coffee pot question

[prairie dog]

I need some advice / help here.

What type of coffee pot would have been in use at an 1830-1840 mountain man winter camp?

I am ready to start replacing my camp cooking gear with historically correct looking stuff.  Since the coffee pot is out and in sight most of the time I want to start with that.  The copper pots available are rather costly and I would like to avoid buying something that isn't really correct.  

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and research.

[Kermit]

A better first question would be whether coffee itself is PC/HC for the scenario you describe. You'll get opinions. You'll need to decide what level of documentation you require. Now me, I have one of those tapered tin coffee boilers you see so often. It's at least a notch or two more proper than one in blue speckled enamelware!

If you want to be safe, drink tea.

[BEAVERMAN]

A better first question would be whether coffee itself is PC/HC for the scenario you describe. You'll get opinions. You'll need to decide what level of documentation you require. Now me, I have one of those tapered tin coffee boilers you see so often. It's at least a notch or two more proper than one in blue speckled enamelware!

If you want to be safe, drink tea.

Or just make cowboy  coffee in a mucket or tin cup or any other pot

[prairie dog]

 You'll need to decide what level of documentation you require.

They had coffee.  It is listed in the ledgers of trade goods taken to rendezvous.  (along with sugar, flour, and such.)  I have read accounts of coffee being brewed in a trade kettle.  Just wondering what style / type of coffee pot would have been available to the traders at that time.

Thanks

[Loyalist Dave]

If I can make a money saving suggestion that is also HC...,

I would simply get a copper pot with lid.  I use either a large copper pot or a "straight sided pouring pot".  OK well the SSPP may not be a historic design, but you save money in that a coffee pot from the period is really just good for that..., while making cowboy-coffee in a plain pot give you a pot for coffee or for other stuff when you need to boil it.  

Oh and I often simply fill up the pot, and cheat by tossing in a couple or three of those premeasured coffee bags... here's where I got my pots...

http://westminsterforge.com/cookingpots.html

LD

[pathfinder]

 

Oh and I often simply fill up the pot, and cheat by tossing in a couple or three of those premeasured coffee bags.



LD

AMEN!! Although when I'm at "Show and Tell's,we'll use hammered roasted bean's,taste's like crap,but DAMN,WE LOOK GOOD!

[Gordon H.Kemp]

I would have to agree with Beav and the others about a multipurpose pot. Just throw in the ground beans and let it simmer. durring the day toss in a little fresh beans and some wood ash . Egg shells work the same as the wood ash but I doubt fresh eggs were a common item in the larders. The eggs/wood ash keeps the brew from taking on the bitter taste.

[prairie dog]

These are the coffee pots I have found.  

In my camp the coffee pot is going to be in use and in sight most of the day.  The blue and white speckled enamel coffee pot I have has always made good coffee but it doesn't look right in a buck-skinners camp.

Of these choices; which pot is the least offensive to your eyes and your PC sensibilities?

[Kermit]

The last one is likely the best, not because it looks good (it does) but because the pot has a wide bottom and is fairly short. It'll boil faster than the taller skinny pots, in my experience. I know coffee shows up in fur trade inventories, but I think I read that the beans were green. You had to roast your own.

I'm certainly not the PC cop, but it's interesting to see what we can justify. Like how to disguise your Coors Lite. Mea culpa.

[prairie dog]

 but I think I read that the beans were green. You had to roast your own.

That is what I read too.  Trade items did change when the shift from forts trading primarily with Indians changed to rendezvous traders trading with company trappers.

[Riley/MN]

but I think I read that the beans were green. You had to roast your own.

which makes a great demonstration for the flatlanders, by the way....

[Longhunter]

Two years ago at the TMA Tree Rat Rendezvous I brought green coffee beans and roasted them in a pan over the fire. Then they have to be put in a cloth or bag and crushed with the back of your hawk. This last year I brought an antique coffee grinder, it looked like the one used in the movie Dances With Wolves.

Normally when I get up in the morning I want my coffee NOW! so I just grab a fist full of dark roast and throw it on top of a pot of water. When it starts to boil...take it off the fire and let it settle a bit. Jack Perry made the pot that I've been using for the last few years.

As for those "coffee packets"..... :th dn If you use those you won't have any grounds to chew on...

[pathfinder]

I was at Jack's the other day makin' a smaller pierced tin lantern and he's makin up a bunch of coffee pot's for K-zoo. I have one of his that's every bit of 30 years old and LOVE IT!! If you know Jack and his work,better get all ya can NOW,he's makin' somenoise about sellin his tool's and re-tiring! I'm spending as much time as I can with him,truley one of Muzzleloading's treasure's!

 Sorry for the hi-jack,but I like the straight sided pot's for a Skinning camp. Tin lined copper is the best in my opinion.

 Really got a kick out of watchin' Ron grind them beans,coffee AND a show!!!

[prairie dog]

Could some of you post some photos of your coffee pots?

[Loyalist Dave]

but I think I read that the beans were green. You had to roast your own.

OK so I tried to do this...., I had a dry, iron skillet, and a wooden mortar and pestle.

So..., I roast the beans, a nice medium brown, grind 'em up, and boild them.  It kinda smells like coffee, but it's like tea..., so I dump some more of the "roasted" and ground beans in, let it boil a bit, and I drink a cup.  Doesn't taste like much..., so I start again.

I roasted the beans to a chocolate brown, grind 'em up, and make another pot..., now it smells like coffee, but is kinda weak looking, and I drink a cup, and the flavor is getting closer...

Again, from the top, only I roast the beans 'till they are black, and sorta oily...., grind 'em up, and make a pot.  This looks and smells right, and I drink a cup.

NOW..., what nobody told me was that caffine is water soluable, and has nothing to do with the color of the coffee, as the color of the coffee is due to the darkness of the roasting.  

So three rather potent cups of coffee in about 40 minutes....,

for the next four hours at the event ...,

whenItalkeditcameoutsomethinglikethisandIcouldntstoptalkingorshakingandmyheartfeltlikeitwasgoingto'splode!!!!

LD