In Room Coffee

I love my Aeropress, which makes wonderful coffee and is pretty light weight. I have the regular one and the travel version, which is even more compact. NYT Wirecutter considers it one of the best single-serve coffeemakers.

Thank you!!!

All interesting info! Thank you - I need my coffee right away - can’t wait for the 7am lounge coffee or breakfast room coffee;)

Appreciate the info. Coffee is a necessity first thing in the morning and I don’t care for the instant either.

I’m with Mardee on the Aeropress.

The other thing I use is Taylor’s coffee bags. Before I had an Aeropress, I took them in my suitcase everywhere. For three years I had a job where I was in a different UK hotel every week for 3/4 nights. There’s always a kettle, of course, but the coffee is always instant - ugh.

However with the coffee bags you do need to let them brew for a good few minutes - I’d pour the hot water on, squeeze, then leave while I had a 5-minute shower. Perfect strength then!

Thanks for all the info! I have been bringing the hanging coffee filters with me since some previous time Frank II posted about them. Often I bring decaf coffee with me for them, in case I want a late night cup.

Will check out the other options as well.

The other thing I use is Taylor’s coffee bags.

Golden Girl, I have a stash of those as I collected them from various hotels, and like them a lot, too.

Thanks, Frank. I was not aware of the hanging filters. Such a great idea for those, like me, addicted to their coffee.

I am all in for instant coffee, well, because it is instant. I know, I know, usually sub quality coffee, but if you are reading this thread you know that even that is better than none.
I do try to obtain better instant than what passes for it in a jar.
At home I use an Aeropress and grind the coffee as needed. So instant is a step down. I don’t like the fuss of carrying coffee for drip filters and carrying filters also.
For coffee drinkers it is a search for the best available method to get any coffee in the AM. Before the breakfast included, or the cafes open. And while I love a good fresh coffee at a cafe, it is against the grain for me to depend on that since me and DW will usually have at least two cups in the morning. That is upwards of 10€ just for coffee. That included breakfast then seems essential and a good deal, excepting that sometimes they fail in the coffee department.
Still while sitting on my balcony sipping my instant coffee at dawn is less than ideal, I am looking out at Monemvasia and the sunrise staring to peak from behind the rock, that’s priceless. That’s is a good AM start.

Add me to the list of people that need their fix before getting out of their pajamas. That's why I normally stay at an Air BnB, not a hotel. Also I find that European instant coffee is much better than what you can buy in the US, even the Mt. Hagen organic.

Anyway, those portable coffee filters are really clever! What a great idea. I'm adding those to my Amazon wishlist for later. I had to giggle at the instructions on the product page: place the filter in your cup, then grind your favorite beans. If I were grinding my favorite beans I probably would not be needing a disposable single cup coffee filter.

For those who want to stick to instant coffee, a European friend showed me a different way to make it.

Put the instant coffee in a cup. Add just enough hot water to cover the coffee. Stir very well. Then add the rest of the water.

It does taste better but it's still instant coffee.

I bring the Nescafe Taster’s Choice French Roast coffee sticks and will even make a cup with the hottest tap water available since I am drinking it to avoid a migraine. That makes me completely unqualified to give coffee advice. LOL! But, for domestic trips, I’ll check out your options.

I do agree with treemoss2. Sometimes the scenery from my room balcony can make up for the quality of the coffee taste - similar to not minding the taste of the old coffeepot brewed coffee over the fire when camping somewhere beautiful.

My husband takes his Aeropress on his work trips even. Sometimes he will take it on vacation, but it all depends on where we are staying.

I just looked at the items posted. I ordered the hanging coffee filters for my husbands upcoming trip. He needs to pack as light as possibly as he will be on a sailing yacht for a couple of weeks and he does not know what the coffee situation will be on board. He likes pour overs here at home, so this will be the same thing. He already planned to bring coffee from home since he is a coffee snob;) This should make it nicer for the rest of the crew;)

Starbucks Via Instant if I was that desperate. But what happened to packing light?

