I just wondered, because they obviously didn’t have a percolator, and I have often read stories about them having coffee and biscuits (or something along the same line). I recall hearing about how tea was steeped then, but didn’t know if it was the same for coffee. Any ideas?
6 Responses to “How Did Pioneers In The Wild West Make Coffee?”
Leave a Reply
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
The coffee beans had to be roasted first, in a skillet. Then they would be put in a bag of some sort and crushed. The poll of a small camp axe or even the handle of a wagon jack would work nicely. The crushed beans were then dumped into a coffee pot filled with water and set on the fire. After the coffee had boiled, it was ready to drink, even with coffee grounds floating in it. Check out how the troops in the Civil War did it for more ideas.
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:04 pm
They put the coffee grounds into a pot of water over fire, either on a hearth in the kitchen or a campfire outdoors (if they were traveling) and boiled it. (I have a friend who still makes it this way on her gas stove.)
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:58 pm
They made campfire coffee. They boiled water, dumped in the ground coffee beans, then threw in eggshells to settle the grounds. Sometimes they added chicory root.
I still make campfire coffee the same way when I’m out in the Arizona back country.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Jim P has it right. The egg shell is important.
Tea and coffee were always served hot, although a few pioneers put ice in their coffee when they could get it. That’s one of the things they did at Ice Spring Slough on the Oregon and Overland Trails. This area had ice underneath the soil all year round.
NOTE ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Ice Spring Slough still had ice until the 1960s. It no longer does.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:18 am
where the hell are they getting “egg” from all the time?
cowboy coffee is made in a pot ,heated over a flame ,not quite boiled for best taste,then you swing the pot around and around in big circles,I’ve even seen someone use a rope.the coffee grounds are moved to the bottom,as long as you take care as to not disturb it too much it will be relatively grind free
July 4th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
STRONG!