Trangia flame: what should it look like?

[Sweep]

Not a coffee snob, but like good coffee. I find the bialetti fine for my purposes but if you have a link for the interesting sounding thing you got from amazon please post.

[SA_SA_SA]

Not a coffee snob, but like good coffee. I find the bialetti fine for my purposes but if you have a link for the interesting sounding thing you got from amazon please post.

Pan stand (612527):]http://trangia.se/en/other-accessories/
You could possibly make something similar yourself from some 3mm stainless rod (bending rather welding)?

[pjclinch]

Not a coffee snob, but like good coffee. I find the bialetti fine for my purposes but if you have a link for the interesting sounding thing you got from amazon please post.

The one I got isn't there any more, but if you drop "portable espresso maker" in to Amazon search you'll see a selection of the like. Mine was ~ £50 discounted to £25, but whether it really was a £50 or a DFS/Mountain Warehouse pricing model I've no idea. Difficult to tell from the pictures what the differences are.
Some of the 1-star reviews on cheaper ones say they packed up after a few goes, but I've found mine has stopped occasionally and it's just a case of careful flushing to get it back to full function (my guess is it got air-locks in the system).

The Aeropress is also available from Amazon, but lots of other places too. It's less faff than the pump-through ones and gives you the option of a mug-full rather than an espresso shot. If you like your crema it doesn't really do that, where the pump-through ones do.

All of these options assume a supply of fine-ground coffee and an independent supply of suitably hot water, so you'll want some sort of kettle or pot for the stove for the water supply.

Pete.

[Sweep]

Many thanks for the reply, but will stick to the bialetti. Never fails, bomb proof, spare bits available forever.

[pjclinch]

Many thanks for the reply, but will stick to the bialetti. Never fails, bomb proof, spare bits available forever.

And they're just... Bialettis

Which is the sort of thing about camping that weighing it and calculating its exact packing footprint and boiling time and fuel efficiency doesn't account for.

Pete.

[rfryer]

Given that this thread has deteriorated into coffee snobbery...

I have an Aeropress, Bialetti, Handpresso, Nespresso machine, Rocket Espresso machine, Kalita Wave and cafetiere.

In my view, only Nespresso and Handpresso come close to a real espresso - and of those, only Handpresso is portable. However, I've found Handpresso extremely unreliable - they tend to blow their seals after a little regular use, and I got fed up of returning it. It's also not clear that they've gone wrong (and they can be faulty from new) - if you've never seen how good they can be, you might just use one and think it's a bit rubbish.

IMO, Bialetti doesn't produce an espresso; it's a longer, and "thicker" coffee. I think it has a powdery mouth-feel, that I'm not keen on.

If I'm not going to be getting a real espresso, I'd opt for the Aeropress; it produces a really good pourover/filter style coffee, while being much less faff (and more portable) than a proper pourover.

Having said that, I've not tried any of the Handpresso-a-likes - I'm fully prepared to believe that somebody has perfected that formula.

[pjclinch]

Given that this thread has deteriorated into coffee snobbery...

I have an Aeropress, Bialetti, Handpresso, Nespresso machine, Rocket Espresso machine, Kalita Wave and cafetiere.

In my view, only Nespresso and Handpresso come close to a real espresso - and of those, only Handpresso is portable. However, I've found Handpresso extremely unreliable - they tend to blow their seals after a little regular use, and I got fed up of returning it. It's also not clear that they've gone wrong (and they can be faulty from new) - if you've never seen how good they can be, you might just use one and think it's a bit rubbish.

IMO, Bialetti doesn't produce an espresso; it's a longer, and "thicker" coffee. I think it has a powdery mouth-feel, that I'm not keen on.

If I'm not going to be getting a real espresso, I'd opt for the Aeropress; it produces a really good pourover/filter style coffee, while being much less faff (and more portable) than a proper pourover.

Having said that, I've not tried any of the Handpresso-a-likes - I'm fully prepared to believe that somebody has perfected that formula.

I'd agree the Bialetti isn't "proper" espresso, and I'd say that of the Aeropress too. Neither create sufficient pressure, but TBH not being "proper" espresso doesn't really take away from the fact that they both make entirely drinkable coffee (assuming your actual coffee is good, obvs).

I suspect the Handpresso-a-likes are using a fair bit less pressure, but probably more than the Aeropress and Bialetti, but I've not measured or anything.

At home I use a Saeco bean-to-cup which I got half price, so it was a bargain (another way of saying it was still a stupid figure) and that's better than the Nespresso I got for my wife for her work studio, and that in turn is better (and a lot less faff) than the not-a-Handpresso. The Saeco is not as good as a professional machine, at least according to my tastebuds, but it's not like I've done a blind comparison with identical coffee.

Of course, if you go and put milk in it then all the best are off, though I can understand why you might want to with most instant coffees. Those are generaly my cue to drink tea.

Pete.

