There are few places where a good coffee feels more deserved than halfway through a day in the mountains.
You’ve been walking for hours. The temperature has dropped as you’ve climbed. The nearest café is somewhere far below you.
You stop, put down your pack and take in the view. And this is where outdoor coffee gets interesting.
For years, making coffee while hiking usually meant choosing between instant coffee, carrying a flask of hot water or packing additional brewing equipment. All of those approaches work, but today there are more ways to enjoy genuinely good coffee outdoors.
If you love hiking but don’t want to compromise on your coffee, here’s what you need to know.
Why Coffee Tastes So Good in the Mountains
Part of the pleasure of coffee outdoors has very little to do with coffee itself. It’s the ritual.
Stopping after a long climb. Finding somewhere sheltered. Taking a few minutes rather than immediately pushing towards the next waypoint.
Coffee creates a reason to stop.
And when you’re surrounded by mountains rather than traffic, screens and café queues, that simple ritual can become one of the most memorable parts of the day. The question is: what’s the best way to make coffee while hiking?
1. Instant Coffee: The Lightweight Option
There’s a reason instant coffee remains popular with hikers. It’s extremely light, takes up almost no room and requires minimal preparation. If keeping pack weight as low as possible is your priority, it’s difficult to beat.
The obvious compromise is the coffee experience itself. For someone who normally drinks espresso or freshly brewed coffee, instant coffee may provide the caffeine without providing quite the same ritual or flavour.
You’ll also need hot water, which generally means carrying a flask or bringing equipment to heat water safely. For ultralight hiking, however, instant coffee remains difficult to argue against.
2. Manual Coffee Brewers
Another option is to carry a compact manual brewer.
These can produce excellent coffee and are particularly appealing to people who enjoy the brewing process. The trade-off is equipment.
Depending on your chosen method, you may need a coffee brewer, ground coffee, a cup, hot water, a kettle or flask, and potentially filters or other accessories.
For camping, that may not matter. For a long hike where everything has to be carried on your back, simplicity becomes considerably more valuable.
3. A Portable Espresso Maker
If what you actually want at the top of the trail is espresso, a portable espresso maker offers another approach.
Modern battery-powered portable espresso machines can combine several parts of the traditional coffee-making process into one compact device.
The Salt & Steam Portable Espresso Maker is battery-powered, USB-C rechargeable and features built-in water heating. It can brew using either ground coffee or Nespresso-compatible capsules.
That means you don’t necessarily need a café, plug socket or separate source of hot water to make an espresso.
For hiking, the attraction is straightforward: Pack the machine, coffee and water, and make espresso when you stop.
What Should You Look for in a Hiking Coffee Maker?
There isn’t one perfect coffee maker for every hiker.
Someone attempting a long-distance ultralight hike has completely different priorities from someone taking a shorter day hike.
But there are several things worth considering.
Weight and Size
Everything feels heavier after you’ve carried it uphill for several hours.
If you're bringing coffee, make sure the equipment is compact enough to justify the space and weight it takes up.
The Salt & Steam Portable Espresso Maker weighs under 700g.
Does It Heat the Water?
This is an important distinction between portable coffee makers.
Some brewing methods require you to provide hot water separately. A self-heating portable espresso maker removes that requirement, which can make your overall coffee setup considerably simpler.
Battery Life
If you’re taking an electric coffee maker somewhere remote, think about how long you’ll be away and make sure the battery is sufficiently charged before leaving.
For a day hike, that’s relatively straightforward.
For multi-day adventures, charging becomes another part of your equipment planning.
Ground Coffee or Capsules?
Ground coffee gives you greater freedom over the coffee you drink.
Capsules offer something different: convenience.
When you’re standing on the side of a mountain with cold hands and unpredictable weather, that convenience can suddenly become rather appealing.
Salt & Steam supports both approaches, allowing you to choose depending on the trip.
Is a Portable Espresso Maker Worth Carrying While Hiking?
This depends entirely on the hike.
Take the lightest coffee solution that meets your needs.
But for a day hike, road trip, campervan adventure or shorter climb where the experience at the destination matters as much as getting there?
That’s different.
A portable espresso maker can turn the coffee stop into part of the adventure itself.
There is an important distinction here:
Portable doesn’t always mean ultralight. It means being able to take something somewhere it traditionally couldn’t go. And a battery-powered espresso machine on a mountain is a fairly good example
.
What Coffee Should You Take Hiking?
If you’re using ground coffee, prepare it before leaving rather than carrying unnecessary equipment.
Measure what you’ll need and store it appropriately.
If convenience matters more, compatible capsules can make preparation and cleanup easier.
Whichever method you choose, don’t forget the most obvious ingredient: water.
Coffee shouldn’t come at the expense of the drinking water you need for the hike itself. Plan your water requirements accordingly.
And, as with everything you take outdoors, bring your coffee grounds, capsules and other waste home with you.
The Best Coffee Stop Might Not Have an Address
We tend to associate great coffee with particular places.
Our favourite café.
Our kitchen.
The coffee shop beside the office.
But some of the coffees we remember most aren’t memorable because of where we bought them.
They’re memorable because of where we drank them.
Beside the sea before sunrise.
Outside a campervan in the rain.
At the end of a long road.
Or sitting somewhere high above the landscape after earning the view one step at a time.
That’s what inspired Salt & Steam Coffee.
Not simply making coffee portable.
Making it possible to keep the ritual when you leave everything else behind.
From Coast to Cup.
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