Better Coffee for Bikepacking Update - The FinalPress

Something not right,

Something not right,

Something not right and I don't know what it is.

Something Not Right, Glen Alfred (2019). 

In April, I posted Better Coffee for Bikepacking, a summary of some of my experiments making coffee when out in the backcountry on a bike. Many folks responded with favorite methods and suggestions, which I appreciate. Bikepacking buddy Paul Brasby of North Platte, Nebraska even forwarded to me a link to a device that I had never seen. The FinalPress. I had to try it.

FinalPress awaiting hot water to brew some coffee.

The FinalPress is a stainless steel cylinder with mesh filter sides and a threaded top, which secures to a top cap with a spring loaded plunger. The cylinder is light and relatively small, measuring about 1.5" in diameter and about 2" high, while the plunger extends another 4" off the top. 

The instructions say to add 14-16 grams of coffee into the cylinder, place the cylinder into an 8-10 ounce mug of hot water, swirl for 10-30 seconds, steep for 2-4 minutes, lift the cylinder out of the coffee, and press the plunger. 

So, the FinalPress essentially works like a steeped coffee bag with rigid sides and a mechanical, French Press squeeze at the end.

My several attempts yielded inconsistent results, much like my experiments with steeped coffee bags. I wonder if the coffee grounds confined by the rigid walls of the cylinder are inherently, significantly exposed to the hot water unequally. That is, the coffee grounds exposed to hot water form a cake, where the grounds around the exterior of the cake would seem to be exposed to more hot water longer than the grounds packed into the interior, creating variable extraction. I don't know. Stirring probably helps initially, but the cylinder then just sits in hot water for a few minutes. I don't know. It may simply be operator error. Something makes it less than ideal.

My best, most consistent results with the FinalPress were with moderately coarse ground coffee filling about one third of the cylinder, with regular stirring for about 2 minutes and then squeezing the plunger several times while still immersed. That worked better, but still less than great. This will not replace the CoffeeBrewer or the Pourigami, and certainly not the AeroPress.

The FinalPress is marketed as a coffee and tea brewer. In operation, I'd call it a tea brewer that can make coffee.

FinalPress on the road.

Addendum. Join me at #CoffeeOutside-Rapid City sometime and you're welcome to try it. Last week at the park, I brewed a cup of coffee with the FinalPress, with OK results. Immediately afterward, I brewed another cup with the same grounds but using the Pourigami pour-over. Very, very good. What a difference.

Something Not Right, Glen Alfred (2019)

Long Live Long Rides

My post last week entitled "Better Coffee For Bikepacking" elicited a variety of responses and a number of suggestions. Thanks to all. I will try some new options, while continuing to tinker with what I have. If I find something that works better for me than the CoffeeBrewer or the AeroPress GO, I certainly will write about it.

In the meantime, today I arose to some kind of wonderful morning for enjoying coffee outside. 40 degrees. Little wind. Overcast. Drizzle. Like riding through a cloud. Almost heaven. South Dakota. With my Jones 29+ already set up with packs and loaded for breakfast, I only need to dress appropriately before pedaling.

After about an hour of lightly spinning around town, I stop near the base of M-Hill at Founders Park. The City of Rapid City, or a couple of kind citizens, finally moved two picnic tables under the shelter there. Great timing. It will be nice to be under a roof today, even though I wouldn't get very wet out in the open.

Looking for that next long ride, somewhere out in the prairie beyond the Black Hills.
Not from today, but not long ago.

Onto the task at hand. Within a few minutes, I savor a sip of fresh hot coffee made in my AeroPress GO with beans roasted by local cyclist Christopher Grady of Sawyer Coffee Lab. Oh. That is good. That is very good. 

Soon, I am ready for a second cup. For some reason, I decide to conduct a direct comparison with Starbucks Via, the instant coffee that I used on my 2021 ride of the GDMBR. More accurately, I carried it until I simply could not stand drinking it. Today, the Via instant tastes okay, although well short of that from the AeroPress GO. Little wonder that it failed after a few weeks on the trail.

I realize that this goes beyond coffee. Something that works well enough for an hour, may not work over a day. And something that works for a day, may not work over a week. If for a week, will it over a month? Some things must be lived out.

Long rides reveal much, particularly with all the trials that emerge with the passage of time. Much is revealed over time - about coffee, food, gear, components, bikes, and especially the person pedaling. What awaits discovery during your next long ride?

Long live long rides.

Long Hard Ride, The Marshall Tucker Band (1976).

2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge - Feeling Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast,

You've got to make the morning last,

Just kicking down the cobblestones,

Looking for fun and feeling groovy.

