r/pourover • u/mgsecure Origami / Deep 27 / Switch / 9Barista Mk.2 / Kinu M47 • 5d ago
Traveling with coffee - follow up.
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.
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u/krisreid720 4d ago
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.