Mark CW,
We all have different definitions of light packing and there are those of us whose pleasant personality hinges on caffeine availability......

I like milk and sugar in my coffee and have found that Trader Joes sells individual instant coffee with sugar and powdered milk that is surprisingly good. It comes in a box of 10 skinny plastic sleeves similar to Starbucks but way cheaper. Easy to pack. I bring a Ziploc with a few of those and some of my favorite tea bags.

For camping we use something called a MyJo which is a sort of cross between a Keurig machine and a French press. You pop in the kcup, screw on the top, add hot water and a plunger to push the water thru.

That’s why I normally stay at an Air BnB, not a hotel.

That’s why I stay at a hotel that has Nespresso machines in the room.

I'll admit to a little fondness for instant coffee. I've always associated it with hiking, and I'd make a mix off instant coffee, powdered creamer, and sweetener. I'd boil my morning water, pour in hot water to hydrate breakfast, then pour the rest into my coffee cup and coffee mix. A moment of bliss using my hammock as a seat, enjoying breakfast and coffee, and watching the sun come up as I contemplated breaking camp and going up the trail.

I like milk and sugar in my coffee and have found that Trader Joes sells individual instant coffee with sugar and powdered milk that is surprisingly good. It comes in a box of 10 skinny plastic sleeves similar to Starbucks but way cheaper.

Those Trader Joes 3-n-1 instant coffees are great! Used quite a few of those too. Found the Nescafé 3-n-1 coffee at an Albert Heijn in Delft, NL.

But what do you do for milk???

But what do you do for milk???

In the UK and Ireland, you can find small milk capsules in every hotel room that has a kettle.

In some countries, similar capsules with "coffee cream" are available in supermarkets. (They are not the fake stuff but milk with some cream in it.)

These capsules are usually 10-12 ml.

For other places, I try to find hotel rooms that have a small refrigerator and will buy a small container of milk or cream at a market.

I like strong, rich coffee. Like it almost sticks to the side of the cup strong.

My brand is Community Signature Blend. Strong, rich, low acid.

How do you get strong coffee with the hanging filters or one cup drip contraptions or french press travel cups?

Normal, weak coffee just tastes like dirty water to me.

I've experimented at home with a coffee filter in a strainer set over a cup and I just get dirty water.

Thanks for any insights.

I have some hotels in Norway with no kettle and no coffee making equipment in the room. There's a self serve kitchen, but that means putting street clothes on to make coffee.
I know some folks ask for a kettle, so maybe I'll do the same and take a.coffee cup from kitchen to room for the 3 days.
I have some of the hanging filters after Frank II discussed them last year.
Alternatively, I'll fall back on my iced coffee solution. When I have to be put the door at dark o'clock for birdwatching, I add sugar and a Starbucks instant coffee sachet to a water bottle, refrigerate if possible and just guzzle it down or taken it with me. No way am I adding 30 minutes to a 4 a.m. wake up in order to make hot coffee and drink it.
I'll the real coffee over instant anyway, but there there are always 5 or 6 packs in my suitcase 'just in case'.

How do you get strong coffee with the hanging filters or one cup drip contraptions or french press travel cups?

You buy dark roast coffee.

When you put the coffee in the filter, at first you put in just enough water to cover the coffee grounds. Not fill it to the rim. After that, you repeat the process with a little more water each time.

I currently have a dark roast coffee and do the slow pour method. It comes out very strong.

Thanks Frank II.
I'll give the slow pour method a try.
The Community coffee is dark roast.

I had purchased some of their K-cups only to find that the hotels I usually stay in have gone to little pods.

There are make your own pod devices and filters available, but I'm not interested in all that work. Yet.

How do you get strong coffee with the hanging filters or one cup drip contraptions or french press travel cups?

