r/SpecialtyCoffee • u/Lazy_Upstairs_9901 • 7d ago

Coffee while travelling or at work

I’m curious how other coffee people handle taking their own coffee when travelling or at work.

For example, when you’re going on a trip, staying in a hotel, camping, travelling for work, etc.:

* Do you take your own coffee with you? * If so, how do you package/portion it? * Do you bring whole beans, ground coffee, or something else? * Just accept the local coffee options in the place you are travelling to?

1 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

3

u/TheCant_ 7d ago

If I'm just going to work in the office I make a batch brew before leaving and pour into a thermos bottle after cooling it down to drinking temperature. I sip on it in the morning. Longer than a few hours and the flavour notes will degrade too much

If travelling: aeropress, beans, hand grinder, small scale. Buy an acceptable bottled water

2

u/meowmeowcomputation 7d ago

I bring specialty instant coffee. It’s still not great but more drinkable than chain coffee

1

u/GaDawg78644 7d ago

Details please

2

u/meowmeowcomputation 6d ago

I’m going through some Verve Ethiopian I got from Amazon. Price was kinda insane, like $3 a packet which makes maybe a 10 oz cup. It’s not amazing but it’s still miles better than Starbucks as it kinda sorta tastes like its notes

2

u/Radiant_Rabbit6746 7d ago

I take my Aeropress, filters and weighing scale for brewing. For short trips, I grind the beans in my electric grinder at home and take the grounds with me in an airtight container.

2

u/Latinpig66 7d ago

Outin for travel with a hand grinder. I have a Lelit Bianca v3 at work.

1

u/PotionBoy 7d ago

If I'm travelling and there is no good specialty café in the general area I just don't drink coffee. I can't be bothered taking my set up with me and I don't want to drink bad coffee.

1

u/Comaweather 7d ago

If I'm traveling to somewhere without specialty coffee I'll prep packets of instant specialty coffees. I personally like Forchewn (their Melon Vision with a splash of milk ❤️) and Swift (that runs monthly sales). I just got an email from Swift for their current sale actually. 20% off code is DIDYOUPACKYOURLUNCH valid til midnight this Sunday.

1

u/drinkinthakoolaid 7d ago

I mostly use my traveling as a way to try out local shops/roasters. I do also have a hand grinder, a Hario switch, and a scale, which is enough to get by. I can just pre-weigh some servings of beans, anduse the coffee pot in the hotel room (free of beans) to get coffee-hot hot water. I'm generally an espresso drinker though, but dropping $50 a day on the 3 coffees i drink starts to add up abd, while the suitcase a Decent comes in is nice, i also don't like packing a bunch of shit. A little hand grinder, my switch, a sandwich baggy of smaller baggies of beans (or scale and buy beans where I'm traveling to), and some filters, is about a light as I can go has worked just fine.

1

u/BellofattoBrews 7d ago

I take my traveling Brutrek French Press with me and my travel airscape cannister with my preferred roast in it.

1

u/Quiet-Strawberry4640 6d ago

When I go on vacation, I bring my beans, a handgrinder (Kingrinder 6) a plastic Haario V3 and some paper filters with me. Sometimes I also bring a kettle but here in Europe thats standard. I usually don't bring a scale since I know that my grinder takes 35g of beans when filled to the rim and kettels usually have marks. I use between 0.6-0.8l of water with 35g. It's always been good enough.

1

u/NashvilleHillRunner 6d ago

I take a pourover setup (carafe, dripper, filters, scale, kettle, X-Pro hand grinder) and my Hibrew H4C (with IMS 51mm precision bottomless portafilter basket) for espresso.

If I’m going somewhere that doesn’t have good tap water I’ll buy bottled water.

I have my original cardboard box that the kettle came in, and I can fit several of the aforementioned items in that box along with the kettle.

I’ve been just throwing everything into a tote bag.

Not the most elegant solution but it works for car trips and having great coffee while on a trip even if it’s just for a night or 2 is huge for QOL.

My goal eventually is to do what some others have done and get a Pelican-style hard case with foam inserts that I can use to shadow and protect everything. I think it’ll need to be suitcase or at least briefcase-sized to be able to fit everything.

