Morning Coffee Idea

[Robo]

I know there are those who struggle to get going in the morning without a coffee.
And sometimes on Camino a coffee is not always available at the start of your day.

This idea might work?

I drink a lot of iced coffee on Campervan road trips here in Australia.
I find 7-8 hours on the road each day I need something to keep me alert.
I go through 1 or 2 a day.

But store bought iced coffee is:

1. Expensive
2. Full of fats and sugars.

So I tried making my own, which works great and tastes about the same.

Take a 600 ml water bottle, half full.
Put in three teaspoons of instant coffee.
Add sugar / sweetener to taste.
Give a good shake to mix.
It mixes very well
Top up with milk

Leave in the fridge a couple of hours or overnight.

I use fresh low fat milk, but the UHT milk in Spain would work well.

Personally I can get started OK without coffee.
So just a thought for those who can't.........

You could carry a few sachets of coffee and sugar.
And get a small UHT milk in a local shop maybe.

For my 'road trip' coffee I use Nescafe Blend 43.
It mixes well in cold water.

Note. on road trips it stays in the van fridge or chiller box.
Not sure how it would stay fresh in a pack on Camino!

 

[Vinnie16]

Great tips, thank you! I’m preparing for my trip and haven’t been sure how coffee will happen!

 

[J Willhaus]

I just use those packets of either cappuccino or coffee con leche that you can buy at the grocery store. Some also sell little individual sachets/cups of evaporated milk.

 

[William Garza]

Coffee..is my preferred caffeine delivery method.
So

Is it the coffee
Or the caffeine made tasty?

 

[SioCamino]

Another approach is to buy a coffee the night before when the local bar is open and heat it up in the albergue microwave in the morning.

 

[Sirage]

Resorting to 2nd grade alternatives to a fresh espresso would not be my approach. I have been walking in Spain for many 1,000 kms including Caminos with not-so-many bars as there are on the Frances, and have always found a bar with reasonable to good coffee before I fell to the ground writhing from coffee deprivation.

Perhaps others are more dependent than I am, and for those perhaps a bit of coffee fasting at home as part of your Camino preparation regime. It will make your walk more hassle-free.

And for @SioCamino 's idea I wonder if you have done that? Maybe your palate is different to mine. Reheated coffee is nothing like fresh coffee IMHO so perhaps only for the truly desperate.

 

[mspath]

Do check out this long thread detailing how some of us brew and drink when in an albergue and it is too early for any bar to be open or the only nearby place is closed.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Whilst I really don't like instant coffee, I do find it better than nothing. For the last 40 plus years I've always carried a few nescafe sachets, and a packet or two of sugar or a tube of sweetened condensed milk. Cold actually tastes better than hot.

But on camino if possible I get the iced coffee packs (when I know there's no coffee in the morning) because they taste a heck of a lot better and they're not that expensive in Spain. Plus, they typically don't require refrigeration - although it is nicer.

Anytime the temperature is over 25 degrees at home I've got a jug of proper coffee in the fridge, with just a little sugar mixed in. Add milk and it's delicious on a hot day.

bit of coffee fasting at home

Aggghhh!
You're absolutely right, it would be better for my health. However this is one of my few (consumable) vices (the other is chocolate).
Like my chocolate, I can walk without but I don't want to walk without.

 

[Robo]

Do check out this long thread detailing how some of us brew and drink when in an albergue and it is too early for any bar to be open or the only nearby place is closed.

Ah.........the Coil Club

We took one once and used it once to boil eggs.......
But a good idea for those needing a kick start in the morning.

I guess we are not that desperate for a morning coffee if there is no bar open.

 

[J Willhaus]

Once I had to walk 9 km in the morning without a cafe con leche and poor Phil suffered as I was quite a grouch the whole way. Since then, he's usually at the ready with an instant packet or two to tide me over until the first bar.

 

[JustOneGuy]

Coffee..is my preferred caffeine delivery method.
So

Is it the coffee
Or the caffeine made tasty?

Contrary to popular belief, caffeine is a totally odorless and tasteless compound. It is the aromas contained in coffee that give coffee its flavor.

For this reason, many people confuse the “strength” of coffee, or its “bitterness” and the amount of caffeine contained, which is more or less proportional only to the processed coffee. So an “Italian-style” espresso, small but intensely flavored, contains MUCH less caffeine than an American long coffee or a French one.

 

[JustOneGuy]

Aggghhh!
You're absolutely right, it would be better for my health. However this is one of my few (consumable) vices (the other is chocolate).
Like my chocolate, I can walk without but I don't want to walk without.

you probably know that many recent scientific papers indicate that coffee actually has a beneficial effect on health, if drunk in moderation (3-4 coffees a day, I mean Italian-style coffee). But mind you, as I wrote above this does not imply that caffeine is responsible for the beneficial effect. It could be another of the thousands of molecules in the drink. The last time I read something about it, it was not well known.

I spent a whole year without drinking coffee. I was living in a U.S. Antarctic station (which is why I often passed through your beautiful country back in the day). The coffee, perhaps also because of the water used, which was devoid of salts, was T E R R I B L E. The food was already enough to make the dining experience a bit masochistic*. So I decided that there was no need to hurt myself beyond what was strictly necessary.

In conclusion, I did not see much effect on my body. Also because at great altitudes I generally feel much better and the barometric pressure at South Pole is equivalent to about 3600 m asl at the equator.

* just kidding of course, I actually eat what is there no problems, and considering the situation food wasn't THAT bad.

 

[Tincatinker]

Addicts may wish to consider “cold brew “ coffee. Take the used grounds from your cafetière, steamer, or drip pot. Mix 25/75 with unchlorinated water and leave in the fridge for a few days. Refilter and drink.

 

[William Garza]

Contrary to popular belief, I have read that caffeine is a totally odorless and tasteless compound. It is the aromas contained in coffee that give coffee its flavor.

For this reason, many people confuse the “strength” of coffee, or its “bitterness” and the amount of caffeine contained, which is more or less proportional only to the processed coffee. So an “Italian-style” espresso, small but intensely flavored, contains MUCH less caffeine than an American long coffee or a French one.

The implications of facing a day without coffee is sometimes horrid and anathema to my tired self!

I too read caffiene is as described,but
Its the effects i desire!

We have a few niche coffee houses here that are not of the seattle origin,and claim to have all sorts of strengths and burnt asphaultum tastes
And the pep of a year old marshmallow...
Ime in it for the ride. Flavor is nice
A good warm cuppa is nice in the hands on a cold day
But its the horsepower to get me up and go thats needed.

To be sure, there are energy drink cold coffees that really get me going..along with a huge dose of Anxiety that i REALLY dont need..ugh

Cold coffee is a nice addition here in the land of eternal heat,hellfire and humidity.
Interestingly, old timers here added salt to their portion..ive tried it but found it ambigouous to the taste

 

[JustOneGuy]

Still talking about coffee, I advise those passing through Rome to walk the Via Francigena* to go to the Caffè Tazza d'Oro, a stone's throw from the Pantheon, and ask for a “granatina di caffè con panna”.

Don't worry about the innate, traditional rudeness of the waiter who will serve you. Like all good things you have "to go through the Caudine Forks" to get it! But I assure you that that little glass filled with REAL whipped cream and coffee granita (chunks of ice mixed with espresso coffee) is food of the gods!

And mind you: there is the "granita di caffè con panna", available in many coffee places in Rome, and there is the "granatina di caffè con panna", smaller but even more tasty. I cry while thinking to it


(from the internet)

* Be advised: mentioning the Via Francigena is just an excuse not to seem too off-topic...

p.s. "Passare sotto le Forche Caudine" ("go through the Caudine Forks") is a saying still used in Italy, I don't know about elsewhere, although 2300 years have passed since the actual events. The phrase means to suffer a severe humiliation or mortifying ordeal. The idiom goes all the way back to ancient Rome, specifically to the Second Samnite War (several centuries earlier than the actual construction of the Pantheon, btw).

 

[Pilgrim9]

" ...and have always found a bar with reasonable to good coffee before I fell to the ground writhing from coffee deprivation."

