Camp Coffee - Part 2

enjoying camp coffee before a float

With coffee leading our morning routine every day, we’ve perfected the most satisfying cup of coffee at home. However, bringing our Cuisinart coffee maker and coffee grinder on our camping trips is not an option for us due to limited space and electrical requirements. Our first Camp Coffee post details out how to make the perfect cup of joe while camping. And to be quite honest, it truly is the best method.

We explored other coffee methods since then, knowing we wanted to consolidate our camp items (the whole limited space thing). So while the French Press method was (and still is) the best camp coffee we’ve ever had, it requires multiple items that take up space in our kitchen box. Researching various coffee makers led us to a Stainless Steel Percolator from Bass Pro Shops. Now before you “upgrade” your camp coffee maker to the Bass Pro Percolator, hear me out first.

Honestly, we were pumped to use our new stainless steel percolator! We planned a floating and camping trip so that we could finally test it out. This percolator is a one stop shop for making camp coffee. I mean really, the directions are almost unnecessary but here you go:

Bass Pro Percolator

- Remove glass percolator top and the contents inside the percolator

- Fill percolator with water (as many cups as you plan to drink)

- Put contents of percolator back inside percolator after filling with water

- Fill 2-piece basket section with coffee grinds (make sure they’re not too finely ground or you’ll be drinking the grinds)

- Close the top of the percolator and insert glass top as the final piece - the color of the coffee will show through, letting you decide when your coffee is ready

- Place percolator directly on a stove (or grill grates work too) and cook the coffee until your desired darkness

We floated and camped along the Jacks Fork river when we first used this new percolator; the coffee was satisfying. We then used it to brew coffee on our next floating and camping trips on the North Fork river and Current river, as well as our week-long overlanding adventure on Colorado’s Backcountry Discovery Route. The Colorado trip is when we realized that our percolator wasn’t brewing the strong coffee we desired. That little glass top that notifies you of how strong the coffee is, never showed as dark of a brew as we preferred. Additionally - the amount of propane tanks we blew through while brewing coffee in Colorado was astounding. Altitude may have been a factor with some campsite locations along the route but the long brew time became frustrating. We eventually reverted to the Cowboy Coffee method (directly pouring coffee grinds into boiling water and waiting for the grinds to sink before drinking) which turned out to be frustrating too. After trying the Cowboy Coffee method, we drove to the local gas station in Telluride, CO to buy gas station coffee. Yea, that happened.

Looking back on it, we would probably still be using the percolator had it not been for our experience in Colorado. While camping for a week straight, moving from campsite to campsite, we had to ration 1lb propane tanks throughout the trip. It’s not feasible nor affordable for the extended brew time required for the percolator. Using one half of a 1lb tank while brewing coffee for two people in the morning just doesn’t make sense. The extended brew time was excruciating waiting on a good cup of joe to start the day.

Back to the French Press method. The best Camp Coffee we’ve ever made. Hands down.