As a Ranger for The Dyrt I am lucky enough to test out products every so often. This is my test and review of the https://www.naturescoffeekettle.com/ 100% Colombian kettle kit and hot chocolate kit at Hampton campground, in Oregon.
Campground Review
Worst campground ever! If it wasn't for the Nature's coffee kettle and the nice hiking nearby, this would have been a most unenjoyable campout. I'll get to the good parts later on in the product review.
With that I will start with the two good points of this campground; it is on the middle fork of the Willamette river and it's only 5 bucks a night. After staying only one night, I realize why this is. There is only a pit toilet; no other amenities at all. There is a boat landing that is now too far from the river to land any boats. The 4 site campground is small and the sites are right on top of each other, and there were bees everywhere. To top it off, the campground is right on HWY 58 AND the train tracks. I counted at least 10 trains going by, and I was gone hiking for half the day I was there. Five trains sped almost within feet of the site while I tried to sleep. I knew this campground was right on the tracks, but hadn't realized the frequency, speed and length of the trains that go by.
I would say pass on this campground if you're in the area; instead venture further east or west to find many other grounds that are way nicer, and more quiet and secluded.
Also, nearby are some nice hikes, I hiked the easy 6mi. Patterson mountain with views of lookout point reservoir. There is also the Goodman creek, Eagles rest and Hardesty mountain trails nearby. These are still accessible from other campgrounds. Avoid this place at all costs!
Product Review
Now to the good stuff!
The Nature's coffee kettle deserves a five star, made my morning! "Waking up" to a decent brew after a night of howling track burners made it all better.
Nature's coffee kettle is a new system that brews the coffee right in the bag; ala Mountain house. I like how the bag comes pre loaded with a pouch of your choice of one of many available style blends. These you can also buy separately, as this kettle can be used up to 5 times, I'm sure you could use it more, but they recommend 5. I also like how there is little to no cleanup, just toss the pouch after use and recycle the bag after it's last use. This unit is nice and lightweight, will fit into your backpack nicely and doesn't require any of the bulky standard coffee brewing equipment.
The things I don't like are: the bag itself does not stand alone when pouring the boiling water in, so you need to make sure to have a good grip on it, and try not to pour boiling hot water on yourself. The other issue I have, is the coffee that comes out is not that strong, I like a good strong dark brew especially when I'm camping. What they recommend is to run your batch through 2-3 times to reach desired strength. At first I thought this would be annoying, but after brewing 3-4 separate batches, the first with a single run through and the rest with two runs. I found it to not be as bad as I thought and I finally got a really good tasting brew the last time.
In time, with practice, and trying different brew lengths and temperature water, you can actually fine tune the brew; I kinda like that.
I also tried the hot chocolate pouch. The hot chocolate that comes out is super thick, creamy and very rich. It was delicious! It would be very good for the little ones, I had to drink it all myself, so I poured a little in my coffee and made myself a "mocha". I normally like my coffee black, but if you are into the sweeter coffees, this is a nice extra use of the coffee kettle.
I'd say https://www.naturescoffeekettle.com/ is a great product for backpacking or just the casual camper as it is packable, easily disposable and offers a great tasting brew anywhere you might find yourself outdoors.
