{"id":47757,"date":"2015-06-18T14:13:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T19:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=47757"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:06:26","slug":"how-to-brew-coffee-without-a-coffee-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/leisure\/food-drink\/how-to-brew-coffee-without-a-coffee-maker\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Brew Coffee Without a Coffee Maker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cup<\/p>\n

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Suyog Mody<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I have a confession. My day doesn’t begin until I’ve had my first cup of coffee. Until that happens, I’m a zombie. The caffeine gets me going for the day. It\u2019s not just the caffeine, though. It\u2019s a habit, a ritual I go through every morning that gives my day direction.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, however, I find myself waking up in a place without a coffee maker. It could be camping in the great outdoors. It could be at a friend or family member’s house who doesn’t drink coffee. It even happened in my own home last year, when my Chemex maker was knocked over and shattered.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, coffee can still be brewed without any kind of maker or contraption. In fact, it’s surprisingly easy to make a great cup without a coffee maker.<\/p>\n

What You Need<\/h3>\n

\"Coffee<\/p>\n

Freshly roasted coffee.<\/strong> Even though you don\u2019t need a coffee maker, you\u2019ll still need freshly roasted coffee beans. The quality of a cup of coffee is largely determined by the quality of the beans used to make it, and nothing is better than freshly roasted beans. The taste of a cup of coffee is about 80 percent aromatics, which dissipate as roasted coffee ages. If coffee sits for a long time after roasting, it can taste stale. Put another way, the freshest coffee makes the best coffee.<\/p>\n

Of course, you also need quality beans — find a local specialty coffee roaster or look online for a specialty delivery service. You can always roast your own coffee too.<\/a><\/p>\n

Try to use coffee that has been roasted within the past two weeks, and you\u2019ll have a delightfully aromatic cup of fresh coffee. If you are hitting the road, pack your whole bean coffee with you — it doesn’t take much space!<\/p>\n

\"Haro

Hario Mill hand grinder. The handle comes off and I usually tie it to the main frame with a rubber band when I’m traveling.<\/p><\/div>\n

Manual coffee grinder.<\/strong> You\u2019ll also need a coffee grinder, so you can grind up the beans and release all of their aromatics. The aromatics that bring out a coffee’s nuances only last for 15 to 20 minutes before they dissipate into the air. Once ground coffee has sat for longer than that, it can taste flat and one-dimensional, which is why I recommend grinding coffee immediately before brewing it.<\/p>\n

Two manual grinders that I like are the Hario Mill<\/a> and the Porlex Mini<\/a>. Both are burr grinders, so they\u2019ll produce a nice, consistent grind, and they\u2019re relatively compact.<\/p>\n

Hot water.<\/strong> You\u2019ll still need hot water, just below boiling. Coffee should be brewed with water that is between 195 and 205\u00b0F. Within this range, water won\u2019t scald the grounds, but it will draw out their flavors and aromatics. Water below 195\u00b0F will under-extract the coffee and it’ll start to taste sour.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, you don\u2019t need to check your water\u2019s temperature with a thermometer. Who carries a thermometer around anyway? Just boil water and let it stand for 30 seconds. Any utensil with a handle can be used as a kettle to heat water.<\/p>\n

Other items you need:<\/p>\n