I’m sure we’ve all experienced the frustration of not being able to get a coffee at some point in our life. Perhaps it was a broken coffee machine, or being stuck camping hundreds of miles away from town, or maybe you just moved to a new country and haven’t bought yourself the latest Nespresso coffee machine or a drip coffee maker. Whatever the cause is, we all love coffee, and we all need it in our lives. Below, I’ve listed a few simple methods that you can use to make coffee without a coffee maker.
The Stovetop Method (a.k.a Cowboy Coffee)
In this method, I will be explaining to you how to make coffee on the stove. This method is pretty much the Cowboy Coffee method but done indoors on a stove rather than a fire. So you can put your cowboy boots and hat away 🙂
What you will need:
- Stove Top / Portable Electric Stove
- Ground Coffee Beans ( At least 2 Tablespoons!)
- Water
- Pot or Saucepan (A small saucepan is ideal)
- Strainer or Ladle (Optional, makes straining easier)
- Coffee Mug (Preferably your favourite one 🙂 )
How to brew the coffee:
- Fill the Pot or Saucepan with just over the amount of cups that you will be drinking. So if you’re making two cups of coffee, add a quarter more water. This is because some of the water will evaporate during the boiling process.
- Turn on the stovetop to high and get the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, put in your ground coffee. You want to put in 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every cup (a cup is roughly 8 ounces) Depending on how you like your coffee you can add more or add less.
- Now that the water is boiling with the coffee. Lower the heat to medium. Stir occasionally for about two minutes, so the coffee doesn’t clump together
- Remove the pot or saucepan off the burner and cover the pot with the lid. Let it sit for about 4 to 5 minutes so that the coffee can steep and grounds can settle to the bottom.
- The brew is ready! You can now use your strainer/ladle or pour the coffee from the pan or pot slowly into your favourite coffee mug.
- Enjoy.
The Mason Jar (Heatproof Container) Method
This method is extremely easy but requires a heatproof container like a mason jar or a clean pasta sauce jar. Make sure the glassware is heatproof so it won’t shatter in high temperatures.
What you will need:
- Ground Coffee Beans (coarse works best)
- Heatproof container
- Water
- Kettle or saucepan to boil water
- Coffee Mug
- Strainer (Helps, but optional)
How to brew the coffee:
- Bring a cup of water to a boil using a kettle or saucepan on the stove.
- Put two tablespoons of ground coffee into the jar, and pour the hot water slowly into the jar or container.
- Gently stir the mixture with a spoon and let sit for about 4 to 5 minutes. Allowing the grounds to settle and coffee to steep
- Now slowly pour the coffee from the jar into your mug. If you have a strainer, you can use it to make this process easier.
- Enjoy!
The Coffee Bag Method
This one is extremely easy and convenient. The same way you brew tea bags, you can brew coffee bags.
What you will need:
- Water
- Kettle or saucepan to boil water
- Coffee Bags
- Coffee Mug
- Spoon
How to brew the coffee:
- Bring just over a cup of water to a boil using a kettle or saucepan on the stove. Let it cool for about a minute.
- Pop a coffee bag into your favourite coffee mug.
- Slowly pour the hot water over the coffee bag and let the bag steep for 4 minutes. If you like your coffee weak than steep for about 2 minutes.
- Once the time is up, use a spoon take the bag out of the mug.
- Enjoy!
TIP – If you want a stronger brew, before taking out the bag, gently squeeze the bag against the rim of the mug to squeeze out the remainder of the absorbed coffee. This will make your coffee a bit stronger.
Do It Yourself Coffee Bag Method
This method is pretty much the same as the above but requires a little bit of work. Sometimes you can’t find coffee bags at your local supermarket or have just run out. This is a great solution.
What you will need:
- Water
- Kettle or saucepan to boil water
- Coffee Filter or Tea Bag
- String (Can be done without)
- Coffee Mug
- Spoon
How to brew the coffee:
- Bring just over a cup of water to a boil using a kettle or saucepan on the stove. Let it cool for about a minute.
- Scoop out two tablespoons (per cup) of coffee grounds and place them in the middle of the coffee filter. Twist the top of the coffee filter, so it creates a slightly loose pouch for the coffee. Using the string, tie the top of the coffee filter and cut the string, leaving enough so you can pull it out. Now, if you don’t have a coffee filter you can also carefully remove the tea from a teabag and replace it with ground coffee.
- Place the coffee bag into your favourite mug and pour the boiling water over it. Now, if you didn’t have a string you can twist the filter to the point where you can dip the coffee filter into your mug and hold it for the brewing process. Make sure that you submerge all the coffee.
- Let the coffee bag steep for 4 minutes, or 2 minutes for a weaker brew.
- Enjoy!
While there are many other ways you can make coffee without a coffee maker, these are some of the most popular methods. The next time you’re at a supermarket, make sure to buy some coffee filters. So If you ever need to resort to an emergency brew, you will be prepared!
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