In my humble opinion, for emergency self-dosing, one should always carry a Cafépen.

Perhaps more than one.

 

[Juspassinthru]

Or, you can obsessively fantasize about one until you get to an open bar. Think how good it will be. Other benefits, no planning, no extra things, etc.

 

[wynrich]

In my humble opinion, for emergency self-dosing, one should always carry a Cafépen.

Perhaps more than one.

What is a Cafepen? I'm intrigued, especially since I sometimes resort to caffeine pills. Can perhaps one vape caffeine?

 

[JerryStroebele]

Another thread on this forum has been excoriating $tarbucks coffee. I usually pass them by, too, in favor of small cafes and even McDonalds (and Tim Hortons in Canada) BUT I always take 10 sachettes of Starbucks coffee on a Camino for mornings without other options. Even warm tap water works. Well worth the weight. Buen Camino

 

[Scott Fraser]

I know there are those who struggle to get going in the morning without a coffee.
And sometimes on Camino a coffee is not always available at the start of your day.

This idea might work?

I drink a lot of iced coffee on Campervan road trips here in Australia.
I find 7-8 hours on the road each day I need something to keep me alert.
I go through 1 or 2 a day.

But store bought iced coffee is:

1. Expensive
2. Full of fats and sugars.

So I tried making my own, which works great and tastes about the same.

Take a 600 ml water bottle, half full.
Put in three teaspoons of instant coffee.
Add sugar / sweetener to taste.
Give a good shake to mix.
It mixes very well
Top up with milk

Leave in the fridge a couple of hours or overnight.

I use fresh low fat milk, but the UHT milk in Spain would work well.

Personally I can get started OK without coffee.
So just a thought for those who can't.........

You could carry a few sachets of coffee and sugar.
And get a small UHT milk in a local shop maybe.

For my 'road trip' coffee I use Nescafe Blend 43.
It mixes well in cold water.

Note. on road trips it stays in the van fridge or chiller box.
Not sure how it would stay fresh in a pack on Camino!

Better yet. Toss it in the microwave for 60 seconds and Bob's your uncle.

 

[Laura Blue]

I know there are those who struggle to get going in the morning without a coffee.
And sometimes on Camino a coffee is not always available at the start of your day.

This idea might work?

I drink a lot of iced coffee on Campervan road trips here in Australia.
I find 7-8 hours on the road each day I need something to keep me alert.
I go through 1 or 2 a day.

But store bought iced coffee is:

1. Expensive
2. Full of fats and sugars.

So I tried making my own, which works great and tastes about the same.

Take a 600 ml water bottle, half full.
Put in three teaspoons of instant coffee.
Add sugar / sweetener to taste.
Give a good shake to mix.
It mixes very well
Top up with milk

Leave in the fridge a couple of hours or overnight.

I use fresh low fat milk, but the UHT milk in Spain would work well.

Personally I can get started OK without coffee.
So just a thought for those who can't.........

You could carry a few sachets of coffee and sugar.
And get a small UHT milk in a local shop maybe.

For my 'road trip' coffee I use Nescafe Blend 43.
It mixes well in cold water.

Note. on road trips it stays in the van fridge or chiller box.
Not sure how it would stay fresh in a pack on Camino!

I'm a real coffee addict, but whenever I'm travelling I try to go with the flow. My first Camino I had way too much stuff, which ever since I've done without.

 

[Ekelund]

There have been days when I had to walk 10 km before my morning coffee. It made the coffee even better.

 

[Stivandrer]

Some of my best morning coffees were the ones I had to postpone for an hour or longer, before finding anything open...
Funny thing with expectation, anyway they felt so much more deserved to me...
I have generally regretted every 1€ cup from the automat in the albergues, however
And Bob never was my uncle

 

[Jeff Crawley]

If it's a coffee flavoured caffeine hit you want then you might care to seek out these:


They give you a little boost without the need for hot water. Made in Indonesia but certainly available in Europe, we discovered we could buy them from a local Chinese supermarket here in the UK for about £1.75 a bag. My favourite is the Cappuccino one.

