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Army Coffee
This is quick coffee-just measure cold water into the pot by the cup, allow 1 heaping tablespoon coffee to each cup and 1 for the pot. Tie it up in a sock or piece of muslin, bring to boiling point, boil 5 minutes and blow the mess bugle.
A camp method that predates paper filters: the grounds go into a cloth bag so they can be lifted out rather than strained. The ratio is generous by modern standards and the boiling is the part to reconsider.
- The ratioOne heaping tablespoon per cup plus one for the pot lands somewhere around the modern drip standard of about two level tablespoons per 6 oz, possibly a little stronger, depending on how heaped the spoon is. The recipe does not say what size "cup" it means; if it is the pot's own measure rather than an 8 oz measuring cup, the brew comes out stronger still.
- The sockRead this as a clean cotton or muslin bag, loosely filled and tied with string so water circulates. A tightly packed bag extracts unevenly; leave the grounds room to swell as they wet.
- GrindUse a coarse grind, like French press. Fine grind will push through muslin weave and turn the pot cloudy and bitter.
- Five minutes of boilingThis is the instruction worth changing. Coffee held at a rolling boil goes harsh and flat as aromatics drive off and bitter compounds extract. Bring the water just to the boil, pull it off the direct heat, and steep the bag four to five minutes at around 200F.
- Lifting outThe whole point of the bag is that the grounds leave with it. Take it out as soon as the strength suits you, or the coffee keeps extracting while it sits by the fire.
- YieldOne bag serves as many cups as you measured water for. For a crowd, two smaller bags extract more evenly than one large overstuffed one.
- The mess bugleThe call to eat. In a domestic kitchen, substitute whatever gets people to the table.