I use the Aeropress as noted above. It makes such a good cup of coffee (rich and strong and excellent) that I not only use it traveling, but I use it at home every day. It's similar to a French press, but better than that and better than every other coffee maker I've tried. Seriously. You would have to tear my Aeropress from my cold caffeine-laden fingers before I'd let go of it. :-)

Mardee,
I've looked at the travelling French press cups. May have to try one. Just thinking about volume and weight in the bag.

Decisions, decisions.
And I have tolerated Community instant coffee when staying in respite care after surgery. Not great, but better than the "dirty water" tasting coffee at the facility. And I could make it "strong".

I use the pour over Melita cups with paper filter on a daily basis at home and have one in the camping gear. but I just ordered a collapsible one that is similar to the Melita brand for ease in on the road travel.

Will report back on my experience

I’m a tea drinker and travel with my own tea bags usually to avoid the mediocre Lipton tea bag that is the usual hotel choice. But the saddest travel is places with no kettle. Do all you avid coffee lovers usually find kettles in France/Italy trips?

Regarding kettles, you have to look for hotels that have them.

I have found that in Italy, kettles are harder to find than in other countries.

I always travel with an immersion heater and a hard plastic cup. This way, I can heat up my own water for coffee or tea. They take up little room.

Linda...if it is a collapsible silicone one, they work well. The only problem I had is they hold the smell of coffee. Take along a ziploc bag to keep it in while traveling.

So Frank do you use the typical immersion heater you can get on Amazon under $20? I see one that even is dual voltage comes with an adapter and is $16.99. Do they last for weeks or months? Years ago I sort of gave up on them for use in the states because they didn’t last too long. Maybe I need to try again.

Thanks Frank II. I was going to place it in a ziplock anyway because maybe it wouldn’t dry out before I needed to head out on transition days. Never thought about the possible odor. I tried the silicone one this morning and it brewed a perfect cup.

Thank you Frank for this thread! I must have missed it the first time. Like Valerie, we want coffee as soon as our eyes open. So far, we have not found what works as well as at home. Coffee and our own bed are the two things we miss most when traveling. I’m going to try some of the suggestions on this thread!

I use a dual voltage immersion heater that I bought on Amazon.

I use this one which I last bought in 2017. But almost any dual voltage immersion heater will work.

Lately, I've been staying in hotels that have either a kettle or coffee makers.

If used incorrectly, an immersion heater will short itself out which is why many people have trouble with them.

Here's the secret to make them last. The immersion heater must be immersed in water when plugged in. If it isn't, it will short out and you can then throw it out. If you take it out of the water before unplugging it, bye bye immersion heater.

So never have your immersion heater out of water when plugged in.

I learned this the hard way.

And....if I know I will be traveling for awhile without access to a kettle or coffee maker, I sometimes bring a backup immersion heater. They don't weigh much.

If you are traveling in the US, Land o Lakes makes half and half capsules that don't need refrigeration. They are called "Mini Moos."

They can be found in most supermarkets in the coffee section where they keep the fake creamers. (But always check the expiration date.)

I just found another new coffee dripper from Fozzils. It folds down flat. Weighs 1 oz. I haven't tried it.

https://www.fozzils.com/product-page/snapfold-coffee-dripper

Frank,

as Mardee is to luggage,

you are to coffee paraphernalia . That's a compliment, truly.

Frank,

as Mardee is to luggage,

you are to coffee paraphernalia . That's a compliment, truly.

Thank you. I consider coffee my morning defibrilator.

Or try Balkan / Ukrainian style coffee. You only need ground coffee, a cup and hot water .... and 3 minutes for the mud to settle to the bottom.

doric, that made me laugh! Glad to know others like my bag fetish! :-)

Oh good Mardee, glad you saw.

Given the choice of my daily coffee needs being met

or a nice bag, I'd head to the airport w my stuff in two free PBS totebags.

Given the choice of my daily coffee needs or a nice bag, I'd head to the airport w my stuff in two free PBS totebags.

Ha ha, me, too!!!