Guide · camping

Camping coffee: cowboy coffee, AeroPress Go and pour-over on the trail

Three common ways to brew coffee outdoors, compared; how hot boiling water really is at camp elevation; and what land agencies say about used grounds and dishwater.

Updated 2026-10-30 · sources listed at the end · no product recommendations

Three trail methods compared

Each method below follows its published source; amounts are the sources' own, not a pourxlab recipe.

Wide table: scroll sideways on a phone.

For comparison, the SCA's reference is 55 g/L ± 10%, with water at 200 °F ± 5° (93.0 °C ± 3°) where it meets the coffee. Hario's 15 g to 250 ml works out to 60 g/L, inside that tolerance (our arithmetic). The National Coffee Association's kitchen rule is 1–2 tablespoons per 6 oz of water. To turn spoons into grams, see tablespoons to grams.

How hot is your boil at camp?

Water boils at 212 °F (100 °C) at sea level and about 1 °F lower for every 500 ft of elevation (Wikipedia, High-altitude cooking, using a table credited to NASA/NOAA under standard conditions). Set against the SCA band, that splits camps into three groups:

• Low camps (up to roughly 2,000 ft): boiling water is above the band, which is why the off-boil cowboy recipes and Hario let it sit before brewing. Driftaway and Food Network say 30 seconds brings it to about 200 °F.
• Mid camps (about 5,000–8,000 ft): the boil itself falls inside 195–205 °F (203, 201.1 and 197.4 °F in the table). Pour straight off the boil.
• High camps (10,000 ft and up): the boil is below the band, 193.6 °F at 10,000 ft and 185.9 °F at 14,000 ft. That is close to AeroPress's own 185 °F target.

In UC Davis tests (Batali, Ristenpart and Guinard, 2020), drip coffee brewed at 87, 90 and 93 °C to the same strength and extraction tasted much the same: the sensory profile was "governed by differences in TDS and PE rather than the brew temperature." The researchers reached those targets by adjusting grind and brew time, which is the lever you have at a high camp. They did not test below 87 °C (about 189 °F), so the 14,000 ft boil lies outside their range. For your exact elevation, use the altitude boiling-point calculator; the home version of this topic is on the water temperature page.

Brewing heat is not water treatment

If your water comes from a lake or stream and you rely on boiling to make it safe, the CDC says to bring clear water to a rolling boil for 1 minute, or 3 minutes above 6,500 ft. Colorado State University Extension draws the line at 2,000 m (6,562 ft): at least 60 seconds below it, at least 3 minutes above. The off-boil methods here take the pot off at the first boil, so treat the water first (or hold the boil for those times) and then let it cool to brewing temperature.

Cowboy coffee, two ways

Cowboy coffee is coarse grounds heated in water, left to settle, and poured off (Wikipedia, Coffee preparation). An NPS lesson plan from Grant-Kohrs Ranch calls coffee a staple of the cowboy's diet, "made very strong," and notes that many cowboys called all coffee "Arbuckles" after a popular brand. Published recipes split on the main step: whether the grounds boil.

Off-the-boil method (Driftaway; Food Network)

1. Bring the water to a boil, take the pot off the heat and let it sit 30 seconds.
2. Stir in 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 8 oz (1 cup) of water.
3. Steep 2 minutes, stir again, and steep 2 more minutes.
4. Sprinkle a little cold water on the grounds to help them sink.
5. Pour slowly so the grounds stay on the bottom. Driftaway says to pour right away, because coffee left on the grounds over-extracts and turns bitter.

Boiled method (Kent Rollins)

1. Fill the pot (his is a 3-quart pot, filled just under the spout) and warm the water over high heat.
2. Add the grounds: about ¾ cup for that pot, or about ¼ cup per quart on his recipe card.
3. Hold a rolling boil for about 2–3 minutes (the article) or about 4 minutes (the recipe card), turning the heat down a little so it does not boil over.
4. Take it off the heat and let it rest 1–2 minutes.
5. Pour cold water down the spout, about ½–¾ cup for smaller pots or 1–1½ cups for larger ones, to settle the grounds. He says the sock and egg methods are not needed.

