How To Make Coffee Without A Coffee Maker

Learn how to make coffee without a coffee maker or french press in two ways – including a zero waste way. Sometimes you need coffee, but you don’t have a coffee maker available. Follow my tips to make coffee without a coffee pot.

Living Without A Coffee Maker

Today’s blog post is about the essential things in life… like energy. Urghhh coffee energy.

Because I would scarcely survive without my many cups of coffee during the day.

Fun little fact… we haven’t had a coffee pot in probably 3-4 years, and people, I drink my fair share of coffee.

So, how do you make coffee without a coffee maker and why on earth would someone do that? 

You’ve heard that you’re not supposed to heat plastic, right? How it leaches harmful chemicals into our food and water when heated, which can lead to cancer and hormone disruption?

Well, I really didn’t like the idea of the hot water going through all that plastic to make a cup of coffee. I wrote a whole post about making non-toxic coffee here.

Well, I wanted to share with you a more recent way we’ve been doing this.

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You don’t need expensive tools

I went out and got myself a Chemex to make coffee. When I came home, my husband just gave me a dirty look and said, “Amy, you know I’m going to break that, right?” Uhhh, no, sweet husband, who breaks just about everything… you will not break this amazing coffee maker.

Lo and behold, not even a week later – not even ONE week later – he broke the brand new $40 Chemex and just said, “I told you.”

Touché, husband, you win this round of being right.

Well, I wasn’t just about to go out and buy another $40 Chemex, so I looked around and pulled out a half gallon wide mouth mason jars.

I used a Chemex filters and there you have it – a makeshift and cheap Chemex. 

Tips for Making Coffee Without A Coffee Maker:

• If you are planning to add a lot of coffee grounds, you can put the coffee filter edges closer to the ends and then use a wide mouth mason jar ring to place on top securing the coffee filter.
• If you don’t have a heat source, you could always make cold brew coffee which is very simple. This recipe has great reviews.
• Fresh ground your coffee beans for the freshest and best tasting coffee. I usually opt for organic fair-trade coffee and I just grind it at the store. Grinding it right before you make coffee will give you the best results.
• If you don’t have any tools what so ever, you could make instant coffee. Not the best tasting, but may do the job.

Tools you may need:

Wide mouth mason jar- I use a half gallon. Optional lid ring. Any size (8 oz or larger) wide mouth mason jar will do. Less coffee, use a smaller mason jar.

Chemex coffee filters

Coffee – we like organic fair-trade coffee.

How To Make Coffee Without A Coffee Maker:

1. Heat water.
2. Place the Chemex filter into a wide mouth mason jar. Fold over the sides leaving about a 1/2 inch to 1 inch of filter over the sides.
   1. If you are planning to add a lot of coffee grounds, you can put the coffee filter edges closer to the ends and then use a wide mouth mason jar ring to place on top securing the coffee filter.
3. Add in your desired amount of ground coffee (based on the amount of water you plan to use). I usually add 8 scoops for 8 cups of water, but if you like it stronger or weaker just vary the amount of ground coffee.
4. Pour hot water over it. Be careful to not overflow.  It is recommended to not use boiling water to pour over beans because it can burn the beans. I usually will allow the tea kettle to come to boil and then allow it to sit for a minute or two before boiling.
   

How To Make One Cup Of Coffee Without A Coffee Maker: 2 Ways

This also works really well to make just one cup.

 

1. Simply place a Chemex filters in a coffee mug or small, wide mouth, or mason jar.
2. Add some coffee grounds.
3. Pour hot water over it. Now you have the perfect single cup of coffee. 

What can I use instead of coffee filters?

Now, if you’re thinking, “sweet, but I don’t want to go out and buy coffee filters constantly, Amy… Do you have a more eco-friendly option?” Why yes, yes, I do, my sweet earth-saving friend.

Make Coffee Using A Re-Useable Coffee Strainer

We’ve also been using this re-useable stainless steel coffee filter (like this one) and really enjoy it. The only catch is you can only make a small amount of coffee before it starts draining really slowly – sloth slow, yo.

So, we make a cup, rinse out the grounds and the strainer, make another cup, rinse out the grounds and strainer, and on and on.

Obviously, a little more time consuming, but you’re saving the environment one coffee pot or filter at a time. 

How TUse A French Press

Another way to make coffee without a coffee maker and without coffee filters is by using a french press. This actually has become one of my favorite ways because it is zero waste and a lot less time consuming.

1. Simply heat up water.
2. While the water is heating up, add coffee grounds to the french press. For my french press, I add 7-8 scoops of coffee per 48 ounces of water.
3. Pour the water in and allow it to steep (aka brew coffee) for 3-5 minutes. 
4. Press the strainer and pour the coffee into your favorite mug.

My two-year-old even understands. She is always asking me, “Mommy, you drinkin’ your cofffeeeee?” She said the other day at a party, “Marshmallows are lllliiiiifffeee!” Why yes, this is true, but even more true… coffee is life. 

This post was updated Octover 19, 2019