Campfire Coffee

So much so, that we’ve got a little Keurig coffee maker in the RV. The pods are expensive, and it’s obviously not a great solution for tent campers, but it works for him.

That said, sometimes we don’t have electricity, and don’t want to waste solar power on something that can very easily be done outside.

Cowboy coffee is a thing, of course... but who wants to mess around with straining loose coffee grounds?

So - rather than ALSO packing a French press for those times - we came up with our own method of making coffee over an open flame.

And you know... coffee doesn’t need to be any different!

We had teabags on hand from my earlier experimenting with homemade valerian tea blends, so we gave it a go.

After a bit of playing around with amounts and techniques, Porter nailed the perfect “recipe” for making coffee in the great outdoors.

It makes coffee with a nice rich flavor, without any unwanted bitterness or gritty floating grounds. You can even prep the bags ahead of time!

Anyway, let’s take a look at how he does it!

Supplies & Ingredients

While the recipe below is for a single serving of coffee, we tend to do up a bunch of baggies ahead of time.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Tea Bags

First, you'll need some Drawstring Tea Filter Bags. You can buy these online (Amazon has a ton of options), or in specialty tea stores.

In general, you’ll want bags that are big enough to hold 2 tablespoon of coffee grounds - with a little extra room, but not much more.

The ones we use are 7 x 9 cm / 2.8 x 3.5 inch, and that seems about perfect.

You can even order Unbleached Drawstring Tea Filter Bags, if you like.

The big thing to understand is that pretty much NONE of these seal all that well when knotted - but I have a technique to get around that. I’ve got photos in the pictorial walk through, a little further down in this post.

Ground Coffee

While he’s a whole bean coffee kinda guy at home, no one wants to mess with grinding coffee beans on a campsite. So, ground coffee it is!

Realistically, you can use whatever coffee you like to drink - not much to say there!

You can even package up different flavours, for some variety on the road - just be sure to pack them separately, and label the freezer bags with the flavour of coffee in it.

As pictured in this post, we used some Algonquin Coffee, that we picked up in the Lake of Two Rivers store in Algonquin Provincial Park, during a recent stay at Canisbay Lake Campground.

Apparently they have several different coffee flavors available, but only one at that outlet. It was lovely, a nice medium roast with a light smoke flavor!

Everything Else

Rounding out this “recipe”, you will need:

1. A heat source.

2. A pot

3. Water

4. Whatever you generally like to add to your brewed coffee: milk, cream, sugar, etc.

How to Make Coffee Over a Campfire

The basic instructions - without photos - are available in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here is the visual walk-through.

Ahead of Time

Carefully spoon the ground coffee into an empty tea bag. I’ll assembly-line a bunch of them, before proceeding.

Wrap the strings around the opening a few times - as shown in the post - and knot once more. This will prevent coffee grounds from floating out of the opening - the initial knot doesn’t close it tight enough.

Once packed and closed, transfer your prepared coffee bags to a Ziplock freezer bag. Press all excess air out and seal; store in a cool dark place until use.

To Make Campfire Coffee

Start your campfire, charcoal, or other heat source. If possible, shift the heat source to one side, leaving the other side as a warm spot. This is a great way to keep the coffee hot when it's done.

In a large pot, boil 10 ounces of water per serving – some will evaporate during heating, and some will be absorbed by the coffee. This will leave about 8 ounces of water per serving.

When the water starts boiling, remove it from the heat or slide it to the warm spot.

Steep for 3 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. If you like stronger coffee, it's better to add more grounds than steep longer. Long steep times can cause it to become quite bitter.

Leftovers

Once cooled to room temperature, leftover campfire coffee can be transferred to an airtight container and chilled for later use.

We like to brew extra, for iced coffees later!

More Camping Breakfast Recipes

Looking for some more easy - and tasty - camping breakfast ideas? I've got you covered:

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Banana Protein Pancakes
Campfire Banana Bread
Campfire Breakfast Skillet
Gingerbread Protein Pancake Mix
Hobo Eggs
Homemade Camping Pancake Mix
Pumpkin Protein Pancake Mix
Traditional Bannock

Also be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes!