Starting the day with good coffee is one of the keys to a happy life (and a happy wife).
My criteria are: 1) Coffee brew quality, 2) weight and size, 3) ease of cleaning, 4) simplicity, 5) makes up to 4 cups at a time.
I've tried various coffee making methods over the years, but this is what I'll be using this coming summer based on camping and kitchen trials this winter.
Coffee maker: Stanley Cook & Brew. It's a very good French press--Simple, makes excellent coffee, fairly compact and light, easy to clean, makes up to 4 cups, and doubles as a water pot. Perfect for 1 or 2 people. The downside is that it's not insulated, but one could make a simple cozy out of Reflectix or just pour into an insulated coffee cup, which is what I do. Learned about this coffee maker from a review by Chris Cordes over at Expedition Portal.
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Stan-Press-Stainless-Steel/dp/B01H7MK3IC/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1515409404&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=stanley+press.
Coffee storage: I use an Airscape canister at home for storing a week's worth of beans and it's the best solution I've found for storing ground coffee as well. As you all know, quality coffee and airtight storage are as important as the coffee making method. I'm traveling in my camper away from home for 3-4 months at a time and I'm sometimes a couple of weeks between sources of good locally roasted organic coffee. I don't want to fuss with a grinder, so I need to store ground coffee. This thing works by means of a simple french press-like plunger to purge air from the canister. The Airscape can store 16 oz of ground coffee (or 12 oz of beans). It makes a noticeable difference in freshness and it's relatively light and compact.
https://www.amazon.com/Airscape-Coffee-Food-Storage-Canister/dp/B00167XN14/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
And it should solve another problem: Last summer, I picked up some freshly ground and very aromatic French roast from a roaster in Flagstaff in a typical waxed paper coffee bag. I stuck it in a cabinet and hit the road for a day of traveling. Every time I stopped, my CO2/propane alarm was blaring. The gas was off and the lines were purged so I was pretty sure I didn't have a gas leak. I even moved my backpacking fuel canisters to the cab, just in case. I couldn't detect any odors, in part because of the pungent freshly ground coffee. But it kept happening every hour or two. As an experiment, I moved the coffee to the cab, drove for an hour, with no alarm; I moved the coffee back to the camper, drove for an hour, alarm triggered. Problem solved! (That was some good coffee!)
