Maybe you’ve just moved, and your equipment is stowed away, the Airbnb has failed to consider the essential nature of this appliance, or maybe you’re like us and occasionally sleep in your vehicles while driving across the country.

Few things are as anxiety-inducing as realizing you have no coffee in the morning and no means to procure it. Have no fear! Despite the curveballs life throws your way, making decent coffee without any tools is relatively easy.

Here are our favorite ways to make coffee without a machine:

1. Cupping Coffee

Used by coffee professionals around the world, cupping is one of the best ways to brew and assess a coffee’s flavour. All you need is the following: a small cup or bowl, a couple of soup spoons, and, of course, medium-coarse ground coffee beans.

1. Find a wide-rimmed cup that holds around 6-7 oz.

2. Add 2 tablespoons (~11 grams) of medium-coarse ground coffee to your cup or bowl.

3. Add approximately 180 ml of boiling water to the grounds, ensuring all grounds are saturated.

4. The coffee-water mixture will bubble up, forming a “crust” layer on top of the liquid.

5. After four minutes, use your spoon to gently stir the crust so that it settles to the bottom of the cup.

6. Using your spoons, scoop any additional coffee particles from the surface of the coffee and discard them into a sink or extra cup.

7. You can sip or slurp your coffee from the spoon with the grounds settled at the base of your cup.

2. Cowboy Coffee

Perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, cowboy coffee is the original, brutalist way of making coffee and is traditionally done over a fire using a small pot, coarse ground coffee, and a wooden spoon (optional).

1. Boil 1 liter of water in a pot and remove it to cool slightly.

2. Add ¾ cup of coarsely ground coffee.

3. Stir gently for 3-5 minutes until the coffee grounds settle at the bottom of the pot.

4. Carefully pour into a mug, tilting just enough so no grounds escape the pot.

3. Cold Brew Coffee

If you don’t need your coffee immediately, prefer iced coffee beverages, and want to brew a larger volume once to drink throughout the week, cold brew is for you—but you will need access to a cold environment (outside in Canada) or a refrigerator.

Cold brewing is one of the easiest, least involved ways of making coffee. For this process, you’ll need:

• A mason jar or pitcher
• Very coarse ground coffee
• A method of straining: cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer

The beauty of cold brew is that it’s essentially foolproof. You could grind your coffee using a mortar and pestle or food processor, and as long as it’s coarse, it will still work out.

1. Combine 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee with 2 cups of cold water in a pitcher or jar.

2. Stir gently, just enough until all the coffee grounds are saturated.

3. Place in the fridge for 16-24 hours.

4. Strain over ice and dilute 1:1 with water, milk, tonic, or cream.

4. Instant Coffee

Instant coffee can be a great option if you have limited space, access to a kitchen, or need your coffee fix instantly.

Many of us associate instant coffee with low quality, bitter-tasting, and chemical flavours. While that might be true for some of the more prolific instant coffee brands, the specialty coffee world has made leaps and bounds regarding the quality of instant coffee.

Instead of using industrial, large-scale spray drying and low-quality robusta blends, many specialty roasters have developed their own in-house, small-batch, freeze-drying processes that use specialty-grade coffee instead and taste great.

While we have no affiliation with any of these brands, here are some of our favorites:

• Hasty Coffee
• Swift Instant Coffee
• Canadian Heritage “Flash Fuel”

5. Our Ready-to-Brew Jet Pack Coffee

If the above is simply not your style, and you’re looking for high-quality cups with a good balance of sweetness, cleanliness, and clarity of flavour akin to pour-over, our Jetpack Coffees might just be the best option for your next out-of-home adventure or backup plan.

Simply tear open the pack, place the pre-dosed filter onto your mug, and slowly add hot water—just like pour-over, except easier and faster! Once you’ve reached the desired cup volume, simply toss the filter into your compost or campfire and discard the packaging.