Cowboy Coffee

Here’s the situation… you’re staying at an Airbnb or are visiting family. You wake in the morning to find… there’s no coffee maker! You brought some lovely coffee but have nothing to brew it in!

What to do?

Cowboy Coffee to the rescue!

Cowboy Coffee gets its name because it’s how ranchers and cowboys would make coffee out on the range, over a campfire. It’s also known as Camping Coffee.

Regardless of how you got into this situation, we’re here to help with some tips for making a decent cup of java without a coffee maker.

No coffeemaker? No worries!

What you need to make Cowboy Coffee…

  • a pot

  • ground coffee

  • a heat source - stove or campfire, either will do

The recipe:

  1. Add ground coffee to water
    Use the same proportions as for almost all coffeemakers - 2 TBSP per cup. I’m assuming you don’t have a scale, since you don’t have a coffeemaker. But if you do, the ratio is 55 - 60 grams of coffee per litre of water.

  2. Bring this to a GENTLE BOIL
    DO NOT let your coffee come to a hard boil! Unless you love bitter, over-extracted coffee.

  3. Remove from the heat, give it a stir
    Wait a minute or two and let the coffee steep and the coffee grinds settle.

  4. Add a SPLASH of cold water
    If you’re worried about getting coffee grinds in your teeth, an old trick is to trickle some cold water around the sides of the pot. When the cold water hits the grinds, they’ll sink straight to the bottom of the pot.

  5. DRINK UP
    Pour slowly so you leave the coffee grinds at the bottom of the pot and not in your cup. Enjoy! You’ve made the best of a difficult situation! And hopefully you’ve made a surprisingly good cup of coffee!


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