Coffee on dive trips and liveaboards

[Kimela]

It's not hard to hate coffee in the US. Everywhere is sh!te

Roger came back from a hunting trip and stopped at McDonalds along the way for coffee. He said it tasted like water with some drops of coffee concentrate in it - terrible. When it's THAT bad, there's no amount of doctoring with cream and sugar to fix it!

 

[Kimela]

+27 for the AeroPress. I do espresso-based drinks at home on a Silvia but have an AeroPress at work, one in my camping bin, and for some unknown reason yet another that I travel with. Don't get them wet after midnight, they'll multiply!

For beans, I'll pre-grind and just accept the decrease in quality. For longer trips (2 weeks in the Keys right before COVID) I brought a few day's worth ground and then got more from local places (that Cuban place in Key West). I guess you could always vacuum seal multiple bags with a day or three per bag so the grinds hold a little better. Never bothered though.

***Pro tip (esp. for people camping in cold places)- koozies for slim cans (e.g. a lot of canned wines) fit perfectly height and diameter-wise. Just cut the bottom off and you have an insulated sleeve for the AeroPress to keep it from getting cold while you're brewing.***

I'm going to visit my dad in a couple of weeks - only 3 days - can I last without my coffee that long? Sure. Nah, I'll be packing some ground coffee and my aeropress!!!

 

[Sea Hag]

I’m not a total coffee snob but I do have to have morning coffee - Splenda and non dairy creamer please. I take those latter 2 items with me on trips. BUT, I am an iced tea snob. After morning coffee I switch to unsweetened black iced tea. No lemon just tea. And good iced tea is hard to find on dive trips. I pack my own tea bags and as soon as I get to my destination, I find the closest store for a few gallons of bottled water. Then I set up on a sunny location and make sun tea. I take a thermos of ice and tea on each boat dive.

 

[1Lilmermaid1]

Last liveaboard I did featured wake up calls at 5am for the briefing. I couldn’t be bothered with brewing anything at that time, so no aeropresses, no cold brews from the previous night for me . Basically whatever is available on board, so either nespresso or instant (heck I’m so unpretentious).

No way for me! Way too early! I’m a night owl. I’m pretty much never make a morning dive. Lol

 

[diver0005]

Hey there! Take a look at the wacaco pipamoka! And of course i am a coffee snob is there any other kind?

Anyone else a coffee snob out there? A few years ago, we bought one of those Keurig makers. I hated it so much I stopped drinking coffee. I started drinking a pre-workout drink in the morning which has about the same caffeine as two cups of coffee so I just kept doing that.

Then about two years ago, a friend of mine turned me onto the magic of the French Press. And I'm in love. Back to drinking coffee. To me, the Keurig tastes stale and bitter. I drink coffee black and maybe b/c of that, if it's bitter or old I can really tell the difference.

What does everyone do on trips? Drink whatever is available? I purchased two travel size (16oz) French press coffee bottles. Look just like a travel mug but have the filter and press. I tried it out the other morning and works great. So that will be going into my checked bag, along with some of my favorite coffee that I'll vacuum seal I'm a very efficient packer on trips so I'll have plenty of room.

Oh and I also researched a collapsible water kettle in cases where we may stay somewhere without ability to make hot water like a hotel etc. LOL.

 

[Kimela]

Hey there! Take a look at the wacaco pipamoka! And of course i am a coffee snob is there any other kind?

That thing looks pretty darned cool! Expensive, but nifty.

 

[Jennifer M]

I have only done one liveaboard on Aggressor and will bring my own going forward. Their coffee is HORRIBLE!

 

[kyle191]

I just saw this!!! My wife is a coffee lover and she came up with a genius solution. We have dive in 17 countries and multiple live aboards.

She found a stainless steel French Press coffee maker that is literally bullet proof. She makes her own coffee from that with any pre-ground coffee we can find in a store when we travel.

According to her...it is WAAAAAAAY more about the brewing process than the coffee itself. After a day on the live aboards, (me being the barista) I have been begged and pleaded with to make extras for fellow coffee lovers.

I hope this helps!!

 

[Janie88]

I just saw this!!! My wife is a coffee lover and she came up with a genius solution. We have dive in 17 countries and multiple live aboards.

She found a stainless steel French Press coffee maker that is literally bullet proof. She makes her own coffee from that with any pre-ground coffee we can find in a store when we travel.

According to her...it is WAAAAAAAY more about the brewing process than the coffee itself. After a day on the live aboards, (me being the barista) I have been begged and pleaded with to make extras for fellow coffee lovers.

I hope this helps!!

Hi, I totally agree that a French Press is wonderful. I do think the best coffee is about the coffee itself and the way it is brewed! I think if you ask @Kimela or some of the other coffee lovers on here, they probably feel it is as much, probably more, about the coffee itself. I do not roast or grind my own coffee, but I do buy from a local source, that is very fresh and I love it.

I have a small stainless steel French Press that makes two cups. If I decide to bring it, I will also bring enough coffee in a twice-sealed bag for the week, although I typically don't drink much coffee on dive trips.

The last Liveaboard we did, I was so sick from motion sickness at the beginning (note to self: NEVER wait until the day of departure on the boat to take meds) that I did not drink coffee for the entire week, and never missed it. I did bring some of my "Ripped" pre workout powder that has caffeine in it, and that was all I really needed for the week.

 

[Janie88]

I have only done one liveaboard on Aggressor and will bring my own going forward. Their coffee is HORRIBLE!

Jennifer, I agree with you about coffee on Aggressor, but I DO LOVE Aggressor liveaboards otherwise!

To be fair, I don't find coffee any good on any of my dive trips. Usually in one of those big carafe things that has been sitting for hours.