The Kopiko UK website advises that "4–5 sweets contain the caffeine equivalent of a cup of espresso" for the original coffee flavour, while the cappuccino flavour sweets contain "around half the caffeine" of the original coffee flavour.

The Caffeine Informer website estimates the caffeine content of the original coffee flavour to be "about 25 mg per piece.

 

[JustOneGuy]

if it's not summer, IMHO, this is much better:


can be found at the SPAR supermarket sometime, in Spain.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

if it's not summer, IMHO, this is much better:

View attachment 177341
can be found at the SPAR supermarket sometime, in Spain.

For the handful of us that walk the camino in Germany they're available here too! Love 'm !

 

[Sirage]

The Kopiko UK website advises that "4–5 sweets contain the caffeine equivalent of a cup of espresso"

Of course each to their own, but I prefer the natural goodness of espresso with proper milk, rather than all the sugar and other synthetic stuff that is likely coming along with the caffeine.

 

[PaulMCP]

When I can’t get a coffee before I leave, I find waiting an hour or two for the next cafe a great motivator for the walk.

 

[Liica]

I know there are those who struggle to get going in the morning without a coffee.
And sometimes on Camino a coffee is not always available at the start of your day.

This idea might work?

I drink a lot of iced coffee on Campervan road trips here in Australia.
I find 7-8 hours on the road each day I need something to keep me alert.
I go through 1 or 2 a day.

But store bought iced coffee is:

1. Expensive
2. Full of fats and sugars.

So I tried making my own, which works great and tastes about the same.

Take a 600 ml water bottle, half full.
Put in three teaspoons of instant coffee.
Add sugar / sweetener to taste.
Give a good shake to mix.
It mixes very well
Top up with milk

Leave in the fridge a couple of hours or overnight.

I use fresh low fat milk, but the UHT milk in Spain would work well.

Personally I can get started OK without coffee.
So just a thought for those who can't.........

You could carry a few sachets of coffee and sugar.
And get a small UHT milk in a local shop maybe.

For my 'road trip' coffee I use Nescafe Blend 43.
It mixes well in cold water.

Note. on road trips it stays in the van fridge or chiller box.
Not sure how it would stay fresh in a pack on Camino!

I bring mini coffee sachets (small packed ones) and drink with the warm tap water.

Recently I’ve bought a water heater, but it’s a bit heavy. Very good anyway.

 

[William Garza]

I did a deep dive into coffee lore etc
I almost didnt come up for air
Types of water
Filters
Makers
Civets...
Time
Strength
Varietals

 

[Pilgrim9]

What is a Cafepen? I'm intrigued, especially since I sometimes resort to caffeine pills. Can perhaps one vape caffeine?

A Cafépen is a imaginary emergency morning coffee dosing device, somewhat comparable to an Epipen, except that a Cafépen dose (also imaginary) shall be administered only orally and only by the adult user to him- or her-self.

The target market includes e.g. Camino pilgrims who find themselves starting their day's walk in a coffee-deprived state with no bar-cafés within approximately an hour's walk, and soon after "[falling] to the ground writhing from coffee deprivation" per Sirage's vivid description in post #6 above ( Post in thread 'Morning Coffee Idea' ).

The fine print in the also-imaginary dosing instruction pamphlet that is included with each Cafépen emphasizes that after self-dosing, the patient should as soon as is reasonably practicable seek a qualified barrista for a professional consultation and possible procurement of a supplementary cup of coffee.

Don't take any of this seriously, it's all fictional nonsense.

 

[Silverbarista]

Some of my best morning coffees were the ones I had to postpone for an hour or longer, before finding anything open...
Funny thing with expectation, anyway they felt so much more deserved to me...
I have generally regretted every 1€ cup from the automat in the albergues, however
And Bob never was my uncle

Bob is everybody's uncle. Unless you choose to exclude yourself. But then you miss out!!!!

 

[LouLou]

Addicts may wish to consider “cold brew “ coffee. Take the used grounds from your cafetière, steamer, or drip pot. Mix 25/75 with unchlorinated water and leave in the fridge for a few days. Refilter and drink.

