A guide to camp coffee

Camp coffee has a reputation for being terrible. It is not the fire’s fault — it is usually the grind and the water.

Grind coarser than you think

Cowboy coffee is a full immersion brew, so it wants a coarse grind — rougher than a French press, closer to sea salt. Fine grounds sink, over-extract and give you the bitter, muddy cup everyone jokes about.

The four-minute rule

Water off the boil, one heaped tablespoon per 250 ml, four minutes standing, then knock the pot once on a stone so the grounds settle. Do not stir it afterwards. That is the entire method.

The kit we will not leave behind

A copper kettle with a flat base. It heats faster than steel, pours without dripping, and survives being dropped on rock — ours is eight seasons old and has a dent shaped like the summer of 2019.

Beans are ground at the shop in town the morning we drive out. After four days in a dry bag they are still better than anything pre-ground, but not by much, which is why we only ever take four days’ worth.