The best way to make coffee while traveling is with an AeroPress (or the smaller AeroPress Go), a small hand grinder and fresh whole beans, pre-weighed into single servings. Together they pack small, need only hot water, and make a cup as good as you get at home. If you want less gear, single-serve drip bags or good-quality instant coffee need nothing but hot water and a mug. For hot water on the road, use a compact travel kettle, run plain water through the hotel coffee maker, or ask a café or airport restaurant for hot water.
| Method | What you need | Space and effort | Taste | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AeroPress or AeroPress Go | Brewer, filters, ground coffee, hot water | Small, light, nearly unbreakable | Clean, smooth, rich | Most travelers; flights, hotels, camping |
| Travel French press | Press or press mug, coarse coffee, hot water | Bulkier; choose plastic or steel | Full-bodied, some sediment | Road trips, rentals, groups |
| Plastic pour-over cone | Cone (such as a plastic V60), paper filters, kettle | Light; a gooseneck helps | Clean and bright | Pour-over fans with a kettle |
| Drip bags | Single-serve filter bags with coffee inside | Tiny; no gear at all | Good, lighter body | Flights, work trips, minimal packing |
| Specialty instant coffee | Packets and hot or cold water | Tiny; instant | Better than you expect from good brands | Backpacking, emergencies |
| Moka pot | Moka pot and a stove | Medium; needs a burner | Strong, espresso-like | Camping, rentals with a stove |
The Best Travel Brewers
AeroPress: The Best All-Round Travel Brewer
The AeroPress, invented by Alan Adler, the engineer behind the Aerobie flying disc, is made of tough plastic, brews in about two minutes and cleans up with a quick rinse, since you push the used grounds out as a dry puck. The AeroPress Go is a smaller version that packs everything, including a mug, into one unit; see our AeroPress Go review.
Simple travel recipe: put a paper filter in the cap and stand the AeroPress on your mug. Add 15 g of medium-fine coffee and 220 g of water at about 200°F (93°C). Stir for 10 seconds, insert the plunger slightly to stop dripping, steep until 2:00, then press slowly for about 30 seconds. More recipes are in our AeroPress methods and best AeroPress recipes.
Travel French Press: Best for Groups and Road Trips
A French press makes a rich, full-bodied cup and can brew for several people at once. For travel, skip glass and choose a stainless steel or plastic press, or a press-style travel mug that brews and keeps the coffee hot in one container. Use a coarse grind and about 1 g of coffee for every 16 g of water (for example 30 g of coffee to 480 g of water), steep for about 4 minutes, then press slowly. See our French press guide.
Drip Bags and Instant: When You Want No Gear
Single-serve drip bags are small paper filters filled with ground coffee that hook over the edge of a cup; you simply pour hot water through them a little at a time. Specialty-grade instant coffee has also improved a lot, and some brands now make instant from good beans. Neither matches freshly ground coffee, but both beat most hotel-room coffee and weigh almost nothing. See how instant coffee is made and our guide to making coffee without a coffee maker.
Bring Fresh Beans and Grind Them on the Road
- Buy fresh: pack beans roasted within the last 2 to 4 weeks. Check the roast date on the bag, or buy from a local roaster at your destination. See how to read a coffee bag label.
- Pre-weigh servings: measure each cup’s beans at home into small airtight bags or tubes, so you do not need to pack a scale.
- Store them well: keep beans sealed, cool and out of the sun; see how to store coffee beans.
- Grind just before brewing: ground coffee goes stale in hours, whole beans last weeks. A small hand grinder such as the Porlex Mini fits inside an AeroPress plunger; see our best manual coffee grinders.
- No grinder? Ask your roaster to grind for your brewer and pack it in a sealed bag. It will fade faster, so use it within a week or so; see whole bean vs ground coffee.
How to Get Hot Water Anywhere
- Travel kettle: a compact or collapsible electric kettle boils water in a few minutes. Check that it is dual-voltage or bring a converter if you travel abroad.
- Hotel coffee maker: run one pot of plain water through first to rinse it, then run a second pot of water and use it for your brewer. It is usually a little cooler than ideal, so let it brew a bit longer.
- Ask for it: cafés, airport restaurants and hotel breakfast rooms will usually give you a cup of hot water.
- Camping: boil water on a camp stove, then let it rest for about 30 seconds to reach roughly 200°F. At high altitude, water boils below 212°F (about 203°F at 5,000 feet), so you can use it straight off the boil.
- Water quality: if the tap water tastes off, use bottled or filtered water; see the best water for coffee.
Flying With Coffee Gear
In the US, coffee beans, ground coffee, manual grinders, travel kettles and brewers such as the AeroPress can all go in carry-on bags. Large amounts of ground coffee or other powders may be pulled aside for extra screening, so pack them where they are easy to reach. Brewed coffee counts as a liquid, so empty your travel mug before security. Rules vary by country, so check before you fly.
Travel Coffee Packing List
- AeroPress or AeroPress Go, plus spare paper filters
- Small hand grinder
- Fresh whole beans, pre-weighed into single servings
- Compact kettle, or a plan for hot water
- Insulated travel mug with a leak-proof lid; see choosing a coffee mug for home and travel
- A few drip bags or instant packets as a backup
- A small cloth or zip bag for the used filter and grounds
Want to get the ratios right? See our coffee-to-water ratio guide. And if your trip includes the beach in summer, our cold brew guide shows how to make a batch that needs no hot water at all.
Former roastery owner and coffee tour operator. Steve spent five years roasting coffee for his own shop and wholesale customers. More about Steve