– by Steve Sheppard –
This summer’s campfire ban has made camping itself a little less fun, well for me at least, because I associate camping with a good campfire and the tradition of ‘Cowboy’ coffee that goes along with it.
The tradition of cowboy coffee is entrenched in our history. During the first few years on the cattle-drives, roasted coffee beans were not readily available. The green coffee bean would require roasting before being used and the cook normally roasted several days-worth to have on hand. Green coffee beans will last a year if stored in a cool dry area. However, roasted beans (until canning came along) did not stay fresh as long. Everyone who appreciates coffee knows the fresher the bean, the better the taste of the coffee.
The morning began with the chuck-wagon cook getting up around three in the morning. He would take coffee pots from the spit and pour out what was left over from the night before, perhaps into the boiling stew for added flavor. He would bring water to a boil and set it aside on the spit to stay warm. Good coffee should be 180 to 200 degrees (f) when the coffee is added. Two and a half cups of grounds per 20 cups of coffee or in modern 12 cup conversion, eight to nine tablespoons to 12 cups. The grounds were placed directly into the water to boil. After about five minutes, the coffee was done, but to serve it without grinds in the cup the cook added one cup of cold water to the pot. This allowed the grounds to immediately settle to the bottom of the pot. Sometimes an egg shell was placed in the pot to help the grounds settle but cool water always does the trick. The coffee was fresh, hot and served black. If you were a greenhorn you would add sugar and dry dairy. But then you had to deal with the real cowboys, who would tease you as a greenhorn.
Depending on the crew size, pots were normally 20 to 36 cup types made in either copper, cast iron, steel or enamelware. Pots were never boiled dry and coffee was always on the spit when the chuck-wagon was not hitched up. Pots were washed daily and about once a week the inside cleaned with vinegar. Nothing truly tastes better than a fresh cup of cowboy coffee with the aroma of wood burning and the fresh roasted grounds in the air. I hope the campfire ban comes off soon so I can get back to the great Canadian tradition of coffee on the campfire the ‘cowboy way’ and don’t be a greenhorn, drink your coffee black… Steve out.
