Dave:
Gotta have, gotta get, need, want…must have, must get, can’t live without…
…one of those SWEET coffee presses. Where did you get it?
I have a stainless Nissan thermos coffee press but the folding handles on that baby of yours is sweeeeet!
I keep a small percolator, stove, hatchet…just in case; and all the coffee fixin’s in the trunk for major coffee breaks but I do have a streamside kit.
A streamside coffee fix is something that I do more in the winter than summer. I have a separate small pouch which is my “coffee kit” that I slip onto the belt I wear around my waist with my other fishing gear. The pouch is about 6" X 4" X 1" and is hardly noticeable. My setup consists of an Esbit stove which is a folding job that burns those white cubes and is about the size of a pack of Camel’s WITHOUT filters. My coffee maker is a Serra Club cup. My coffee is something that is an acquired taste but a part of my heritage; Turkish or Greek coffee which is super finely ground regular coffee mixed with granulated sugar at about a one to one mix.
When it’s coffee time I take a cup full of stream water…I know, I know, cooties and all that stuff but it ain’t killed me yet. I light the Esbit tablet; put the water on and let it boil a bit first to hopefully kill the critters. I then scoop in a couple of teaspoons of the pre-ground; premixed “Turkish” coffee. When the concoction boils I lift it to keep it from boiling over and then put it back on a few times repeating this “near boil-over” routine before taking it off for good to let the cup cool enough to drink from.
The ground coffee settles to the bottom of the cup in a mud-like morass but the coffee is sweet and rich and a great treat. One of these days I think I’ll bring along a fez to go with the Sidney Greenstreet impression that usually accompanies my coffee sessions. I usually follow the coffee with a slug of Bourbon from my ever present flask.
When the coffee is finished; the old Greek ladies claim to be able to tell your fortune in the mud that remains in the bottom of the cup; sort of like reading tea leaves. While I’m not in the habit of bringing along my mother fishing with me; I figure I’m qualified by heritage to tell my own fortune.
My fortune is always the same…“you will catch lots of fish today”!
Nice story Dave, thanks!
