Early morning coffee

[No Deer]

Bring your water to a boil, throw in a handful of coffee grounds and allow to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Take of the heat and throw in some dried out egg shells.

A friend of mine has a different twist on this. He scrambles the egg and pours it into the boiling coffee. Sure glad I don't drink coffee. He says it settles the grounds and gives it a smoother flavor. Because of this I now have to build a coffee grinder for my wife, she drank his coffee and then he showed her the inside of the pot :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:

 

[Blacksmith]

Coffee's damned important. Go to an antique joint and be prepared to spend some time. You may just find the pot(s) you want but be prepared to spend for them. Folks think they are just the berries to have and wish to display them on their mantles or favorite shelf. THEN when the lady next to you says you have made a good find ("just wish that little blemish wasn't there" ) you can reply that in 6-8 fires the blemish will not be visible and most of the rest of the pot will be a nice black. Blows their minds. Puttin coffee in a poke and boilin is absolutely good deal. Friend Duane does it all the time and he keeps me in coffee lotta times at camps (I'm busy at the forge). He just buys baby socks on sale and uses them. Tie 'em off and drop 'em in. Add water as the week (or weekend) goes along. Make it once and just heat from there-on. Excellent coffee. BTW cold water works fine.

 

[soquili]

He just buys baby socks on sale and uses them. Tie 'em off and drop 'em in.

Uh...not USED baby socks, right? I've tasted some coffee at camp that tasted like a teenager's 3-week-old gym socks smell...maybe that's what they used!! :crackup:

Hobby Lobby has little drawstring "tobacco sacks" like Bull Durham used to come in. They'd work great for that. They're over by the canvas bags, and t-shirts that they have for sale to paint on. Cheap too, about $1 or less.
Patsy

 

[brian]

the army way is the only way!!
roast issued beans in fry pan, then put in used sock,
and beat the bumps out with your muskett butt.
throw in boiling water, (a good wool sock is best)
just the thing for your hardtack fried in bacon grease,
breakfast.

more coffie? capn bragg.
BB

 

[Bearbait2]

Miss Soquili,
Why is it that a full pot of freshly made instant coffee tastes and smells much better than a single cup brewed by itself? Can understand the full pot smelling better because of the larger quanity, perhaps? But why does it taste so much better (to me anyways)?
Best Wishes

 

[Al Bateman 1]

Anybody know how far back "Essence of Coffee" goes? It was used during the CW, but I was wondering how long it's been around. It's the early day version of instant coffee, in fact ya can make your own by boiling down instant coffee that's just covered with water. Cook it down til it's thick but pourable...put it in a tin for storage...put a tad in yer mug & add boiling water...ya got coffee. Depending on yer idea of a tad..it WILL get yer heart pumping in the morning. ::

Al

 

[NORD]

Thanks!

You all are great!

:front:

 

[redwing]

D...! this should be called coffee torcher. Why do you
guys want to take some thing so good, and do all these
terrible things to it.{BABY SOCKS} have mercy, shoe
goo made from instant coffee. TOO MUCH.

redwing :nono: :nono: :redthumb:

 

[NORD]

Well I think I am going to get myself a good tin cup to make my coffee in right now...if I decide I really like these morning treks I will splurge and buy a good copper boiler.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Al Bateman 1]

redwing...I wouldn't reckon that it's coffee torture, just different ways ta do a thing eace: BTW, the shoe goo instant coffee was actualy sold in stores at the time. Took up less space needed for other gear etc. :front:

Al

 

[redwing]

As you said 2 steps{Once Sold in stores}.
redwing :redthumb:

 

[hobbles]

I have used one of these for years,, Makes coffee, soup and rabbit and beans,, works good, I couldn't find a better picturs of it on the web,, sorry, I could take a picture of it on my saddle,,
It's the 15 and 16 picture down,,
Ord River open ended quart pot and case

http://shop.valleycountry.com.au/catalogue/category3/category245/category254

 

[shmrck1]

Nord,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :applause:
snake-eyes :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

I'll never forget this...way back in the 50's, barely a teen ager, I went along on my first overnight deer hunting trip with a couple of grown neighbors, way up north in the Adirondacks.

