make life much easier.

The alternative I suppose would be to make up some (lots) bottles of plunger coffee but we will be flying in and this means hotel kitchenettes. Not impossible if this is the best option though!!

Ta, T

[FIGJAM]

Can you find a coffee concentrate?

[Turtleburp]

Can you find a coffee concentrate?

People are a bit precious about their coffee here in Melbourne even asking would get me vegemited and feathered!

I'll go the extra mile and make the coffee - grab one off me at the M&G (assuming you drink booze and coffee) and let me know what you think!

[FIGJAM]

How bout this...


http://gautango.wordpress.com/2006/11/29/recipe-coffee-concentrate-iced-coffee/

[Turtleburp]

How bout this...


http://gautango.wordpress.com/2006/11/29/recipe-coffee-concentrate-iced-coffee/

Looks great I'll give it a go!
Better than great it will mean that even if the ice melts faster due to heat it will not be too weak- you are good

The only trouble I'll have is keeping the Bumbler out of it on the way to BRC

[International Incident]

Can you find a coffee concentrate?

People are a bit precious about their coffee here in Melbourne even asking would get me vegemited and feathered!

!

+100

And we'd also string you up then feed you to a dingo.

So ideas peeps. Coz I want some proper coffee out there!

[theCryptofishist]

And no one in BDC has coffee going?

There's always Coffee Camp. CLARKcon is a sweetie. Or you can go over to the Black Rock Army and see if Foxfur and Espresso Dude can set you up...

[Bob]

Not to take the piss out of you, but a Bialetti works fine for me in the desert, and it's hard to find a hotel these days that doesn't have a Starbucks close by.

[Elorrum]

Can you find a coffee concentrate?

People are a bit precious about their coffee here in Melbourne even asking would get me vegemited and feathered!

!

+100

And we'd also string you up then feed you to a dingo.

So ideas peeps. Coz I want some proper coffee out there!

proper coffee comes from ground coffee, water, and heat. What we called in our Nescafe archipelago years, "really truly coffee." I will bring this plus a stove and billie can (?) to the meet and greet. It isn't truly espresso, but near enough. what say you?

[theCryptofishist]

I would like to thank my fellow eplayans for not mentioning "Via". I know it's not what was asked for, but that doesn't often stop us.

And turtleburp, with google I did find a couple on the first page. If you have a reservation at a hotel you can have mail order sent there. (Ask first, I suppose.) Otherwise, maybe H.G. Crosby will hold them for you and bring them to the burn.

[BBadger]

Can't beat making it fresh. A more portable and less expensive solution to Elorrum's Presso is to use an Aeropress. You'll still need the bring a portable hand grinder, beans, and hot water of course. The Aeropress makes fast espresso-ish coffee. Cleanup is easy (much better than a French press).

[Turtleburp]

Thanks all, I'll have a look for something for both bulk coffee production for the cocktails and that can do us a nice drop whilst on the playa too.

We'll leave it in our esky so you can grab it Mel

[International Incident]

Can't beat making it fresh. A more portable and less expensive solution to Elorrum's Presso is to use an Aeropress. You'll still need the bring a portable hand grinder, beans, and hot water of course. The Aeropress makes fast espresso-ish coffee. Cleanup is easy (much better than a French press).

That looks awesome!

I miss espresso when in America - even the starbucks is more watered down over there.

I may try this little gizmo BB. It looks pretty cool. It won’t give me a crema but it might deliver something drinkable.

[Elorrum]

I will bring this plus a stove and billie can (?) to the meet and greet. It isn't truly espresso, but near enough. what say you?

o.k. so, no then?

[Turtleburp]

Sorry Elorrum I was so transfixed by the picture that I ignored the text.

The coffee will be for cocktails so it needs to be ready and ideally cool (or really strong when hot so the ice melt doesn't dilute it too much).

So thank you for the offer but I want to be ready in advance*, that said you gave me another option to consider - are these expensive?


*unless you'd like to hang out and make coffee with us?

[BBadger]

That looks awesome!

I miss espresso when in America - even the starbucks is more watered down over there.

I may try this little gizmo BB. It looks pretty cool. It won’t give me a crema but it might deliver something drinkable.

