Coffee while camping is just a given. Waking up on a cool Fall morning and watching the sunrise, while sipping a cup of hot coffee is just magical. How you make your coffee though is open to a lot of debate. When I’m backpacking, I’ll use either my pour-over coffee maker or my favorite instant, making one cup at a time, which works but is slow.
My preference is always to buy quality. After doing my research for my post The Best Big Coffee Pots For Camping, I picked the Coletti. Here are the two main factors that made me choose the Coletti percolator.
Build – The Coletti is made with 18/8 stainless steel with no aluminum or plastic. There is a lot of debate over just how bad aluminum cookware is for you, but why risk it. As for plastic, that is never a good idea when you are talking about cooking around flames and campfires.
Warranty – They are stating that it has a lifetime warranty. Not sure what they determine as its ‘lifetime’, but it is at least a vote of confidence that their product will hold up under regular use.
How Easy is the Colettie Coffee Pot to Use?
The Coletti percolating coffee pot is only slightly more difficult to use than your average at-home electric coffee pot. The only real difference is that you have to control how much heat you apply and how long your perc your coffee.
The Basic Process of Making Coffee In This Percolator
To start, fill your coffee pot to the desired level, then place the percolator basket in the coffee pot. This pot has markings for 6, 8, 10, and 12 cups on it. The lines can be a little hard to see on the inside for the first few times, but after a little coffee oil gets in them, they are easy to see.
I use filters in my coffee pot, so place one of those in and then add your coffee, more on how much coffee later. Place the lid on the basket, close the lid on the coffee pot, and put over any medium-high heat source. For percolators, you should use a coarser ground coffee. I’m lazy and typically use whatever coffee I have around, which is usually a medium grind. This really isn’t an issue aside from occasionally getting some grounds at the bottom of the pot.
Once your pot starts to perc, reduce the heat until it is just enough to keep it percolating. In my experience, it takes a while to get things going, but after that 4-7 minutes of percolating is plenty to make a strong batch of coffee. You can watch the glass to see how dark it is getting.
Once it is done brewing, you can serve. Do keep in mind to use the tab on the lid to hold it down as you pour, so the lid doesn’t flop open and dump grounds everywhere.
Cleanup After Making Coffee
When you are done, dump out any remaining coffee and the grounds in the basket. If you have a garden, the grounds make great compost. After that, disassemble everything and give it a good rinsing out and you are done!
Is the Coletti Coffee Pot Dishwasher Safe?
Not an issue when I’m camping, but I know some people are finicky that way and want to over-clean everything. To answer whether or not you can or need to run your Coletti coffee pot through the dishwasher, I’ll let them answer that one.
All our products are made with 18/8 stainless steel. They are dishwasher safe and will not rust. However, since coffee has antibacterial properties you should not need to machine wash often.
A view of the water diffuser in the Coletti 12 cup coffee pot
How Much Coffee To Use In Your Percolator
If you follow any coffee maker’s instructions, they will tell you to use one tablespoon of coffee grounds per cup of water. I find this to be a bit excessive. I don’t measure my coffee out super exact when camping, but I’m guessing that I use about half that much and still get pretty decent coffee. You can do what you want though and I suggest tinkering to find out just how you like it. That is one of the joys of using a manual coffee pot, you can decide how fast and how long you perc your coffee.
What Coffee Filters To Use In your Camping Percolator
If you have coarse ground coffee, honestly you don’t really need any filters in your coffee pot. You may get some grounds at the bottom, but you are camping after all, so tough it out.
For most of us though, we will want some sort of filter in our brew basket. The Coletti coffee pots ship with simple disc coffee filters that just cover the bottom of the brew basket. I’ve found these to be perfectly sufficient for my coffee brewing. The only issue I’ve found is that if you brew too fast, or have too much coffee in the basket, you will get grounds in your finished product.
If you want to be sure you don’t get grounds in your coffee, you will want to use a full wrap around style coffee filter that encapsulates the coffee and doesn’t let the grounds get anywhere.
Where Are Coletti Coffee Pots Made?
According to the Coletti FAQ, the company’s main office is in Spokane, WA (I’ll have to stop and visit on my way through sometime), but the coffee pots themselves are made in Jiangmen City, China. They are hoping to move production to the USA at some point.
Final Thoughts On The Coletti Camping Coffee Pot
After taking this coffee pot out camping a few times, I have to say I’m very pleased with it. Despite it being a no-frills coffee pot, it turns out a very good cup of coffee. Overall the construction is very good, and it is very easy to use. My only design complaint is that the handle and lid are tack welded on, which seems sketchy. That being said, all the other coffee pots on the market are assembled the same way as far as I have found.
My only other complaint is that they are made in China, but again, as far as I’ve found, all of them are. Why we can’t make stainless steel anything in the USA is beyond me.
If you are looking for a solid camp percolating coffee pot, I think the Coletti Bozeman is a very good choice.
Pros of the Coletti Bozeman Percolator Coffee Pot
Solid, long-lasting 18/8 stainless body and internal components
Easy to use and master brewing good coffee
The Rosewood handle stays cool and is big enough to get a good grip on
A Campers Review of the12 Cup Coletti Bozeman Percolator Coffee Pot for Camping, Is It That Good?
