For many overlanders, the challenge doesn’t end once they have left their home state. The real adventure is just beginning. That will include exploring new lands, meeting new people, and conquering new challenges. Some of these challenges could be the insular locals, unfamiliar landscapes, or even the lack of coffee.
The best Overlanding coffee is the one you prefer. Some overlanders prefer pour-overs while others love instant while Overlanding. The truth is that all of these are viable options, and there is no one-fit-all coffee for Overlanding. It all depends on your needs, tastes, and budget.
While some overlanders may be able to find instant in most places, others may want to prepare their own. For others, the challenge may be finding a place to brew coffee. Whether you desire pour-overs, cowboy coffee, or the instant one, follow along to understand more about these coffees in Overlanding.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the different styles and what each has to offer.
Coffee Overlanding: Instant vs. pour-overs vs. cowboy coffee
Instant For Overlanding
The most popular instant coffee brands include Maxwell House, and Nescafé Gold Blend.
Instant coffee is one of the most commonly available coffees. There are several brands and types to choose from anywhere in the world at any given time.
If instant coffee is your preferred type, you need to boil water, add coffee, and mix it. This creates a great cup of coffee instantly.
Pour-Over When Overlanding
The pour-over is a method of brewing coffee using special paper filters that catch the oils and liquid from the brew leaving only a clean cup of coffee behind. This brew creates a more full-bodied cup, sometimes even with a foamy head.
You can brew pour-over in several ways, including the popular Hario V60 dripper or any other type of filter cone you may have on hand. The method also doesn’t require as much technical expertise. Any brewed coffee you pour over into your cup will taste the same as if you had brewed it at home.
Cowboy Coffee When Overlanding
Cowboy Coffee is a unique blend of coffee designed for making in a cowboy coffee pot. It is the kind of strong brew perfect for the outdoors and can last you many miles and create many cups. Cowboy Coffee is made with standard drip brew methods or pour-over methods. Although getting it close to the same strength will require pouring a potent batch. You can find Cowboy Coffee in many stores.
Making Cowboy Coffee is more like brewing tea than making coffee. It takes extra preparation before heading out to travel.
The one caveat to cowboy coffee would be getting pure ingredients without any impurities or other elements into your coffee. This may detract from your taste buds while on the trail.
Their Differences in Pros and Cons
| Instant Coffee | Pour-Over Coffee | Cowboy Coffee |
|---|---|---|
| PROS | ||
| eliminates need for pre-heated water boiler. | fresh taste and flavor | fully portable, |
| can be made with minimal tools and appliances. | use any small paper filter you have on hand. | don’t need to worry about electricity. |
| easily combined with different flavors like vanilla or cinnamon. | can be made without any battery or compatible power source. | can make with canning jar and throw into boiling water. |
| easy to find, prepare, and carry. | easy and perfect for new stove owners. | |
| CONS | ||
| not as fresh as freshly brewed coffee, | could spill when pouring. | it has no filter and made by pouring hot water over metal mesh. – messy. |
| may not be as flavorful as freshly brewed – may need sweetener | not very portable and require space in your pack when traveling long distances. | sediment may stick to the pot blemishing your filter. |
| coffee can be muddy without proper filtering. |
Pros of Instant Coffee
- Instant coffee eliminates the need to have a pre-heated water boiler.
- It can be made with a minimum of tools and appliances.
- Combining different flavors, such as vanilla or cinnamon, is easy for a tropical taste.
- Instant coffee is easy to find, easy to prepare, and can be carried easily in your back-country kit without adding another item.
Cons of Instant Coffee
- Instant coffee is not as fresh as freshly brewed coffee. Even though the coffee made with instant coffee will be identical to the freshly brewed cups, they are not as fresh due to the long time they need to store.
- Some people might not find it very flavorful regarding the taste and flavor of freshly brewed coffee. Often you will have to add some sweetener to your tea or coffee to alter the flavor, which is not desirable while traveling.
Ease in Making Instant
Making instant coffee is easy. All you need is hot water and coffee to make it. It takes about 2-5 minutes, depending on the device used. You can buy coffee or use the instant version in local stores around you.
Pros of Pour-Over Coffee
- Pour-over coffee is freshly brewed coffee.
