Cowboy coffee is grounds and water boiled in a pot, and that's the whole method. No filter, no gear, nothing to break. It has a reputation for being terrible, which is mostly a heat problem — take it off the boil, let the grounds settle, and pour carefully and it's genuinely decent. Worth knowing for camping, power outages, and any morning your grinder has betrayed you.

Step 1: Boil Water

Bring water to a boil in your pot. Remove from heat.

Step 2: Add Coffee

Add 30g coarse ground coffee directly to the water. Stir once.

Step 3: Steep

Steep for 4 minutes. Do not stir again.

Step 4: Settle the Grounds

Add a splash of cold water to the pot — this drops the temperature and causes grounds to sink rapidly. Wait 1 minute.

Step 5: Pour Carefully

Pour slowly from the pot into your cup, stopping before the settled grounds at the bottom reach the spout.

Gritty cup: Pour more slowly, or let it settle for an extra minute.

Bitter: Grind coarser or reduce steep time. Cowboy coffee needs coarse grind more than any other method.

Does cowboy coffee actually taste good?

With coarse grind and the cold-water settling trick — yes, genuinely. It's not complex, but it's bold and honest. It tastes like coffee made outdoors should taste.