My Travel Kit

I'm away from home a little over half of the year, and trip to trip, my luggage varies greatly. Some trips call for a couple of rolling bags and enough nice clothes to look presentable at conferences and meetings, while others require everything (clothes, laptop, camera gear, and all) to fit in my backpack. But whether I'm set up in a hotel, sharing a hostel dorm, or sleeping on a mat in a Burmese jungle hut, I'm never without my coffee gear, and I'm always ready to brew. What's your travel set up? Let me know if I should check out any other great mobile brewing methods in the comments below. You can click the images below to purchase through Amazon. If you buy through any of my links, I receive a portion of the sale. So thanks!

Aeropress

As far as travel-friendly brewing methods goes, its hard to beat the Aeropress. It's entirely made of high quality, durable plastic, and it can really take a beating. I've had mine since 2011; it's gone with me to over 30 countries, and has survived countless adventures along the way. While it's not my go-to at home, it's a genuinely great system for brewing coffee, and has inspired a ton of nuanced recipes for bringing out different aspects of each coffee, so no matter what your taste, there's an Aeropress recipe for you. Also nice for traveling, you don't need the precision kettle that many other brewing methods rely on in order to effectively brew with the Aeropress, and as long as you can find hot water, you can have good coffee on the go. 

Pro tip: Join the esteemed ranks of the Mile High Aeropress Club and make the best coffee in the sky; but only if the airline you're flying hasn't banned brewing (because of, you know, boiling water and potential turbulence and all that could go wrong there).

Porlex Hand Grinder

I got the Porlex on a recent trip to Vancouver, and am so happy with it. After using the Hario Mini Mill for a number of years, I wanted a grinder with more evenness and consistency in the grind, and it's a much smoother experience all around. It's also great because it's tiny! The Porlex actually slides in the aeropress so your whole setup takes up even less space. It is crafted from beautiful stainless steel, and feels sturdy in your hand. They hold up well, and are easy to care for.

By contrast, the Mini Mill (link above) is a great choice as well. It's a bit bigger than the porlex, but is still small by all counts. It feels a little wobbly to me, but the internet (God bless the internet) has found a number of ways to mod it for more consistency. It is made of plastic, and is also really durable. I have (on at least two occasions) dropped mine 5+ feet and it shows no sign of damage. Plus, at less than half the price of the Porlex, it's a steal.

Able Disk Filter

This one is pretty straight forward. The Aeropress Kit comes with about 350 paper filters. You can buy a replacement set of 350 Aeropress filters for cheap, but it's nice to travel with one reusable metal filter. Super easy to clean, it is stored in the Aeropress and will always be ready to go. There are different opinions about this, but because the paper filter absorbs a lot of the oil from the coffee, many people love the cleanness of the resulting coffee. The metal filter allows those oils through, and can create a more complex cup. I always travel with 5 or 6 paper filters, so depending on the coffee I'm drinking that week, I can adjust accordingly.

Able Travel Cap

This one is another very simple, but game-changing addition to your travel kit. Able's Travel Cap covers the hollow space in the Aeropress's plunger (the same spot where on long trips with tight space, I store my Porlex). This immediately takes what was unusable space (unless, of course, it was holding my grinder) and turns it into a few days of coffee storage. The cap seals off the space like tupperware and holds about three cups' worth of whole beans. That way you don't have to worry about them spilling in your carryon while you're on the plane.

KeepCup Brew

"Sippy cup?" you ask? Nope! The KeepCup was designed as the world's first barista-standard reusable coffee cup. Most travel mugs and thermoses are bulky, huge, and inconvenient, causing baristas to resent having to try to use them, and customers likely to leave them home. Not a great trend for the green movement. KeepCup is designed to work with espresso machines and most brewing methods (including the Aeropress) so that the experience is great for everyone involved. The Brew Series cup with cork is just beautiful, and I always take it with me. But they also make durable plastic ones in bright colors like this one, at half the price. Yes they look like sippy cups. But doesn't that make for a great conversation starter?

A Travelers Guide to Quality Coffee Around the World is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.