- It is not stored for a long time; the water is boiled just before pouring it into the coffee. So, the taste and flavor will stay fresh and vital. Plus, you don’t need to carry your filter papers to use it, as, with pour-over, you can use any small paper filter paper you have at hand.
- Pour-over coffee can be taken without needing a fully charged battery or compatible power source. The kettle’s design allows for direct brew into a mug or carafe without needing to have the heated water ready first.
Cons of Pour-Over Coffee
- The main drawback of pour-over coffee is that there could be spillages during pouring if you are not careful enough in pouring or even handling hot mugs.
- Also, when compared with a brew in a pot, some people like a more robust flavor, so instant cups usually give more intense flavors.
- Pour overs are not very portable and will require some space in your pack when traveling long distances
Ease of Making Pour-Over
Pour-over coffee is not too complicated to make. You simply need to place the tightly closed filter paper into the metal mesh of the pot and then pour your freshly brewed coffee into the waiting mug. The cleaning process is also straightforward, as you can rinse it under water and put a new one.
Pros of Cowboy Coffee
- Cowboy coffee is portable, which is excellent for car camping as you don’t have to worry about running out of electricity during the night, or if your power goes out, you can use an emergency candle.
- It makes a great hot drink to warm up after a day in the cold. It can be used in many ways, like heating water with an alcohol stove or putting it into a canning jar and throwing it into boiling water.
- It is easy to make, making it perfect for people who are new to using their stoves and don’t want to worry about making enough coffee constantly.
Drawbacks of Cowboy Coffee
- One of the most obvious drawbacks of cowboy coffee is that it has no filter and is made by pouring hot water into a metal mesh. However, if you are making more than one pot at a time, this isn’t too much of an issue.
- Another drawback is that if you throw it in the water without rinsing it, the sediment will stick to the pot and blemish your filtering.
- Many people don’t filter their coffee correctly, so when they pour it into mugs or tin cans, their coffee becomes very muddy.
Ease of Making Cowboy Coffee
Making cowboy coffee will take about an hour, depending on how you made the coffee. The biggest drawback of making it is that while this method will work fine, for the most part, there are a few things that can get in your way and stop you from making it properly.
The first thing to be aware of is that if you make cowboy coffee with a plastic mug, the coffee will be very weak and watery because the plastic tends to suck up all of the heat.
To fix this, once you have poured your coffee into your mug and heated it, tilt your cup back and forth for about 5-10 minutes while waiting for it to cool down. That will allow any air pockets inside the mug to rise up and out through its bottom, where they can be sucked out by whatever you’re using to drink from.
Portability of Different Coffee Types
How Easy Is It To Transport Instant Coffee?
Instant coffee is easy to carry and store because of its small container size. It is easy to store in a pack or on your vehicle and makes it much more convenient to brew a cup of coffee.
How Long Will Instant Coffee Stay Fresh?
Instant coffee will stay fresh in a sealed container for many months if stored at cool temperatures.
How Easy Is It To Transport Pour-Over Coffee?
You need a store-bought filter for pour-over coffee, which is much more difficult to carry than a travel mug, an appropriate amount of hot water, and beans. The filter is easy to carry, but the beans are not since they are placed in a paper cone.
Many people have found that it is easier to bring less coffee and travel with more filters than they need.
How Long Will Pour-Over Coffee Last?
Pour-over coffee will last a considerable time if it’s stored in a cool place and not exposed to excessive heat or sunlight.
How Easy Is It To Transport Cowboy Coffee?
For cowboy coffee, you will need a 1- to 3-inch cone of coffee, a blade for grinding and brewing, and a container to hold the ground coffee. The cone is easy to carry, but the ground coffee is not. Many people have found that it is easier to bring less coffee and travel with more cones than they need.
How Long Will Cowboy Coffee Last?
Cowboy coffee’s ability to stay fresh depends on a few things. The type of ground coffee you use, the moisture in its packaging, and its packaging determines its freshness. It can last from a few hours to several weeks if stored correctly. You should drink Cowboy coffee immediately, it is not good for long-term storage. The grounds get soggy and clump together. Buying this blend in open-air markets ensures freshness.
Final Thoughts
Instant coffee is a brilliant way to ease a stressful situation, especially if you are new to Overlanding. However, you can try out any of the above brew systems to determine which suits your needs, taste preference, and budget.
While you are at it. Check out our article about the best places to camp free in the U.S. here.
