GSI Espresso Maker

[fern]

Starbucks Via Italian Roast. It is instant therefore lightweight and easy, but I still get to be a yuppy paying too much for coffee. Win-win!

[denalidave]

I gave up the real coffee long ago on the trail and just go with the fu-fu instant mixed stuff. No, not quite as good as a latte from you barista, but no hassle. I still use the Stove Top Espresso Gizmo at home or car camping, as well as the battery operated milk whisker from IKEA, I think they are about $2 IKEA Frother

 

 

The next best thing is a good french press (IMO)...

 

As a matter of fact, I'm slurping a scrumptious latte made with the above tools right now. MMMMMMM, coffee!

[layton]

the new starbucks instant is pretty damm good

[JoshK]

the new starbucks instant is pretty damm good

 

Yeah, I gotta second this. My buddy gave me some for free and they were excellent. I went to buy my own after that, coughed at the $1/packet price and instead went for the nescafe instant packs. That was a mistake - the nescafe packets are terrible. As pricey as the 'bucks via packets are, it tastes damn good and it's ground in to a fine powder that mixes perfectly. Now I need to find them at a bulk discount price...

[chirp]

the new starbucks instant is pretty damm good

 

Yeah, I gotta second this. My buddy gave me some for free and they were excellent. I went to buy my own after that, coughed at the $1/packet price and instead went for the nescafe instant packs. That was a mistake - the nescafe packets are terrible. As pricey as the 'bucks via packets are, it tastes damn good and it's ground in to a fine powder that mixes perfectly. Now I need to find them at a bulk discount price...

 

It tastes ok, a little "instanty" but is very light and packable.

Even as an employee of the green giant with unlimited access to it I still will haul my Ti coffee press and a bag of grounds into the wilderness for the pure flavor and ritual the press provides.

 

Ti press

 

 

 

[Bronco]

Now I need to find them at a bulk discount price...

 

We found them at Costco earlier in the summer for a discounted price.

[ryanb]

"As a kid, I knew two things to be self-evident. Flying: Believe it and

it'll happen. Superpowers: Bound to be something - spinach or whatever will

do the trick. Climbing is my flying and coffee is my spinach."

-- Peter Croft

 

"A man doesn't go to drink coffee after climbing, coffee is integral part of the climbing."

--Wolfgang Güllich

 

Gsi makes decent but kind of a pain to use/clean, sprays bits of coffee allover outside the cup and the gasket goes bad if you use it a lot.

 

Starbucks instant is the best really light/quick option.

 

Jet boil french press is my current standard option (i actually wore the threads on the plunger of one out and am on my second) for good coffee in the backcountry on on 1-3 night trips...I like that i can boil a pot of water and have enough for oatmeal and coffee (got to add a bit and re boil for two people). Biggest downside is that you have to use a lot of grounds for best results and it takes a bit of water to clean.

 

Areo press makes the best best coffee and the closest to good espresso by far and is easy to clean but takes a bit of fiddling/time to get right... I have one at home and one at work to avoid paying coffee shop prices but haven't had the urge to take it outside.

 

What do people do for milk/cream? I get some powdered skim stuff at PCC but it clumps pretty easy and something with a bit of fat would be nice...

[denalidave]

 

What do people do for milk/cream? I get some powdered skim stuff at PCC but it clumps pretty easy and something with a bit of fat would be nice...

I used to have some powdered milk that was whole milk. Now that it is all gone, I can't find anyone that carries it (though I have not done much research, just checked a few grocery stores). That stuff was waaaayyyy better than the standard non-fat dry milk. BTM (Better than Milk - soy based dried product) is not bad either but I can't remember how it tasted in coffee as it has been years since I used the stuff.

[Alpinisto]

Now I need to find them at a bulk discount price...

 

We found them at Costco earlier in the summer for a discounted price.

 

Starbucks Via at Costco, FTW.

[Le Piston]

I've been using G7 3-in-one instant coffee and the Via for that cup of ambition in the mountains. The G7 comes with cream and sugar...just add hot water. One packet is 16 grams and 60 calories. I've found the G7 at asian and discount food stores...not Starbucks, but plenty tasty for a non-coffee snob.

[JH60]

I have the GSI and have used it for years. I originally scoffed at it when I saw it at REI, but when I got it as a Christmas gift and actually tried it in the field, I discovered it makes really good coffee. The biggest problem I've had with it (other than the issues already noted in the thread about relative efficiency in use of coffee, the need to cool it if you're making cofee for more than one person, and the risk of damaging the gasket through overheating) is that it's difficult to get it to sit properly on my Whisperlite stove since the base is small, so I usually have to hold it while it's brewing. I now mostly take it on short backpacking or car camping trips where my espresso-loving girlfriend joins me. I have started taking instant on trips where weight and brew complexity and clean up is more of is a concern, and have made up for the relative lack of caffeine in the latter by packing some 200 mg caffeine tablets (yes, I know, drug addiction is a sad thing).

[olyclimber]

just use these caffeine patches lol

 

http://www.spotonenergy.com/index.html

 

it would be sweet to have one nicotine/caffeine/methadone patch for maximum efficiency.