Coffee while camping is just a given. Waking up on a cool Fall morning and watching the sunrise, while sipping a cup of hot coffee is just magical. How you make your coffee though is open to a lot of debate. When I’m backpacking, I’ll use either my pour-over coffee maker or my favorite instant, making one cup at a time, which works but is slow.
When I’m rolling around in Leif, I have the luxury of bringing along a full-size camping coffee pot, so this year I bought a 12-cup Coletti Bozeman Percolator Coffee Pot.
Why Did I Choose The Coletti Coffee Pot
My preference is always to buy quality. After doing my research for my post The Best Big Coffee Pots For Camping, I picked the Coletti. Here are the two main factors that made me choose the Coletti percolator.
Build – The Coletti is made with 18/8 stainless steel with no aluminum or plastic. There is a lot of debate over just how bad aluminum cookware is for you, but why risk it. As for plastic, that is never a good idea when you are talking about cooking around flames and campfires.
Volume – If I’m making coffee for 2-3 people, a 12-cup coffee maker is perfect. That is enough in one brew to fill up 3 travel mugs with no problem. Read more about coffee cups not being true cups here.
Warranty – They are stating that it has a lifetime warranty. Not sure what they determine as its ‘lifetime’, but it is at least a vote of confidence that their product will hold up under regular use.
How Easy is the Colettie Coffee Pot to Use?
The Coletti percolating coffee pot is only slightly more difficult to use than your average at-home electric coffee pot. The only real difference is that you have to control how much heat you apply and how long your perc your coffee.
The Basic Process of Making Coffee In This Percolator
To start, fill your coffee pot to the desired level, then place the percolator basket in the coffee pot. This pot has markings for 6, 8, 10, and 12 cups on it. The lines can be a little hard to see on the inside for the first few times, but after a little coffee oil gets in them, they are easy to see.
I use filters in my coffee pot, so place one of those in and then add your coffee, more on how much coffee later. Place the lid on the basket, close the lid on the coffee pot, and put over any medium-high heat source. For percolators, you should use a coarser ground coffee. I’m lazy and typically use whatever coffee I have around, which is usually a medium grind. This really isn’t an issue aside from occasionally getting some grounds at the bottom of the pot.
Once your pot starts to perc, reduce the heat until it is just enough to keep it percolating. In my experience, it takes a while to get things going, but after that 4-7 minutes of percolating is plenty to make a strong batch of coffee. You can watch the glass to see how dark it is getting.
Once it is done brewing, you can serve. Do keep in mind to use the tab on the lid to hold it down as you pour, so the lid doesn’t flop open and dump grounds everywhere.
Cleanup After Making Coffee
When you are done, dump out any remaining coffee and the grounds in the basket. If you have a garden, the grounds make great compost. After that, disassemble everything and give it a good rinsing out and you are done!
Is the Coletti Coffee Pot Dishwasher Safe?
Not an issue when I’m camping, but I know some people are finicky that way and want to over-clean everything. To answer whether or not you can or need to run your Coletti coffee pot through the dishwasher, I’ll let them answer that one.
How Much Coffee To Use In Your Percolator
If you follow any coffee maker’s instructions, they will tell you to use one tablespoon of coffee grounds per cup of water. I find this to be a bit excessive. I don’t measure my coffee out super exact when camping, but I’m guessing that I use about half that much and still get pretty decent coffee. You can do what you want though and I suggest tinkering to find out just how you like it. That is one of the joys of using a manual coffee pot, you can decide how fast and how long you perc your coffee.
What Coffee Filters To Use In your Camping Percolator
If you have coarse ground coffee, honestly you don’t really need any filters in your coffee pot. You may get some grounds at the bottom, but you are camping after all, so tough it out.
For most of us though, we will want some sort of filter in our brew basket. The Coletti coffee pots ship with simple disc coffee filters that just cover the bottom of the brew basket. I’ve found these to be perfectly sufficient for my coffee brewing. The only issue I’ve found is that if you brew too fast, or have too much coffee in the basket, you will get grounds in your finished product.
If you want to be sure you don’t get grounds in your coffee, you will want to use a full wrap around style coffee filter that encapsulates the coffee and doesn’t let the grounds get anywhere.
Where Are Coletti Coffee Pots Made?
According to the Coletti FAQ, the company’s main office is in Spokane, WA (I’ll have to stop and visit on my way through sometime), but the coffee pots themselves are made in Jiangmen City, China. They are hoping to move production to the USA at some point.
Final Thoughts On The Coletti Camping Coffee Pot
After taking this coffee pot out camping a few times, I have to say I’m very pleased with it. Despite it being a no-frills coffee pot, it turns out a very good cup of coffee. Overall the construction is very good, and it is very easy to use. My only design complaint is that the handle and lid are tack welded on, which seems sketchy. That being said, all the other coffee pots on the market are assembled the same way as far as I have found.
My only other complaint is that they are made in China, but again, as far as I’ve found, all of them are. Why we can’t make stainless steel anything in the USA is beyond me.
If you are looking for a solid camp percolating coffee pot, I think the Coletti Bozeman is a very good choice.
Pros of the Coletti Bozeman Percolator Coffee Pot
Cons of the Coletti Bozeman Percolator Coffee Pot
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