Where the sources disagree

• Boil the grounds or not. Wikipedia's Coffee preparation article says bitter acids are released at boiling. The UC Davis work above found temperature mattered little at fixed strength and extraction, but tested 87–93 °C, not a rolling boil. The percolator page covers the same argument for a pot that runs at the boil.
• Dose. Rollins's card works out to about 1 tablespoon per 8 oz; Driftaway and Food Network use 2. That is a twofold difference in strength.
• Grind. Wikipedia describes coarse grounds; Driftaway and Food Network both call for finely ground coffee. The grind size chart shows the range by method.

AeroPress Go at camp

AeroPress lists the Go at 8 oz (one cup), made of polypropylene and labelled "On the Road"; the Go Plus is listed at 10 oz. Its official Go steps:

1. Heat water to 185 °F (85 °C), or use boiling water if you have no temperature-control kettle.
2. Stand the chamber on the Go Mug.
3. Add a little less than a full scoop of medium-ground coffee, or 12–14 g of medium-fine.
4. Fill to the "3" mark and stir gently for about 3 seconds. Some coffee may drip into the mug.
5. Insert the plunger about ½ inch to stop the drip-through, and wait 60 seconds (medium) or 30 seconds (medium-fine).
6. Press with gentle, steady pressure until you hear the hiss.
7. Remove the hot filter cap and push the puck out. The brewer then stores inside the Go cup.

Ratios and the marks on each chamber are on the AeroPress ratio page.

Pour-over on the trail

Hario's basic V60 guide works from a just-boiled kettle and a measuring scoop rather than a thermometer: 15 g of filter-ground coffee to 250 ml of water.

1. Set the cone on the mug, put in the paper filter, and soak it with hot water to reduce the papery taste. Empty the mug.
2. Add the coffee. Bring the water to a boil and let it sit briefly (at a mid-elevation camp, the boil is already in the SCA band).
3. Wet all the grounds in one quick pour and wait about 30 seconds.
4. Pour the rest slowly in small circles, stopping when the water is about three-quarters of the way up, or 2 cm from the top.
5. Let it drain, about 2.5 minutes after the bloom, then pack the filter and grounds into your trash bag.

More on pulse pours and cone shapes is in the pour-over guide.

Grounds, dishwater and safety

None of the agency pages we opened names coffee grounds. They treat food waste one way: Leave No Trace says to strain dirty dishwater with a fine mesh strainer and "pack out the contents of the strainer along with any uneaten leftovers," then scatter the strained water broadly, at least 200 ft from water sources. Leave No Trace's dishwashing guide puts 200 ft at about 70 big steps. The NPS (Kings Mountain) and the Forest Service (Beaverhead-Deerlodge) both say to scatter strained dishwater; Kings Mountain adds small amounts of biodegradable soap, 200 ft from streams or lakes. Leave No Trace notes that even biodegradable soap can take months to years to break down in water.

Check fire rules before you light anything. On the Inyo National Forest, for example, a California Campfire Permit is required for any open flame, gas stoves included. And brew outside: after six people died in two tent incidents in Georgia in March 1999, the CDC wrote that camping stoves, heaters, lanterns and charcoal grills "should never be used inside a tent, camper, or other enclosed shelter," and that opening tent flaps is not enough to prevent a carbon monoxide build-up.

Camp coffee checklist

• Know your camp elevation, and from it your boiling point.
• Water treated, or boiled 1 minute (3 above 6,500 ft) before it cools for brewing.
• Paper filters, plus a fine mesh strainer for dishwater.
• A sealed bag for used grounds, filters and pucks.
• Fire restrictions and any campfire or stove permit checked.
• Stove used outside the tent, never inside.
• Dishwater carried 200 ft from water, strained and scattered.

Water treatment and fire rules vary by place and season: follow the managing agency's current rules and your equipment's instructions.