Monday, June 4, 2018

Off-Season Coffeeneuring: let's talk gear

Let's discuss coffeeneuring gear for a moment.
Below: my standard setup includes a Klean Kanteen vacuum insulated cup with a sip-thru lid, held securely in a Profile bottle cage on the seat tube.

Really, any double-walled stainless steel thermal cup will keep your coffee hot (or iced coffee cold) for a lot longer than the cafe's paper cup will. If you don't finish it there you can take it to go.

Or you can make some at home (summertime Pro Tip: freeze cooled-off leftover coffee in an ice cube tray for iced coffee; when it melts you won't water down the taste) and take it with you.

Either way, it means paper and plastic cups out of the landfill. Bonus: some shops will take a nickel or dime off the cost if you provide your own cup!

For step-through frames, Velo Orange offers a sturdy metal bracket so you can mount the cage on the handlebar.

I'm on a mission to make single-use cups unfashionable. Feel free to join me!

                                                                                                                                                                        
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But wait -- there's more.

So there's this guy who made a semi-career out of testing and reporting on every possible coffee cup, grinder and press, and then he put all the results of his copious research online.


If you really want to geek out, check out the outdated but still very informative and entertaining Bicycle Coffee Systems page: http://www.nordicgroup.us/bikecoff/Manage

And if that piques your interest, check out the sub-page about grinding and brewing coffee:: http://nordicgroup.us/bikecoff/brewgrind.htmlManage


Obviously, Some of the items on these pages are no longer available for sale, but might be found used in thrift shops or on craigslist. Other items have since come into the market since this site was last updated (in 2013), so consider this a starting point for researching your own system for bicycling with coffee.

Pro tip: Many small camp stoves and thermal cups ARE to be found used at thrift shops -- or even in free boxes if those abound where you live. (I scored a thermal water bottle today from a free box near my house.) So if you're like me and you want to support the re-use economy, keep your eyes peeled!

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