When Zach Frantz, the founder of Wildland Coffee, got in touch and offered to send some samples of his “coffee in a tea bag,” I was more than usually careful not to guarantee coverage of the product, and certainly no positive coverage. I consider coffee—even camp coffee—serious business, and generally grind beans for each cup and use pour-over brewing. I was skeptical, to say the least, that coffee in a tea bag wouldn’t wind up tasting like, well . . . tea. You know, that watery stuff that was responsible for the downfall of the British Empire.
Zach was fine with my caveat, and sent along an assortment.
The Wildland Coffee concept is self-evident: actual ground coffee (from, depending on the roast, Guatemala or Brazil) is individually packed in oversized “tea” bags in individual foil packets designed to keep the contents fresh for twelve months. To brew, one simply brings water to a near boil and pours eight ounces of it over the bag in a mug. The instructions say to let it brew (steep?) for eight minutes—which, on a cold morning in camp, I suspect would result in a tepid drink. I stirred and massaged the bag actively and figured it was done just a few minutes later—and still hot.
And, well . . . it tasted like coffee. It wasn’t freshly-ground-pour-over-coffee coffee, but it was way, way better than any instant coffee I’ve ever had. It was a bit silty, like French-press brew, but full-bodied and tasty. I was expecting to sample it and dump the rest; instead I happily finished—and enjoyed—the whole cup.
The obvious selling point for Wildland Coffee is the ease and speed with which one can be enjoying a fresh, quite decent cup of coffee. On the other hand, each serving requires a foil packet that must be discarded, in addition to the bag itself. And of course it is significantly more expensive per cup than if you use bulk beans. As such, even if I weren’t a bit of a snob who also actually enjoys the ritual of making morning coffee, I wouldn’t carry this as my regular brew. However, I’ll be quite happy to take along a half dozen packets for when I’d really like a cup but don’t have time for the entire ritual—say, mid-morning on the road. And a few packets stored in the little impromptu stove kit I keep in the FJ40 means I could always have the option of a cup without the worry of stale beans or ground coffee.
If I were Zach’s marketing manager I’d urge him to try to lose the tea connection altogether. “Coffee in a satchel.” Or, “Dammit, it’s not a tea bag!” Something like that. But that’s just me.
Wildland Coffee is here. The $10 sample pack is an easy way to give it a try.
Edit: Zach seems to have had the same thoughts I did regarding the tea connection. Here’s his new packaging.
