Trip info about making coffee on my drive (home, buy)

[JoDan]

This probably sounds like a weird topic! I'll be heading north soon for my summer job at KEFJ. This will be my fifth drive up and I'm thinking about trying something I haven't done in the past. I love coffee, but it's often many miles between coffee stops. My truck has a 12 volt outlet. Is it possible to plug in a coffee pot and make coffee while I'm driving? Anyone do anything like this or know anything about it's practicality?

[light_shimmer]

I was looking for something like this for camping last summer, going a whole weekend without coffee is just not something that I want to do. All the reviews I read on different products were terrible without spending an astronomical amount of money, but I think Coleman came out with one that wouldn't be too bad. If you look on Amazon for portable coffee makers, then filter the brands to Coleman, you should find it.

[CSD610]

You can get one of the coffee makers you need from your local truck stop and they work great and all you need is a cigarette lighter in the vehicle. I don't know the cost though. You also might look into a brass filter that you can pick up at walgreens, cvs pharmacy, kmart, walmart or a local hardware store (if the coffee maker uses paper). The brass is forever and you just empty it and rinse and you are good to use it again. If you don't want one of those you can get a Black & Decker single cup coffee maker for about $25.00 that comes with a stainless steel travel mug, I have one of those in my kitchen and they are great as well. Every cup is the first cup, has the brass filter included, one scoop of coffee per cup and you can make 3 cups before you have to empty the grounds and rinse the filter, and each cup you can use 13 ounces of water. (it holds 3 scoops for 3 separate cups of coffee)

[warptman]

Get a small camp stove, a kettle, and a French Press. Boil water at rest stops or whenever you need caffeine you can have some quality coffee.

[1stimestar]

Yep I was going to suggest a french press too.

[lyoness]

Most cars still have a cigarette lighter, I use an amps to voltage converter and a cheap coffee maker. You should be able to find one at any hardware, camper supply or radio shack. they look similar to this Enercell 75W Power Inverter : Power Inverters | RadioShack.com and you use them like you would use a regular plug in your house.

[RayinAK]

A 75-Watt inverter does not produce enough electricity to power a coffee maker. The small electric 2-4 cups coffee makers we use a home use around 250-Watts. It means that the OP would need a more powerful inverter, one perhaps around 450-Watts. Also, the inverter uses battery power from the vehicle to produce the AC power needed for the coffee maker. It means that the motor should be running to avoid discharging the battery.

If the OP decides to use an inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, these can be purchased at Amazon, Northern Tools, and a myriad of stores around the US. An inverter can also be used to power a laptop.

A French Press is not a bad idea, but he would still need to boil water. He can boil the water using an electric kettle (sold at Amazon, Target, and so forth). These use around 150 Watts to boil around 3 cups of water. You can make coffee using an inverter while sitting inside the truck.
---------------------

Other options to boil water for coffee on the road, but only outside and a few feet away from the truck: buy a propane or butane stove. These are made by Coleman, Peak, and other companies. I prefer a 2-burner stove for making breakfast and such, but a 1-burner stove takes less room in the truck. Just keep the butane or propane containers outside the cab. Also, keep in mind that some 1-burner stoves are made to use more than one type of fuel. For example, I have one that uses gasoline, kerosene, or diesel fuel. These are more expensive, however (around $120.00). Just pull off the road to use the stove a few feet away from the truck.

Lastly, there are numerous camping coffee makers that don't need power to make up to 8 cups of coffee. If you buy one of this, buy one made of stainless steel, not aluminum. There are all kinds of camping coffee makers made of stainless steel. Some are expensive like this one (no idea why Cabela's is showing coffee beans on the photo since these coffee pots use ground coffee):
http://www.cabelas.com/camp-cookware...&mr:adType=pla

But you can find some at other stores that cost half the price (just avoid aluminum). Fill the coffee maker with the right amount of water, add the coffee, and let it brew on the stove. That's all there is to it.

[starlite9]

You can also get a 12V cup you plug into the cigarette lighter and it heats up water. The different coffee companies make "coffee on a rope" that look like tea bags. You can plug in the cup to heat the water and put a bag in it to cook and your done. I use them at the cabin all the time!


You can also go to one of the Sportman's type stores and get a very cheap butane stove to boil water in a few min's time for coffee or heating food. I have one of these at the cabin, they use butane and really work well and store in a little case when your done. Not that costly either, made by Sterno I think.


http://www.amazon.com/Sterno-ST06004.../dp/B002MCYU4Q

Note: Some of the newer model cars/trucks don't have "Lighters" in them anymore, but they have the power outlets. These are not high amp models for heating up a lighter or even coffee cups, they are for running low amp draw ipods, computers and other stuff that is low load. So if your car didn't come with a cigarette lighter (for cigarettes), then don't use the higher Amp cookers and heaters, you will "Smoke" something.

[RayinAK]

I forgot about the tea-bag sort of coffees sold at the local stores. That's a real good idea, Starlite9.

[warptman]

New Self-Contained Coffee Maker | family camping