How do I make coffee without a machine?
Brewing decent coffee with nothing but a pan, a jug or a sieve, for travel, camping or a broken machine.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 10 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
The simplest method is the cowboy approach: stir ground coffee into hot water in a mug or pan, wait four minutes, and let the grounds settle before drinking. A sieve lined with kitchen roll makes a serviceable pour-over filter.
Every coffee brewer is a way of getting hot water through ground coffee and then separating the two. Without equipment you can still do both, and the result is considerably better than instant if the water temperature and timing are right.
What you'll need
- Ground coffee
- Hot water
- Mug or pan
- Sieve and kitchen roll (optional)
- Clean cloth (optional)
Step by step
- Use a medium-coarse grind if you have a choice.Too fine and the grounds will not settle or will pass through an improvised filter.
- Boil water and let it stand 30–60 seconds.Around 92–94°C. Straight off the boil over-extracts and tastes bitter.
- For the simplest method, stir the coffee into hot water in a mug or pan.About 15g coffee to 250ml water. Stir once to wet all the grounds.
- Wait four minutes, then stir the crust that forms on top and let the grounds sink.Stirring the crust breaks it and helps the grounds settle rather than floating.
- Wait another two minutes for the grounds to settle, then pour or drink carefully.Leave the last centimetre in the mug — that is where the sediment is.
- For a cleaner cup, line a sieve with a piece of kitchen roll and pour through it.Rinse the paper with hot water first, exactly as you would a proper filter.
- Alternatively, put grounds in a clean cloth, tie it, and steep it like a tea bag.A clean handkerchief or a piece of muslin. Effective and produces very little sediment.
- Season the result — a pinch of salt suppresses harshness if it has over-extracted.A rescue rather than a technique, but useful when your control is limited.
Tips
- Cold brew needs no equipment at all beyond a jar and a sieve, and is the most forgiving method if you can plan twelve hours ahead.
- A cafetière plunger is not essential to a cafetière — you can brew in the jug and pour carefully.
- For camping, a moka pot on a stove is compact, needs no power and makes genuinely good coffee.
Common mistakes
- Using a fine grind — The grounds will not settle and pass straight through any improvised filter.
- Using water straight off the boil — It over-extracts and tastes bitter, which is more noticeable when your control is limited.
- Drinking the last of the mug — That is where all the sediment is. Leave the final centimetre.
Questions people ask
Can I make decent coffee with just a mug?
Yes. Stir grounds into hot water, wait four minutes, break the crust, let the grounds settle for two more minutes, and drink carefully leaving the last centimetre.
What can I use instead of a coffee filter?
Kitchen roll in a sieve works, rinsed with hot water first. A clean cloth or muslin tied around the grounds and steeped like a tea bag works even better.