[Sweep]

Many thanks for the reply, but will stick to the bialetti. Never fails, bomb proof, spare bits available forever.

And they're just... Bialettis

Which is the sort of thing about camping that weighing it and calculating its exact packing footprint and boiling time and fuel efficiency doesn't account for.

Pete.

Sorry. You have lost me. Don't understand your point/s.

[pjclinch]

Many thanks for the reply, but will stick to the bialetti. Never fails, bomb proof, spare bits available forever.

And they're just... Bialettis

Which is the sort of thing about camping that weighing it and calculating its exact packing footprint and boiling time and fuel efficiency doesn't account for.

Pete.

Sorry. You have lost me. Don't understand your point/s.

Getting a good vibe using something you like can often be a better reason for using it than it getting the best score on a spreadsheet. Much of coffee enjoyment for a lot of people is ritual: that you can get a similar drink through a quicker/more compact/lighter system isn't all there is to enjoying your coffee.

Pete.

[Sweep]

I fear you are off on one pj.

I just want good strong coffee to kick me out of the tent of a morning and keep me pedalling on long rides, some through the night. The bialetti does this reliably with a near bomb proof system that has been doing this for pushing a hundred years. Millions of Italians are happy with it and so am I.

I do by the way have a Gaggia as well but to go there would be really off topic.

[pjclinch]

I fear you are off on one pj.

Not impossible, but I think most of the market for Kelly Kettles is more about playing with toys than Really Practical Ways to heat water, and stove-top espresso makers fit a similar niche when it comes to camp cooking.

I just want good strong coffee to kick me out of the tent of a morning and keep me pedalling on long rides, some through the night. The bialetti does this reliably with a near bomb proof system that has been doing this for pushing a hundred years. Millions of Italians are happy with it and so am I.

Millions being happy in the context of a kitchen and stove where weight and bulk and balance are non-issues isn't completely relevant. If what you want is good strong coffee and you don't give a damn about playing with toys to get it then an Aeropress is lighter and less bulky and does, IMHO as owner of both, at least as good a job. And you'd have to be remarkably careless to break one.

Pete.

[JakobW]

(Drifting ever further OT into the land of the caffeine fiend...) if taking coffee gear camping I'd go for an aeropress with one of the metal filters, or a pourover setup; depending on how weight- and bulk-constrained I was I'd bring beans and a hand grinder as well. I have a rather nice little stainless steel collapsible pourover filter holder made by Snow Peak, but honestly it falls into the category of 'shiny and fun to use' rather than 'essential camping kit'; though it packs down nice and flat, it weighs about 3 times as much as my plastic V60 holder (from memory ~150g vs ~50g). TBH I often just stick to tea, and just make sure my first stop (whether breakfast or elevenses) is somewhere with decent coffee...

[Sweep]

I fear you are off on one pj.

Not impossible, but I think most of the market for Kelly Kettles is more about playing with toys than Really Practical Ways to heat water, and stove-top espresso makers fit a similar niche when it comes to camp cooking.

I just want good strong coffee to kick me out of the tent of a morning and keep me pedalling on long rides, some through the night. The bialetti does this reliably with a near bomb proof system that has been doing this for pushing a hundred years. Millions of Italians are happy with it and so am I.

Millions being happy in the context of a kitchen and stove where weight and bulk and balance are non-issues isn't completely relevant. If what you want is good strong coffee and you don't give a damn about playing with toys to get it then an Aeropress is lighter and less bulky and does, IMHO as owner of both, at least as good a job. And you'd have to be remarkably careless to break one.

Pete.

Each to their own.

[sabrutat]

I've been drifting away from my Trangia and towards wood burning stoves and cooking over open fires the last year or two, because I hate running out of fuel when I'm many miles from any potential meths supply. I've never really engaged with gas stoves for the same reason. Right now I'm testing out different wood burning stove configurations; actually just got back from a quick overnighter in the forest to try out the latest wood gasifying stove, with mixed feelings.

I love my tried and trusted stainless steel Kelly Kettle, but it is heavy and bulky. There are features of my new gasifying stove that I really like in combination with a 14cm Zebra billy pot. My task now is to combine the two kits together in a single,hopefully lighter/more compact configuration to amalgamate their respective strengths and eliminate weaknesses.

Still going to be heavier and bulkier than a gas stove, and I may curse it while I'm climbing mountains,but the pizzas, or stews, or fondues at the top more than make up for it.

[pjclinch]

I've been drifting away from my Trangia and towards wood burning stoves and cooking over open fires the last year or two, because I hate running out of fuel when I'm many miles from any potential meths supply. I've never really engaged with gas stoves for the same reason.

Much depends on where you're going, of course.

I tend to take the Kelly Kettle and reflector oven if I'm paddling because remote beaches and river banks tend to have a good supply of burnable wood.

Camping on rain-soaked moorland, on the other hand, you'd have fuel issues with anything much where you didn't bring your own.

Pete.