The 59th Street Bridge Song, Paul Simon (1966)

After a year hiatus, I'm back with the Coffeeneuring Challenge. And, unlike our #CoffeeOutside - Rapid City gatherings, this doesn't require setting a specific time and place and it doesn't mean sitting outside early mornings, unless, of course, that's what you want to do.

From her website ChasingMailboxes.com, endurance athlete Mary Gersema describes the concept:  "The Coffeeneuring Challenge is a time to mellow out, slow down the pedal strokes, and make the most of a delicious time of year by lingering over a cup of your favorite fall beverage. This challenge offers an opportunity to connect virtually or in-person with others, and can also be a time to carve out space for solitary contemplation over a beverage. Let's coffeeneur our way through the changing seasons."

"The Challenge is essentially as follows:

• between October 7 through November 20, 2022
• ride your bike to 7 different places
• at least 2 miles round trip each time
• drink 7 cups of coffee (or another fall-type beverage) and
• document your coffeeneuring (either photos, Strava tracks, journal entries, control card, etc.)"

More information at Coffeeneuring Challenge 2022.

I don't need much of an excuse to ride a bike or drink coffee, but it's a fun twist. This challenge took me all around Rapid City, with nice, long stops at places I normally ride by, such as the Memorial Park Band Shell, Rushmore Lions Nature Park, Wilderness Park, Jackson Park Disc Golf Course shelter, the Nehemiah Memorial Slack Line & Balance Park, Founders Park, School of Mines Campus Quadrangle, and Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park. I even stopped for coffee on an unnamed U.S. Forest Service Road while scouting Black Hills Bounty routes.

To submit the requested documentation to complete the 2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge, I am Craig Groseth of Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. Below are my completed control cards and pictures of my rides, all of which are in the "Coffee Without Walls" category. I also completed the digital form linked on your website. Thank you, Mary, for creating and nurturing this community of Coffeeneurs.

#1. Memorial Park Band Shell, 10/8/22

#2. Rushmore Lions Nature Park, 10/10/22.

#3. Wilderness Park, 10/20/22.

#4. Jackson Park Disc Golf Course Shelter, 10/22/22.

#5. U.S. Forest Service Low Standard Road 172.1M,  Black Hills National Forest, 10/28/22.

#6. Nehemiah Memorial Slack Line & Balance Park, 10/30/22.

#7. Founders Park Shelter, with Lucas Haan and Lori Litzen, 11/5/22.

#8 (bonus). School of Mines Campus Quadrangle, 11/7/22.

#9 (bonus). Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park, 11/8/22.

Completed 2022 Coffeeneuring Challenge Card.

The 59th Street Bridge Song, Simon & Garfunkel, 

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967).

2020 Coffeeneuring Challenge - Feeling Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
The 59th Street Bridge Song, Paul Simon (1966)

I don't need much of an excuse to ride my bike, meet with friends, or drink coffee. So, when Lucas Haan notified me of the 2020 Coffeeneuring Challenge, I jumped in. And, unlike our #CoffeeOutside - Rapid City gathering every Thursday morning, this one doesn't require sitting outside early morning, unless, of course, that's what you want to do.

From her website ChasingMailboxes.com, endurance athlete Mary Gersema describes the concept:  "The Coffeeneuring Challenge is a time to spin the wheels, experience the chill of fall as it pokes at you through your clothes, and linger over a steamy cup of coffee. The challenge offers an opportunity to virtually connect with others as we ride through shorter days and changing seasons."

"Essentially the challenge boils down to this:

• over the course of 7-ish weeks,
• ride your bike to 7 different places,
• at least 2 miles round trip each time,
• drink 7 cups of coffee (or similar), and
• take 7 pictures (or other documentation) as proof of your coffeeneuring."

More information at 2020 Coffeeneuring Challenge.

It's a fun twist. Among other things, Coffeeneuring led me to relax for a change by the "M" on M-Hill, to ride along on another's commute to work, to stop for a moment while scouting remote roads in the Black Hills, and even to ride straight up a temporary construction path to access some single track.

To submit the requested documentation to complete my first Coffeeneuring Challenge, I am Craig Groseth of Rapid City, South Dakota, USA and below are my completed control cards and pictures for seven rides. Thank you, Mary, for creating and nurturing this community of Coffeeneurs.

Ride 1

Ride 2

Ride 3

Ride 4

Ride 5

Ride 6

Ride 7

Here's Simon & Garfunkel "feeling groovy" at The Concert At Central Park in New York City in 1981. For a trip further down and even past Memory Lane for many, watch the second clip of Simon & Garfunkel on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967, where the Smothers Brothers join in.

The 59th Street Bridge Song, Simon & Garfunkel, The Concert At Central Park (1981).

The 59th Street Bridge Song, Simon & Garfunkel, Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967).