Top 5 Things for Your All-Purpose Coffee Kit: Stay Caffeinated During the Next Windapolypse

T. Nguyen

Coffee for your survival kit

If we learned anything from last week's Windpocalypse, it is that you really ought to have some sort of survival kit ready. And, if you were one of the unlucky thousands to wake up with no power, and thus no coffee, you may also have realized that an all-purpose Coffee Survival Kit within your more general Survival Kit might not be such a bad idea.

And so, we came up with five things you would want in this little kit. A few caveats: Keeping these coffee tools in their own separate compartment not only will make it easy to access and carry, but also easy to jettison if, say, the zombies unexpectedly arrive en masse and you abruptly need to shed weight. Also, we didn't include the water for your coffee on this list, because, really, if you don't have access to water and a heat source, either in your primary disaster kit or elsewhere, then brewing a cup of coffee probably is (or should be) the least of your problems.

Finally, this is a portable set for the broadest of situations. Take it with you when camping, traveling, or even to the office. It also makes for a nice holiday gift set for caffeine-starved friends.

T. Nguyen

Lightweight scale for measuring out your coffee

5. Scale or other measuring implement. When provisions are scarce, every little bit counts. A scale is the most accurate way of measuring out your coffee beans, and it's relatively cheap and light. Alternatively, a coffee scoop or tablespoon works as well. The proper coffee-to-water ratio will depend on your brewing method; see this handy step-by-step brewing guide for details.

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Hario's hand grinders

4. Hand grinder. Freshly grinding your whole coffee beans is one of the most important steps towards making yourself a great cup on the fly. Unless you're willing to Ron Swanson a mortar and pestle with a rock and a hard place though, you'll probably want an easily portable hand grinder. Hario offers a few hand mills, including a perfectly sized mini-mill for about $35.

A Brewing Guide Episode 1: Aeropress from Stephen Leighton on Vimeo.

3. AeroPress or other brewer. When it comes to actually brewing your coffee, you can opt for any one of your favorite methods. You can get a small, plastic French press, for example, or use a Clever dripper with paper filters. If you're concerned about the bulk, or want your energy replenished as quickly as possible before a god unleashes the next plague, do as many baristas do when traveling and use the very aerodynamic AeroPress. Slim and light, this cylindrical device also is lightning fast: it brews a very strong cup in just about a minute. If you're particularly handy, you can jimmy the Aeropress to fit directly under Hario's Skerton model grinder and save even more real estate. Conservatory for Coffee usually has the AeroPress in stock.