I 'trained' myself to drink espresso/ (long or short) black coffee only as I couldn't get used to the taste of the uht milk in coffee in Spain. Much easier to throw back a shot of coffee, hot or cold than be disappointed with the taste if the leche isn't to my liking. More and more you find those little pressure cans of cold brew in supermercados/ vending machines in spain (and Australia) if no bar open on the way... I also take a couple of the coffee bags with me in case I am stuck...

 

[JustOneGuy]

Of course each to their own, but I prefer the natural goodness of espresso with proper milk, rather than all the sugar and other synthetic stuff that is likely coming along with the caffeine.

not that I disagree with you (even a "Pocket Coffee" is totally different from a good cup of coffee), but in a cup of coffee there are over 1,000 different compounds, even without counting milk. And the difference between "synthetic" and "natural" is highly debatable.

BTW, my routine is: cappuccino for breakfast, black coffee at 10am, macchiato ( ∼ "cortado natural" in Spain) after lunch and a decaf at about 4pm.

 

[Stivandrer]

Bob is everybody's uncle. Unless you choose to exclude yourself. But then you miss out!!!!

this could be Bob, though,or Roberto in the very least...
I always admire these early morning servers, when I finally arrived, stacking up for the morning rush and the coffees kept coming

 

[JustOneGuy]

I just received an ad for this: https://www.wacaco.com/es/products/nanopresso-journey-spring-run. 333 g in total (and the need to find hot water...).

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I just received an ad for this: https://www.wacaco.com/es/products/nanopresso-journey-spring-run. 333 g in total (and the need to find hot water...).

80€ plus tax? Presumably Jeeves the butler can conjure up the hot water?

 

[Rita Flower]

Another approach is to buy a coffee the night before when the local bar is open and heat it up in the albergue microwave in the morning.

Yes - did this on VDLP in 2022. But somehow just couldn't get it together enough for the Frances this year. It does take a tiny bit of forward planning and accurate info about what will or will not be open at 6.30 - 7.00 am.

 

[Walkerooni]

Wow, as a non-coffee drinker, I realize how amazingly freeing it is to not suffer from this strange
addiction.

 

[SioCamino]

Resorting to 2nd grade alternatives to a fresh espresso would not be my approach. I have been walking in Spain for many 1,000 kms including Caminos with not-so-many bars as there are on the Frances, and have always found a bar with reasonable to good coffee before I fell to the ground writhing from coffee deprivation.

Perhaps others are more dependent than I am, and for those perhaps a bit of coffee fasting at home as part of your Camino preparation regime. It will make your walk more hassle-free.

And for @SioCamino 's idea I wonder if you have done that? Maybe your palate is different to mine. Reheated coffee is nothing like fresh coffee IMHO so perhaps only for the truly desperate.

Yes but it's better than nothing on a day when the next coffee or any hot drink is 25+km away

Yes - did this on VDLP in 2022. But somehow just couldn't get it together enough for the Frances this year. It does take a tiny bit of forward planning and accurate info about what will or will not be open at 6.30 - 7.00 am.

Exactly that's where this tip was given to me. I walked so many days leaving at 6-7 where the bar in the town I was sleeping wasn't open until 10... And then you might not have a town until the end of the stage.

Wow, as a non-coffee drinker, I realize how amazingly freeing it is to not suffer from this strange
addiction.

I wouldn't call it an addiction (and am ever so slightly offended by implication in this thread that people who would like a choice in the morning are somehow addicted or weak for their preference).

I can cope without coffee but it is nice to have SOMETHING at SOME stage in the morning. I'm not a tea drinker at the best of times and definitely not a cola cao fan. It's nice to have a hot drink!

On my current camino I've only done this once where the town (Carrión) was in full fiesta mode so no cafes were opening in the morning... But in the end didn't need it as there were two places to stop on the way to Calzadilla.

Buen camino all and enjoy whatever you drink this morning to break your fast.

 

[Sirage]

and enjoy whatever you drink this morning to break your fast

Whilst at home in my quiet country town in Australia I have a cafe that opens at 5am and another at 6am so I am well catered for whenever I choose. Whilst on a Camino life doesn't provide for such predictability