When you need your coffee fast, the convenience of Alpine Start & Starbucks Via can’t be beat. Instant coffee is our go-to for backpacking since it’s ultralight, compact, and incredibly easy. It’s ground super-fine so it dissolves quickly in hot or cold water, which eliminates the need to carry an additional item for brewing. Starbucks Via is fast, convenient, and widely available online and in grocery stores. Alpine Start has excellent flavor, and we like that it’s available in bulk so we can reduce the number of wrappers we have to pack out on multi-day trips. Both instant coffees come in a variety of roasts and flavors to suit different tastes.

We’re fans of the JoGo Brew Straw for home use, camping, and coffee on the trail. All you have to do is add hot water and regular coffee grounds to your cup, then wait four minutes. You can add sweeteners and cream, then drink through the straw using the insulated silicone tip to control the flow. The JoGo helps reduce coffee stains on your teeth, and the fine mesh strainer does an excellent job of keeping your brew grit-free to the last drop. When you’re done, simply dump the spent grounds into your compost or trash bag. The JoGo weighs an ounce and is as compact as an ink pen. It’s a bit heavier than instant coffee packets for backpacking, but it allows you to choose your own coffee and reduces packaging waste. We also love that the JoGo can be used for cocktails and tea!

The AeroPress Go Travel Coffee Press is an awesome innovation for those who want to enjoy great coffee and espresso on the go. It uses a tube and rubber plunger to create pressure that forces water through the grounds. This produces a delicious, non-bitter coffee extraction that can be sipped straight, or more water can be added to make an Americano. When you’re done, all you have to do is pop the leftover disc of grounds out of the end for disposal. The AeroPress Go Travel is an excellent value since everything you need is included, and it’s our top travel coffee maker overall for brew quality, portability, and ease-of-use.

The Jetboil Silicone Coffee Press is an accessory every coffee-loving Jetboil user should own. It essentially converts your pot into a french press, which allows you to quickly brew a batch of coffee for two without adding much extra weight to your kit. The Jetboil Flash is one of our favorite backpacking stoves because it’s incredibly fast and efficient for boiling water. We also use our Flash for car camping and on roadtrips since it’s so convenient for making hot drinks. If you don’t have a Jetboil already, the stove and coffee press are available as a bundle: Jetboil Flash Java Kit.

The ESPRO Ultralight Travel Press Bottle is like a personal to-go french press for active people who live busy lives. Just add ground coffee, pour in hot water, and you’re ready to roll! If you’re really short on time, you can even let your coffee brew for 4-5 minutes in your cup holder on the way to the trailhead. When your java reaches the perfect brew-strength, press down the plunger to strain it through two super-fine mesh filters. The ESPRO Bottle is one of the lightest double-wall bottles on the market, so you can also use it to insulate hot and cold drinks on your adventures without adding much weight to your pack.

The GSI Outdoors Java Press is a simple and classic way to make coffee. Just add grounds and hot water to the carafe, wait, plunge, and pour. You have full control over your coffee’s flavor and can brew it as light or dark as you like. French presses get a bad rap for being too fragile for the outdoors since they’re typically made of glass, but the GSI solves this problem by using lightweight and durable BPA-free, shatter-resistant plastic. The Java Press is sturdy enough to toss in a tote with other camp kitchenware and will help fuel your adventures for years to come.

If you like to relax in camp in the morning, make your coffee a ritual like they did in the 1960’s with the GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Steel Percolator. We love to sit back and watch the steam rise and the color change in the resin knob on this little beauty — especially when we’re surrounded by an epic landscape. Perkin’ may take a bit longer than some methods to get a strong brew, but it makes great-tasting coffee and enough of it for your whole crew (3, 6, 9, and 12 cup sizes available). The Glacier Percolator is a tad on the heavy side, but that won’t matter too much if you’re staying close to your car. And it’s so sturdy, it just might last a lifetime if treated with care.

If high-quality, tasty espresso is your jam, don’t think twice – just buy the Wacaco Minipresso GR. The Minipresso turned out to be one of our favorite coffee makers overall – we love it so much that we find ourselves using it a lot at home. The Minipresso uses pressure to make frothy, rich coffee extractions with a manual pump so you can use it anywhere as long as you have access to hot water. Our one gripe is that it’s a bit tedious to clean between shots, so it might not be the best choice if you need to make a lot of servings of coffee for a group. That said, we highly recommend the Minipresso to singles or couples who love espresso and the outdoors. Just be warned, you might find yourself drinking more coffee than usual!

If you find yourself camping with a group often, the Eureka Camp Cafe is a great way to go. Pour-over coffee is clean and has a great subtle flavor with low acidity, which is good for sensitive stomachs. The Camp Cafe set includes a 2.5-liter kettle to boil water, a large pour-over holder for a paper filter, and a carafe to hold the coffee. The kettle itself is lightweight and has coils at the base to create more surface area and make heating water fast and fuel efficient. While this system is a bit on the bulky side, we love that the parts nest together in a neat, tidy package. The Camp Cafe is a bit expensive, but since you get a great coffee system and two versatile pots you can use for lots of other camp cooking, we find this set to be an excellent value.

The LHS Slow Drip is a simple and affordable pour over coffee maker with a good balance of durability to low weight and size. It’s essentially a metal cone made of fine mesh that you slowly pour water over, so there’s no need to use paper filters. The cone clips onto a wide base plate that fits over the rim of travel mugs, or it can be used separately as a filter for other drippers that normally use paper. For us, the LHS Slow Drip is a bit heavy for backpacking, but it’s an elegant option for car camping, travel, and home use. You can’t beat the price, and it makes delicious coffee with low acidity and delicate flavors.

The GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip is an ultralight and affordable alternative to instant coffee that makes it possible to have delicious pour over java on backcountry trips. The Java Drip weighs less than half an ounce, and it folds flat so it will fit inside of most backpacking pots when not in use. It also makes a great pre-filter for purifying water. The arms and clips that support the mesh filter are plastic, so this may not be the product for you if you’re looking for long-term durability. But for us, the pros outweigh the cons since the Java Drip is so ridiculously lightweight.

You can have both great flavor and ultimate convenience with Kuju Coffee Pocket PourOver Coffee. These individual packets of specialty coffee have a gourmet taste, and you don’t need a special coffee maker since the paper pour overs anchor right on to the rim of your cup. A kettle is helpful since you have to pour water slowly, but a pot and a steady hand will do in a pinch. While we still prefer instant coffee for backpacking since it’s lighter and the wrappers are less bulky to pack out, we love Kuju Coffee for camping trips or traveling when hassle-free brewing and easy cleanup are key.

You need all the calories and nutrition you can get when you’re putting in the work on trail, and Laird Superfood Instafuel can help fuel your body as you get your caffeine fix. The coconut-based creamer and arabica instant coffee come together in a smooth, creamy cup of joe that injects some healthy fats and minerals into your morning coffee routine. Instafuel is great to have on hand if you’re not a fan of black coffee since it comes complete with light sweetening and creamer, and it doesn’t require refrigeration. Instafuel might be for you if you want a fast, healthy, and convenient way to charge up your energy level.

If you’re looking for a compact coffee maker for camping and travel that takes up almost no space, the Miir Pourigami is an awesome option. The pieces interlock to make an origami-like holder for a paper filter that sits on the rim of your cup. When you’re not using it, the three flat pieces break down and slip into a flat case no bigger than a smartphone. The Pourigami is a tad pricey for how basic it is, but since it’s built with powder-coated stainless steel, it’s very durable and will last a long time. We recommend the Pourigami for those who want a design that looks cool enough to be a conversation starter and those with really limited storage space.