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Category: General Coffee (Page 18 of 29)

Bicycle Touring, Manual Brewing and Coffee Outside: An Afterword

The dust has settled on my Upper Peninsula adventures and before I returned to my regular schedule content (and weekly posting schedule) I thought I’d supply a brief afterword regarding my trip.

We had a great time and although the trip was more about biking, camping and exploration than about coffee, there were definitely some memorable and fun coffee moments along the way. Luckily for me (and you), my father-in-law, his camera and his superb photographic eye made the trip with me. Here are a few of his photos and the stories that go along with them.

The Lambeau-press

Our journey began in Manitowoc Wisconsin, a city that is about 40 miles southeast of Green Bay.

Even though we are Chicago Bears fans, we couldn’t ride our bikes through Green Bay without taking the opportunity to visit Lambeau Field. It was a Sunday morning, and fortunately for us, the Packers were the Monday night game (I’m sure it would have been mayhem had they been a Sunday noon game).

Somewhere along the ride, an idea was suggested. We should brew some coffee at Lambeau.

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My Manual Coffee Brewing Packing List for Bicycle Touring

It seems about every other year or so, between the hectic pace of my everyday life, I manage to carve out a few precious days for a bicycle tour or some other outdoor adventure.

This year the hecticness is no exception and despite some challenges, I’ve been able to train (mostly at the expense of content writing for the blog) and schedule a week long bike tour through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This 500+ mile bicycle trip will have lots of fresh air, camping and of course, an abundance of manual coffee brewing.

If you’ve read my coffee outside post (and if you haven’t you should), you will start to get the idea that I’m pretty enthusiastic about brewing and enjoying coffee outside. A week long self-sustained tour is the perfect opportunity to enjoy some of the go-to outdoor brewing techniques as well as experiment with some different methods.

I thought I would share my “manual brewing by bike” packing list and give a brief descriptor of why each particular item made the list.

But First, What is Bicycle Touring?

It has occurred to me that while you could do a quick google search and get the gist of what a bicycle tour is, it would be easier for me to give a brief summary.

Self-sustained bicycle touring is basically camping with a bicycle. It has a lot of equipment similarities with the backpacking and ultra-light communities. The general idea is to ride your bicycle to a destination and then have everything you need to spend the night loaded on your bike. You can string as many days as you like together with a particular destination or route in mind (some people will ride their bike across a country or continent(s) in this manner).

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Hario Woodneck Drip Pot (Nel Drip) Intro and Tutorial

The Hario Woodneck Drip Pot is one of the less championed but more interesting manual brewers. Also known as the “Nel” drip (an abbreviated reference to it’s cotton flannel filter), this brewer consists of a glass carafe with a wood collar, a reusable cotton flannel filter and a wooden handled hoop to give the filter structure. It is a pour-over style brewer that comes in two sizes, the larger of which can hold around 480 mL of coffee.

Despite some extra maintenance and cleaning quirks, it is currently one of my favorite manual brewing methods. It produces a flavorful and full cup that has more body than traditional paper filtered coffee but less “sludge” than some of the metal filter options.

Brewing With the Hario Woodneck- My Nel Drip Method

As a manual pour-over device, I treat the Hario Woodneck a lot like I would treat some of the more common pour-over brewers. The flow rate is going to be a little slower than a traditional V60 brew, so I grind a little courser. I typically find myself one or two clicks to the east of my V60 setting on my Virtuoso grinder.

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