Yeah, I like good strong cups, not weak-ass stuff that just upsets my stomach because it wasn't made right. The Aeropress really does make decent strong "espresso-ish" coffee very quickly and easily (2 minutes, start to finish). The clean-up is unmatched too (creates a solid little "puck" of grounds). You might consider getting a stainless steel filter for it too (described below) to extract even more flavors and oils.

You'll have to experiment with what suits your tastes, but here's my method: fundamentally, I use the inversion method, which means the plunger is upside-down when you're putting grounds/water, etc. in order to preserve oils which often stick to the plunger top. I uses 2 scoops (the one that comes with the press) of beans per cup, ground fine regardless of the roasting (though my local roaster tends to err on the side of dark, but not Charbucks levels). Before I pour water in, I wet the paper filter and put it in screw-on filter holder.

I add 4-fluid-oz (120ml) of hot water to the plunger, stir vigorously for about 10 seconds, rinse off the paddle (another 5 secs), put the filter-holder on and start plunging. The fine grind should make the pressing "difficult" so I put my weight behind it. It should take about 15-20 more seconds to push all the water through, but keep pushing and slowly allow the air in the plunger to push through the grounds. Pushing the remaining air through extracts the oils, and forms a sort of weak "crema" which is nice. The extraction results in about 2-3-shots worth of concentrated brew; it's not espresso, but it's strong and good. I've never found having additional water passing through the grounds helped things, and the grounds seemed fully extracted during cleanup anyway. Top off with hot water, mix with other stuff, or drink it straight.

The instruction guide says the water should be lower temp, but I think it's probably for safety reasons. From what I've measured, using 190F (~88C) poured from a Pyrex measuring cup, the water drops to a reasonable temperature very quickly when it enters the plunger, so I'm not worried about boil-off. The Aeropress seems more "espresso-like" than "coffee-like" in its extraction method, so the grind size and plunging time matter more. My timing isn't exact, but overall the grounds are exposed to the water for about 30-40 seconds, which is a good range. You'll have to experiment with what you enjoy.

I've also just recently ordered an Able DISK (fine), which is a stainless steel filter. They just barely came out for sale. Supposedly it enables a lot more flavor to be extracted because it doesn't soak up any of the oils. I'll see how it performs.

Another type of coffee you might enjoy is coffee made using a Vietnamese Phin filter. It's pretty strong and rich, but you'll need to make it with particular dark roasted blends. I prefer Trung Nguyen's Gourmet Blend, but Cafe du Monde is decent too. It makes for great iced coffee with condensed sweetened milk. The best brand of condensed sweetened milk in the US is Borden's Eagle Brand; the brand with some old Chinese dude is okay too if you're getting some at an Asian store. Stay away from the Meadow Gold brand--it is the absolute worst.

[Elorrum]

Sorry Elorrum I was so transfixed by the picture that I ignored the text.

The coffee will be for cocktails so it needs to be ready and ideally cool (or really strong when hot so the ice melt doesn't dilute it too much).

So thank you for the offer but I want to be ready in advance*, that said you gave me another option to consider - are these expensive?


*unless you'd like to hang out and make coffee with us?

That presso was silly cost, and basically it's fun to use, not a super value to cost ratio. It takes a lot of heat out of the coffee as you make it unless you preheat in hot water, the grounds holder. I did buy two large stovetop espresso pots that were around 20 dollars ea. for 24 ounce capacity, cheaply built, but will be good for larger amounts of strong camp coffee. I also make a cold coffee concentrate from real coffee that is nice for ice coffee, not acidic at all. Two directions you might want to try for larger amounts of strong coffee.


I'd be happy to help by hanging out and brewing, presso taste testing, bringing pre-made cold strong to the m.n.g., cold concentrate for testing... whatever. You have restrictions on the what you can bring so It's up to you if you like some assistance.

[dragonpilot]

Can't beat making it fresh. A more portable and less expensive solution to Elorrum's Presso is to use an Aeropress. You'll still need the bring a portable hand grinder, beans, and hot water of course. The Aeropress makes fast espresso-ish coffee. Cleanup is easy (much better than a French press).

I've been using the Aeropress on back country and extended sea kayaking trips for about 6 years...you'll have to pry it out of my dead, lifeless fingers to get it away from me. Make sure to set your bean grinder to "espresso grind."