Friday, February 11, 2011

YOU DON'T NEED A COFFEE MAKER TO BREW A CUP OF JOE


The Duck Blind Brew Up

If your idea of hunting ducks involves early mornings and heart pumping caffeine intake, then this article is for you. This is not a how to on brewing that perfect cup of Turkish coffee, or how to use that brand new French Press from the coffee house. This is an article written for the person who wants that feeling of independence from the corner store house blend.
Thermos_camo_gloves_hatThere are a lot of ways to get your morning fix. Most of these involve drinking lukewarm, stale coffee from a thermos that couldn't keep ice from melting in the arctic. They have chewing gum loaded with caffeine now, as well as a plethora of bottled and canned goods available at any gas station. But the key to beverage independence is first realizing that you don't need a coffee maker to brew a cup of Joe, in fact, most good coffee doesn't come from a drip coffee maker. In my circle of friends, we call brewing up a great cup of hot coffee or tea in the outdoors a "Brew Up".
This is where we take the time out of whatever we are doing to relax, start a fire or break out a stove and make a pot of hot water so we can have our coffee or tea. Lately I have been using a small backpacking stove and a small can of fuel that nests nicely into a one liter cooking pot that can be taken out and assembled in less than a minute, and 5 minutes later have two cups of boiling water ready to season with whatever beverage I wish.
The back country brew up has been used by people all over the world and by all kinds of outdoorsmen. From the high alpine mountains to the tropical jungles, people have boiled water to have a hot dose of their favorite addiction. For this particular piece, we are going to discuss the different methods of brewing up in the duck blind. Now duck blinds are a varied bunch. Some are large enough that they have heaters and cooking stoves built in. If you hunt out of one of these, then you are all set for fresh brew. For those of us hunting out of a canoe in a marsh, or hiking in to hunt a small pond, there are a lot of options in lightweight backpacking stoves and canned fuel. For the field hunter in the lay-out blind, where space is limited, there is no excuse for not having a cup of decent coffee to fuel your day.

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