Karl "The Trout Whisperer" Seckinger, who has appeared in my fishing column a time or two, read about Campbell's coffee woes in a blog last week.
Here are Karl's tips -- in his own distinctive words and style:
Minnesota Mud
coffee over a gas grill.... pre-grind the beans and package a day ahead....in the cooler the fresh-ground coffee will be fine....with my old perc-style pot I put the ground coffee in and put a paper filter upside down in the grounds holder. the pipe will push right through the paper filter...and no grounds end up in the brew....don't add the coffee until the water is boiling...then add the grounds and pipe...when you can smell the coffee....quit....remove from heat ...let sit and the boiling water and heat will still be working....otherwise you can get an over-roast or boil over....
coffee over coals...season your perc before you feed it to live coals...be careful with the cheap pots and handles that could melt....
don't set the pot directly on the coals...large rocks set around the lower coals will perch a pot...before you set the pot on the coals.... put a large metal spoon in the spout.....keeps the ash from the fire out of the brew....when it starts to steam you can pull the spoon...when the coffee starts to perc....don't let it boil....adjust so it percs.....
to sweeten your coffee try adding maple syrup instead of sugar.....and bring a good insulated mug....metal cups for coffee are too hot to hold until the coffee is too cold to drink...
sincerely the trout whisperer
I've had a casual e-mail friendship with the Trout Whisperer for a while now. He shared a hair-raising story about fishing in a beaver pond that I featured in a column a while back. He's clearly a guy who knows the outdoors, and getting out to Minnesota and going fishing with the Trout Whisperer is now on my list of things to do.
Does anyone else have coffee advice? I'm going to go open a cold, frothy can of Coca-Cola....