Hiked back in to their big canvas cabin tent, they got the wood stove going, and then set something like a 2 quart pot on the stove, filled it with water and slowly poured a fairly large amount of coffee grounds on top of the water, where it floated.

When the coffee heated up to boiling, the mound of coffee slowly rolled over and down into the water...and at some point after that I guess they drank it...never forgot that after all these years.

 

[Cruzatte]

I found one of those mini, cylindrical hand grinders to grind the beans. Even though it is adjustable, it can produce too fine of a grind. Regardless, a good cup of camp coffee in the morning is a good start. ::

TexiKan

I had one of those cylindar coffee grinders. Sold it at a garage sale, too.
Cruzatte

 

[streamsidejeff]

Just add whiskey!!!!! :imo:I have tried the egg shell thing and still had grinds and eggshell in my cup.The best idea yet is the coffee singles in an old can to be p/c. :thumbsup: You all are killing me, I love it.

 

[soquili]

Anybody know how far back "Essence of Coffee" goes? It was used during the CW, but I was wondering how long it's been around. It's the early day version of instant coffee, in fact ya can make your own by boiling down instant coffee that's just covered with water. Cook it down til it's thick but pourable...put it in a tin for storage...put a tad in yer mug & add boiling water...ya got coffee. Depending on yer idea of a tad..it WILL get yer heart pumping in the morning. ::

Al

EWWWwwww, I think I might rather die of thirst...!! ::

Still, that probably beat a lot of the alleged "coffee subtitutes" that the folks back home drank during the War of Northern Aggression when the blockade was on - roasted mesquite beans being one of them. Mesquite beans are good eaten straight off the tree :imo: and are supposed to make good flour, but haven't tried them burnt and ground up for coffee yet though... ::
Patsy

 

[Cruzatte]

Just add whiskey!!!!! :imo:I have tried the egg shell thing and still had grinds and eggshell in my cup.The best idea yet is the coffee singles in an old can to be p/c. :thumbsup: You all are killing me, I love it.

Streamsidejeff: that gives me an idea. If a guy really wants to be period correct, you could strain out the grounds by pouring the coffee into your cup using a muslin, or linen bag as a filter. ::
Cruzatte

 

[Riley/MN]

There is a Venturing Crew that camps at the same Boy Scout camp we go to, which is made up of re-enacters. They camp in white canvas and wear their re-enacting regalia throughout camp. The Crew Chief comes out of his tent each day as a different persona for a week. You might know of them, Vic, as they are out of Elgin, IL.

Anyway, they were making what they called "voyageur coffee" one time, which I sampled. They said the voyageurs used to boil the whole beans. Don't know if this is correct or not, maybe I will see them this summer to find out where their information comes from. (BTW their beans came from Dunkin Donuts, and were french vanilla flavored-true voyageurs, eh?) :haha:

 

[soquili]

they were making what they called "voyageur coffee" one time, which I sampled. They said the voyageurs used to boil the whole beans. Don't know if this is correct or not, maybe I will see them this summer to find out where their information comes from.

Hi Riley -
Here's an excerpt from a cowboy-era poem, from here:
http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/r_cowb_imag_4.html
Check the 4th line of it.

Excerpts from Allen McCandless' "The Cowboy Soliloquy"

"All day o'er the prairie alone I ride,
Not even a dog to run by my side;
My fire I kindle with chips gathered round,
And boil my coffee without being ground.

Bread lacking leaven' I bake in a pot,
And sleep on the ground for want of a cot;
I wash in a puddle, and wipe on a sack,
And carry my wardrobe all on my back.

My ceiling the sky, my carpet the grass,
My music the lowing of herds as they pass;
My books are the brooks, my sermons the stones,
My parson's a wolf on a pulpit of bones.

But then if my cooking ain't very complete,
Hygienists can't blame me for living to eat;
And where is the man who sleeps more profound
Than the cowboy who stretches himself on the ground."

I don't know how far back that coffee technique goes either, this reference is probably from 1860-1890, I'd guess.

Seems like the reason you grind the beans is to expose more of the bean's insides to the water so more flavor and color can leach out. Seems like boiling them whole would waste a lot of beans, unless they were cheap (hard to believe), or you dried them out and used them over and over?
Patsy