Cowboy coffee is made by directly brewing ground coffee with water in a pot.

Originally, this was considered a rather crude method of coffee preparation—soldiers might heat an empty can over a campfire, resulting in extremely bitter and harsh coffee that often required sugar or spices to mask its unpleasant, heavy flavors.

However, if you understand the characteristics of this brewing method, it’s actually possible to make decent coffee.

It’s also a great way to enhance the experience of camping or barbecuing outdoors—not just roasting marshmallows, but trying cowboy coffee too!

This article outlines common mistakes in making cowboy coffee and suggests a recommended recipe, but the most important thing is to experiment and find what you enjoy.

Incorrect Method

Due to many people’s improper techniques, cowboy coffee has become synonymous with poor quality. Try to avoid the following mistakes:

1. Not adhering to a proper coffee-to-water ratio, adding coffee and water arbitrarily—like cooking rice by feel—even starting by heating cold water and coffee grounds together directly, leading to an imbalanced concentration.

2. Placing the pot or can on the heat source until it boils. This not only prevents the coffee grounds floating on the surface from being evenly extracted but also overheats the pot, resulting in bitter, burnt flavors.

3. After heating, letting the coffee sit in the pot to cool before drinking to avoid burns, which extracts more undesirable flavors.

4. Pouring cold water over the pot after removing it from the heat to cool it down, destabilizing the coffee further.

5. Pouring the coffee without allowing the grounds to settle, resulting in a cup full of coffee sediment and a poor drinking experience.

Cowboy Coffee Recipe

Cowboy coffee can actually taste quite good—the only essentials you need are coffee grounds, water, a heat source, and a pot:

1. Heat the water to a boil.

2. Remove the boiling water from the heat and let it sit for two to three minutes to cool down to an appropriate brewing temperature.

3. It’s best to know the capacity of your pot and spoon in advance. When camping, where you can only use a spoon and pot without measuring tools, you can use a ratio of 250g of water to 2 flat tablespoons of coffee grounds:

a. Stir the coffee grounds and hot water together.

b. Let it sit for about two minutes, then stir again.

c. Stir once more and let it sit for another two minutes.

d. Add a little cold water to help the coffee grounds settle at the bottom.

e. Pour the coffee as slowly as possible to avoid letting grounds enter the cup.

The coffee should be poured out as soon as it’s done brewing to prevent over-extraction, which can make it bitter again. If you want a second cup, try not to drink the remaining coffee in the pot directly, or pour it into a thermos after brewing and serve it later—this prevents the final cup from ruining the pleasant aftertaste of the earlier ones.

Although cowboy coffee generally has a poor reputation, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy good coffee outdoors. The brewing conditions are still entirely within your control—as long as you avoid the mistakes listed above, your coffee won’t be undrinkable.

Just make sure to confirm what kind of pot you’re using, maintain proper measurements, and, of course, use high-quality coffee beans.