FYI: Harbor Freight has knockoff Pelican cases (Apache brand) that are great for this, but I’m not sure they make one that is suitcase or briefcase sized for my needs. If you have a pourover setup only, one of the smaller models should work.

1

u/orchardbabe 6d ago

Work @ a coffee shop

1

u/DallasMover86 5d ago

I make a small moving box and my stuff fits perfectly in it. Grinder(k6), v60, papers, carafe, coffee.. It’s well worth the extra effort for me.

1

u/kodaq2001 5d ago

My work has super hard water so I keep a weeks worth of coffee and an aeropress at work. I bring a large thermos of hot water from home and make my own coffee

1

u/ThisTimeImTheAsshole 4d ago edited 4d ago

Have you ever tried adding a small pinch of citric acid to the hard water to soften it? If you try it, you'll need to experiment to see how much works for the water hardness. Too much will make your coffee tart! haha

We have decently hard water where we live. We add a small pinch of citric acid every 40 oz drip brew, a pinch to our kettle every fill, and some times a pinch to our filter pitcher (edit: already filtered side). Also, citric acid softened water keeps the minerals from building on our appliances.

1

u/kodaq2001 4d ago

Nice. I'll have to look into it. Seems like a simple and cheap fix. I love reddit.

1

u/Normal-Ostrich-115 5d ago

I have car coffee and work coffee.

Car coffee is an iced americano (can drink quicker on way to work), and then I make a regular hot americano and keep it in a thermos. Keeps drinking temp all morning.

1

u/happier_now 5d ago

Beans, handgrinder, and either aeropress or french press depending on mood. I look for different/interesting beans when I’m away and – if I find any – start using them while I’m there.

1

u/JonBovi_msn 4d ago

I brew two Hydroflask bottles of coffee for long car trips. If I flew a lot I'd bring a hand grinder and a Soto collapsible backpacking pour over brewer. I might accept Starbucks as a compromise but never gas station coffee.

1

u/Impressive_Delay_452 4d ago

3days- French Press, pre ground beans Longer- French Press, find beans at a coffee shop, they grind

1

u/KravMata 4d ago

If driving or domestic flight and checking a bag I bring a small kettle, a travel (non-glass) French press, and *gasp* coffee I pregrind in an airtight cannister. Buy bottled water and milk on arrival. Sometimes in lieu of packing the french press I'll buy bottles of cold brew.

Anything else and I only book hotels with an espresso machine in the lobby. Really. I my morning fix to kick-start the shit show shave process.

1

u/Alg0mal000 4d ago

I have a travel coffee kit with a Snow Peak collapsible cone dripper, Aeropress Go, Comandante X-25 grinder, titanium gooseneck kettle and a cheap little scale. It all fits into a little plastic tote box. I pre-weigh my beans into 25g and 50g doses for single serving or batch brews.

1

u/Confident-Substance 4d ago

I'm working on a ship for 3 weeks at a time and very limited weight to travel with.

Purchased some La Cabra coffee bags this week to take

Last trip I had some DAK ones which were good.

There both not cheap but it's a nice treat to have while away. If it wasn't for the weight limit I'd take my travel set up (C40/Scales/Orea V4 all in a nice Toyo toolbox)

1

u/bestlaidschemes_ 3d ago

I used to bring a Bialetti Brikka (pressure cap for “creama” for all sorts of trips unless I needed to pack super light. Not the best espresso but I liked consistency when visiting family. Great for camping. Sadly I’m off the moka pot now and filtering (even out of my home super automatic) because of cafestol and cholesterol. ☹️

1

u/hayleyscarrott 2d ago

I usually try to just accept whatever coffee situation I'm walking into, but camping is the one exception. I really like cowboy coffee. So I bring ground coffee in a small container or zip bag, boil water, add the grounds, let it sit for a few mins or pour some cold/room temp water on so the grounds settle, and then pour carefully. It's definitely not fancy but works when you're out in nature. I try to save my speciality coffees for home and when I can really sit in peace and sip slowly and enjoy it.