Camp Coffee

Isn’t it the same as breakfast coffee at home? Not at all.

Some background: When I was a youth most families that I knew didn’t own electric coffee makers or electric ranges. Coffee was cooked on a wood-fired stove in an aluminum or enamel coffee pot. Ma usually didn’t even use the percolator stem and basket that came with new pots; just more stuff to wash. She measured so many spoonfuls of coffee directly into the water and cooked it at a rolling boil until a good coffee aroma wafted throughout the kitchen. This coffee wasn’t the crystal clear beverage later generations have become accustomed to. It had an opacity that signaled a rich flavor. This “muddiness” persisted even when the grounds had settled to the bottom of the pot. The coffee could be poured through a strainer to catch the finer grounds (usually done when serving company). When the pot was emptied, water was swirled around in it and tossed out into the garden with the grounds.

Of course, coffee making has changed with the advent of automatic drip, set-and-forget coffee makers, with timers even, for today’s hurried life style. But this is not for camp. I still hold to the method that harks back to a less harried time. It almost enforces leisureliness; fill the enamel pot with good cold well water, measure the coffee with a teaspoon, stir it into the water to wet the grounds, put it on the burner (the wood stove is not always fired up in the summertime), bring it to a boil, stir it again, inhale the developing aroma, mmmmm, boil it for a few minutes, take the pot off of the heat, allow the grounds to settle. Now pour the steaming brew into a camp cup, sit down and relax. Slowly sip the hot liquid, enjoy the fragrant steam! Listen to the sounds of nature. That’s living, camp style. It just can’t be duplicated at home.