Tom Bihn Coffee Nerd Kit

[joiedwards]

Saw the stainless. Still using paper.

[sarahlin]

Yes, it probably would. I have since moved mine into a #2 travel bag, the oblong foot works better and it is flatter. A packing cube would be even flatter.

I may need to try this out. I also saw a collapsible cone dripper at Rei that packs down totally flat, I want to try it. Have you tried one of the able stainless filters for the aeropress? I really want to pick one up but have a ton of paper filters left.

[joiedwards]

jmcrist, I carry a small Thermos. Most hotels provide hot water for tea so I use that. Getting hot water from restaurants is usually possible.

[joiedwards]

Do you think this would fit in a quarter packing cube?

Yes, it probably would. I have since moved mine into a #2 travel bag, the oblong foot works better and it is flatter. A packing cube would be even flatter.

[sarahlin]

I am a coffee nerd! I looked around for a coffee kit to use on travel and at work. I found the Aeropress and like it a lot. But with all the accouterments, I needed a case! Tom Bihn to the rescue. I got a medium Knitting bag. Everything fits with room to spare. I carry:
Aeropress (two pieces fit together), cup funnel, stir paddle, scoop spoon
a baggie of filters
a tea towel
a bag of freshly ground coffee

It unpacks like a breeze and packs in seconds. Fits in my Smart Alec, Brain Bag and Aeronaut. I can have great coffee anywhere I can get hot water!

Do you think this would fit in a quarter packing cube?

[sarahlin]

joledwards: Great idea! I too, am a traveling coffee nerd. I take my Aeropress, clever coffee dripper, Hario mini-mill coffee grinder, filters, and fresh beans on nearly every trip. It becomes quite the pain finding a way to pack it all. I like what you've done here, and at some point in the future I may give it a try.

Have you found a travel kettle that you like? How do you get your hot water?

As for the Aeropress, it's great. It makes a very smooth, subtly sweet cup of coffee. I own two of them, and have also given them as gifts to friends.

Have you tried the Clever Coffee Dripper? It's a single brew method, and it's really good. It's amazing how different a cup of the same coffee can turn out using these two different methods.

I use a small, 17 ounce Bodum kettle for travel. It is not as small as an immersion but it is a lot safer. I also travel with an aeropress but I use a travel scale and hand grinder as well.

[baglover]

Fabulous idea,fellow coffee lover. Genius!!

[joiedwards]

I have been reading too many Australian tweets! I want a Flat White so bad!

[Chiro75]

The last time I stayed in a hotel was the HoJo's in Anaheim, and they had switched over to single-cup Kreurig machines.

I was at Cost Plus World Market the other day and spotted a small insert that goes in Keurig machines that allows you to reuse it like a filter in a normal machine. Use your own coffee, rinse, clean, repeat.

Just an FYI for travelers who may be in hotels with these machines but who want their own coffee...

[joiedwards]

They use giant drip Bunn coffee makers. Sometimes if they don't have a dark roast brewed, I get a shot of expresso added.
I'm an engineer, go big or go home! The Space Program runs on coffee!

[snowbot]

Daisy, I spent a few weeks in Australia 2 years ago. I loved the coffee culture! It was so easy to get a coffee (espresso plus milk combo) somewhere, walk around, and then get another coffee later. The coffee was always high quality. But I also *really* enjoyed sitting down to drink a pot of American-style drip coffee (Baby's Coffee from Florida) when I got back to the states.

[daisy]

Whatever coffee plcae i drop in, the order is always the same. Fill my 20 oz Insulated Klean Kanteen with the darkest roast you have and add a bit of cream....and go!

That's a big serve! (for me at least)

What kind of machine is your bottle filled from? Is it drip style coffee? or some combination of espresso shots and hot water?

This might seem like an odd question, but the usual coffee vendor here has an espresso machine only.

By 'here' I mean Australia, better make that Sydney, Australia .. it's a big country with a fair bit of regional variation coffee-wise.

My usual coffee is 4.5 oz or less with a single shot of espresso (made at home), 2 or 3 a day. If I'm out I have a double shot latte or a piccolo.

20 oz of 'our' coffee would kill me :-)

[joiedwards]

Whatever coffee plcae i drop in, the order is always the same. Fill my 20 oz Insulated Klean Kanteen with the darkest roast you have and add a bit of cream....and go!

[JLE]

That is just wrong on so many levels.....

...although after dumping coffee in TWO keyboard simultaneously yesterday ... I think I probably should ONLY use sippy cups ..



more milk than a macchiato, less milk than a 'latte macchiato' (good grief) ... compared to a 3/4 latte? I'd say a piccolo has less milk but I'm guessing because I don't think we get them (the 3/4) here ... but maybe the next suburb over does them!

I go to great lengths to avoid chain coffee ... so the choices may be much greater than I see.


source: Caffè macchiato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good grief indeed! It has got so complicated now, who knows what anyone's drinking? :). I share your aim of avoiding coffee chains. Apart from the fact that much better coffee exists elsewhere, the additional coffee vocabulary would probably be too much for this coffee drinker to handle.

[daisy]

I wonder if a baby products shop might have insulated sippy cups? Seems like an odd idea (and you might have to get one with a picture of pink teddy bear on it!) but you never know...

That is just wrong on so many levels.....

...although after dumping coffee in TWO keyboard simultaneously yesterday ... I think I probably should ONLY use sippy cups ..

I haven't seen a piccolo latte in Melbourne. Presumably similar to what we call a three-quarter latte, or is it like a short macchiato?

more milk than a macchiato, less milk than a 'latte macchiato' (good grief) ... compared to a 3/4 latte? I'd say a piccolo has less milk but I'm guessing because I don't think we get them (the 3/4) here ... but maybe the next suburb over does them!

I go to great lengths to avoid chain coffee ... so the choices may be much greater than I see.

The Macchiato can be prepared either with steamed hot milk or cold milk. If hot, the espresso's name would become macchiato caldo (marked hot); if cold, macchiato freddo (marked cold). The choice between 'caldo' and 'freddo' is usually a matter of personal tastes.
Some newer cafes tend to add steamed milk to the espresso in a 1:1 ratio (or more), as well as mixing the milk into the espresso, making it more like a miniature caffè latte or cortado. Some people call this piccolo latte, particularly in Australia.
The other variant of the term, latte macchiato, conversely means 'milk stained/marked (with espresso)', and indicates milk with just a little espresso in it (always less than in a caffè latte). However, in certain preparations (which differ from place to place), latte macchiato has not much difference in milk-to-espresso ratio when compared to the caffè latte; caffè lattes are normally around one-eighth espresso to seven-eighths steamed milk.

source: Caffè macchiato - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia