Travel Coffee Setups
- teenage-cat
Good coffee is so addictive that you can't leave it behind when you travel. Once you start making it at home, it becomes very hard not to have it.
You might have a great setup at home, but you can't travel around with all that. It becomes so cumbersome to pack everything.
I am at Dharamshala now and I packed an Aeropress, hand grinder along with some coffee beans. And I love this setup.
I spoke with my fellow travellers who happen to love coffee as well. This post is a distillation of all the practical options for a mobile coffee setup.
And while you book stay for your travel, it is good to confirm that they have a water heating kettle. Most areas have it.
For the coffee beans, I like freshly ground, so I carry a hand grinder. But you can take ground coffee if this is not something you are obsessed about.
I mainly talk about the setups for black coffee here but you can fancy a milk one with one of the espresso techniques.
Aeropress
This is hands down the best choice. I always carry this with me while travelling.
Aeropress-ing morning coffee from the hostel in Himalayas
Aeropress is good mainly because the setup is small to carry. The Aeropress itself, paper filters/metal filter, and coffee beans.
I recently learnt that you can also get an attachment to the Aeropress called Prismo which opens up possibilities for an espresso.
With this, you can have an espresso, Americano, or any milk based drinks.
Nanopress
On the slightly expensive side, we have Nanopress for around 6k INR. This works well for an espresso again.
The way this works is you put in the ground coffee, hot water and pump the nob with you hand. The maximum pressure you can generate is 18 bars which is more than enough for an espresso.
Again, the possibilities are unlimited when you have an espresso at hand.
Easy Pour bags
If you are into pour overs, this is a great option. You get these easy pour bags which put over a cup, pour hot water and enjoy the coffee.
We talked about them in a post earlier and I have also mentioned a few options where you can buy from.
A lot of the people here prefer this method. Especially as there is no major investment over any equipment.
If you are feeling fancy and experimental, you can get only the bags on amazon and fill it with your favourite coffee ground to perfection by you. Then you can carry them in any airtight container and you are good to go.
Last resort
The last option is instant coffee, like Davidoff, Sleepy Owl, etc. I hate to mention it because I don't like it. But people do carry or buy instant coffee while travelling. So it gets to be here on this post.
So, what will be your travel companion. Let me know.
That’s all I have. Have a caffeinated weekend.
See you.
Keep on brewing!