Best Camping French Presses 2022: Going camping is an adventure that should be enjoyed to the maximum, so the last thing you want is for your trip to be ruined by dull-tasting coffee. For this reason, it’s important to pick a suitable French press. There are countless French presses available on the market, and while some are efficient, others don’t provide all the necessary benefits. Setting these apart from the efficient ones may be daunting.
For many of us, it doesn’t matter if you’re crawling out of a plush king-size bed at home or a lightweight backpacking tent high on the side of a mountain-getting that morning fix of coffee is priority number one! So, what’s the best way? To help you figure it out, we researched more than 50 camping coffee makers, hand-picked the best, and buckled down for some serious testing.
A coffee team aficionados took all our brewers from car-side campsites to backcountry bivvies, making hundreds of cups of coffee in the process. Almost every type of brewing style comes in a portable version, from pour-over to French press and even espresso-but, not all are created equal. Read on to find your perfect camp coffee companion as well as our favorite backpacking options. Here are our reviews of some of the best Camping French presses, and a buyer’s guide, to give you the confidence to pick the right French press for your needs.
Best Camping French Presses To Buy in 2022 (Reviewed)
1. GSI Outdoors 30 Fl Oz JavaPress French Press
For those who care about aesthetics as much as efficiency, the GSI Outdoors is the ideal choice. It’s capable of brewing four cups of coffee, and the filter design produces ultra-fine, rich-tasting coffee. The double-insulated lid will keep your coffee hot. The insulating cloth not only makes the device aesthetically appealing but preserves the coffee’s temperature. The handle of this French press is foldable, which adds to its compactness.
This French press is easy to handle, and cleaning it is so uncomplicated that it is very convenient for camping. The GSI Outdoors is highly durable, so you won’t have to worry about breaking it. This press is efficient, convenient, reliable, and compact; we, therefore, recommend it above any other French press for camping. Note that it only produces four cups of coffee in one round; this is a rather small capacity.
2. AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker
When you want the option to switch between coffee and espresso, the AeroPress Coffee Maker has your back. The lightweight, plastic device uses both immersion and pressure to brew up to two cups of espresso or a 10-ounce cup of coffee in around one minute that feels strong and full of flavor, whether you’re going for American-style coffee or a bold Italian espresso. It’s also great for those who have slightly sensitive stomachs.
The lower temperature and short brew time used in the AeroPress process result in a lower acid level when your coffee’s made. And if you only want to brew once, that’s fine, too: The purity on the coffee, filtered to be grit-free, is strong enough that you can keep it sealed and ready for a few days. Just be sure to use a gentle pressing motion: it should take around 20 seconds: to ensure that your coffee is barista-level good.
This coffee maker is versatile, with the ability to brew American style and Espresso. You’ll be able to enjoy some variety, even though you’re camping. Once you’re done brewing your coffee, the cleaning process only takes a few seconds. This coffee maker will be ultimate for single campers. It uses filter paper, a detail many find rather annoying because the filter bags have to be disposed of regularly.
3. Hario V60 Plastic Dripper:
The same classic ceramic cone for your home is also our favorite camping choice : just in a lighter and more durable plastic form. The Hario V60 Plastic Dripper provides excellent taste (which improves as your technique does) and is straightforward to use. Plus, it weighs just 2.95 ounces (3.37 ounces with its measuring scoop). The AeroPress just barely edged ahead in our taste tests, but it’s triple the price, heavier, and more complicated to use : especially when brewing for multiple people.
There’s not much negative to say about this simple and effective cone other than you will need to track down V60-specific filters. For optimal taste, you will also want to be sure your coffee is uniformly and finely ground. Weighing your coffee and water will also take your brewing game to another level. Once you’ve assembled your tools and dialed in your process, this dripper will deliver one of the cleanest and best-tasting cups you can have.
Of note, the Hario V60 Ceramic Dripper is also one of our favorite ways to make coffee at home. Of course, you could also take it camping, but it’s much heavier and nowhere near as durable.
4. Womice French Press Coffee Maker:
The Womice French Press Coffee Maker is a suitable choice for a group of campers because of its large capacity of 34 ounces. It’s made of stainless steel, making it durable and able to withstand just about anything, such as hot flames and hard surfaces. For clumsy campers, this is definitely a bonus.
The double-layer vacuum structure of this French press means you can enjoy hot coffee for a longer period. This press is user-friendly and quite easy to clean. The handle is not very comfortable to grip, and it protrudes more than the handles on most French presses. This takes away from the device’s compactness.
Although it can brew a relatively large amount of coffee in one round, it does so very slowly, and the filter does not filter the coffee fully. The top does not seal fully when brewing, so, despite the double-layer vacuum, the coffee cools off faster.
Everyone loves a portable coffee maker capable of producing just the right amount of coffee; however, it defeats the purpose if it’s heavy. The Womice French press is quite heavy, so transporting it would be a pain.
5.Melitta 1-Cup Pour-Over:
At first glance, the Melitta 1-Cup Pour-Over appears very similar in design to the Hario V60 but with the added feature of a view hole so you can monitor the level of your brew. There are, however, some other differences between these pour-over-style drippers that ultimately affect the overall taste.
While the Melitta can be excellent (especially if you weigh and measure your beans and water), the V60 has a higher potential to excel when it comes to flavor : though reaching that level does take precision and attention to detail. At the end of the day (or, more accurately, the beginning), most people probably won’t be able to tell much of a difference between these two devices, especially with the haphazard non-measured brewing that tends to take place while camping. But brewing side-by-side with precise recipes reveals more subtle differences. However, the Melitta still makes a very decent fresh morning brew and can often be found cheaper than most other options.
6. Stanley Adventure All-in-One Boil + Brew Camping French Press:
The most attractive aspect of the Stanley Adventure All-in-One French press lies in its versatility, which is important when the need to pack lightly arises. Not only do you get a boiler and a French press in one, but you minimize the number of dishes to be done.
This French press is very compact due to the folding handle and the nesting design. It allows you to brew 32 ounces of coffee at once, a rather decent quantity.
Although this French press appears to be efficient, the welding on the top near the lid wasn’t done properly, so it’s only a matter of time before it causes the press to fall apart. Although compact, the handle is not very ergonomic and might cause you to spill water or coffee. Using this French press requires patience because it’s rather slow. To make matters worse, the coffee produced is not as fine as most people would want it to be, and it’s a bit bitter. This is not a French press that we would recommend to anyone.
Best Camping French Presses: The Final Verdict
French presses come in different materials, such as steel, glass, and plastic. However, the camping environment isn’t as forgiving as your kitchen, so opting for the most durable material is a wise choice.
Read more about French Press Coffee Makers 2022
Using resources sustainably is perhaps one of the most important tasks of a camper. For this reason, your French press should have the capacity to produce enough coffee for everyone in just one round. Be aware of a French press’s capacity in ounces before purchasing it. So, the above-mentioned are certainly the Best Camping French Presses of 2019.
By going through all the reviews, you should have deduced that the GSI Outdoors – 30 Fl Oz JavaPress is our most recommended French press. It’s relatively small, but its other aspects make up for this minor shortcoming. The small yet versatile AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker is also a good choice. The purpose of this article is to help you spend most of your time planning your camping trip and packing, instead of deciding on a suitable French press. Hopefully, we’ve achieved that.
