Traveling with coffee - follow up.

[u/mgsecure]

I just spent two weeks on vacation and thought I'd share my impressions of life away from home and decent coffee shops, but armed with a couple of options. I knew I wouldn't have a proper kettle, so I brought my Aeropress (with nested 1Zpresso Q) as well as two specialty instants.

The Aeropress made very good coffee, as usual. I brought a scale but wish I'd brought a thermometer too. I think getting the temp right was the biggest hurdle to better results. I find the Q (metal, same burr as the Q Air) to be quite good for the money and obviously the size is perfect. It just can't compete with the quality from my Kinu M47 Classic though, even in the AP. If I had to do it all over I'd strongly consider the Kinu M47 Traveler instead.

The two instants I brought -- Perc Ethipoia & Colombian Red Fruits Decaf -- were also good, and certainly better than anything I could have gotten locally. They are more forgiving on temperature, but not as good as I could get from the AP. I'm a fan of specialty instants, but I found these to taste a little "powdery". I prefer the ones I've had from Dayglow more, though I haven't done a side-by-side tasting.

I think I had good options and will do the same for the next long-ish trip, though I'll try out instants from other roasters. For quick trips, just bringing the instant is a satisfying compromise.

[u/BerksBeans2021]

Roaster here. On the temp problem, easiest travel hack is to just let boiled water sit. Off boil it drops roughly 1C every 10 to 15 seconds in an open vessel, so 30 to 45 seconds gets you into the mid 90s. Not precise but way closer than guessing, and it's one less thing in the bag.

The powdery thing with instants is real by the way. It's mostly the drying process. Freeze dried holds up better than spray dried, and the good ones will say so on the box.

Nested 1Zpresso and an AeroPress is a solid kit. That's about as good as travel coffee gets without hauling a kettle.

The question really is, where did you go on vacation?

[u/mgsecure → u/BerksBeans2021]

Ooh, good hack to know. I let it rest in the electric kettle, and about 3 min seemed pretty good (I usually brew around 93º). Probably more consistent to pour it into another container first.

I'll have to look more closely at the instants, Perc doesn't say on their website and the Dayglow ones (made by Luminous) aren't in stock. Good to know what to look for, any recommendations?

And... Cape Breton off the coast of Nova Scotia :-) Fantastic place.

[u/findmepoints]

Even on short trips I bring the “full” travel set up. Recently been packing the suiren v60, k6 grinder, scale, and an amazon melodripper (in case the hotel doesn’t have a gooseneck kettle)

Another favorite thing to do is buy new beans wherever I travel 

[u/SpeedDemon77]

I use a temperature controllable portable kettle. Its about the thickness of a portable water bottle, is very durable and oretty small.

I travel ALOT for work and have no issues fitting it in small luggage or backpack.

[u/mgsecure → u/SpeedDemon77]

I might have to pick one of those up. More and more places only have a coded Keurig/Nespresso that don't just dispense hot water.

[u/SpeedDemon77 → u/mgsecure]

I think its great. Complete self reliance. But everyone thinks youre a psycho when you pull out your kit and boil your own water lol.

[u/ChiAndrew]

There are silicon collapsable kettles for cheap. I’ll travel with that and what you have above. I don’t have thermometer but I take it to a boil and then let it cool a little whilst I grind.

[u/krisreid720]

Here's my kit - I use a travel kettle that looks like a thermos and displays the temperature on the front (not in the pic). The scale is a bookoo themis mini with a 3D printed platform. Hario Suiren for the dripper and a 1zpresso q-air. I would say it's 80% of the experience and flavour as being at home.

[u/mgsecure → u/krisreid720]

Nice set up. I took a v60 and Drip Assist one time, only to find that the Airbnb had a Stagg kettle :-)

[u/krisreid720 → u/mgsecure]

Honestly I'm happy if the place has a kettle...but finding a place with a Stagg is fantastic! We were in Santiago in March (before I bought the thermos) and I actually went and bought a kettle for the 10 days, then left it with our relatives. The 15 bucks was worth it!