Mountain Man....

[Hawken]

coffee! Bought me an old timey coffee pot a while back as in years of long past when I would go out with an older gentleman that outlived my grandfather, both of whom loved fox hunting, and we would stay out all night and listen to the dogs running...we'd make Mountain Man coffee....aka build up a fire and set the pot where it could boil the water and then dump in the coffee! Remove the pot away from the fire after the coffee had gone through the boiling and then drop in a little stick or toothpick to break the surface tension so the grounds would settle to the bottom! Hot dang.....beats the whey out of all this store bought stuff!!

[Bigsmoke]

A little stick or a toothpick?  Well, ain't that a clever idea.  I usually just dump in another cup of water and am good to go after I let it set for a minute for the grounds to settle.
I agree, campfire, mountain man, cowboy or whatever you want to call it is the absolute best.

BUT

A close second is espresso as I have had it in both Australia and in Italy.  Ain't nothing to sneeze at, I tell you.  I think the Italian stuff has a little sharper edge to it, but both real good.  No idea how American espresso is as the only place to get it locally is Starbucks, and I don't buy their coffee for a number of reasons.  One is their coffee tastes like a feed lot smells and two through whatever are strictly political.  Nuff said.

John

[rollingb]

Coffee during the fur trade could be extended or substituted using roasted chicory. Chicory was originally imported to North America by the early French fur traders and today  it grows wild throughout the continent. In the early 1800's coffee was available in the form of green beans, which needed to be roasted (burnt) and then crushed before brewing. 

I use a small linen bag that my wife made,.... and put a small handful of the roasted beans in the bag,.... tie the bag shut with a piece of string,.... find something hard to lay the bag on and bust the beans up with the flat of my hatchet or a tomahawk.
Then I toss bag, beans, and all, into a pot of boiling water.
Using this method,... the smashed up beans stay mostly in the bag. 

If anything, I like to use plenty of beans for my brew, and if it's too strong for my wife it can be "cut" (to her liking) by adding plain water to her cup. 

Today green coffee beans of various types and flavors can be ordered online from many places.
Such as,.... https://www.coffeebeancorral.com/categories/Green-Coffee-Beans/Central-American.aspx

[Bigsmoke]

Yeah, chicory coffee.  I really like it.
The first experience I had with that was I think 1964 when I went through New Orleans and stopped for a few days.  I recall the waitresses would ask if you wanted regular or chicory coffee.  Good stuff.  Also discovered Picayune cigarettes.  Cough, cough, wow they were strong.  Strangely enough, the next place I found them was at Disneyland.  Probably not anymore, though.
There is a little Creole restaurant in San Luis Obispo, Bon Temp Cafe, that sells chicory coffee, so when I need a chicory fix, it's relatively easy to get.
John

[Winter Hawk]

I don't remember where I read it, many years ago, but apparently some of the rifles during the Civil War had coffee grinders in the butt.  Has anyone else heard of this, or did I dream it some time long ago?

~Kees~

[Hank in WV]

Seems like I've read that same thing somewhere, but have no idea  where.