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I can’t stand drinking bad coffee when I travel. No disrespect if you’re fine with the single-serve coffee pods sitting in your hotel room or that questionable can of Folgers in the Airbnb, but I’d rather suffer through a caffeine deficiency than try my luck with those. Sure, there are over 40,000 Starbucks worldwide that could satisfy my need for coffee, but you won’t find me in one because making my own coffee is a ritual, whether I’m home, across the country or halfway around the globe.
Over the years, my product testing has introduced me to travel gear that has only exacerbated my coffee obsession. I’ve slowly assembled a collection of brewers and accessories that have a permanent place in my luggage, airline weight restrictions be darned. Does my wife laugh at me every time I break out a hand-crank grinder in a hotel room? Of course. It’s worth every ounce of ridicule because a glorious cup of coffee hits on another level during an exhausting vacation.
You don’t need every product I take with me for coffee on the go, but I’m sure at least one of the best travel accessories for coffee could improve what you sip on your next trip. Let me show you how I do it.
Hotel coffee stinks, so I brew my own with these tools
The AeroPress Go takes the legendary brewing device and shrinks it into an even more portable coffee maker, and every piece fits inside a plastic mug.
The AeroPress Go Plus upgrades a few aspects of the AeroPress Go, namely with a thermal travel mug and a larger brewer closer in size to the OG AeroPress.
It might hurt to leave your beloved espresso machine at home, but I promise it’s not hard to get something close with any iteration of the AeroPress. It excels at making a faux-espresso coffee concentrate or full-bodied immersion brew similar to that of a French press. Want something bright like a pour-over? That is also in the wheelhouse of the AeroPress, because this tiny device’s portability is only matched by its versatility.
While the original AeroPress is certainly capable of being a travel brewer, the Go and Go Plus models make more sense for me. Each fits into its own travel mug, storing every piece and accessory inside. It keeps filters and stirrers clean while also giving you something to actually drink out of if your destination doesn’t provide one. When you’re throwing this into your carry-on roller or personal item bag, the nesting setup goes a long way in keeping everything organized and sanitary.
The more affordable AeroPress Go is what I’ve traveled with for years. It’s remarkably light and compact, occupying more or less the same amount of space as my portable chargers. Aside from the brewer itself — a three-piece system comprised of a chamber, plunger and cap — the tools used to operate the AeroPress Go were altered to make them more packable. Instead of a fat shelf for storing hundreds of filters, a flat disc can stash 25 of them. The bulky stirrer has a hinge so it can fold in half. The grounds scoop, traditionally at the end of a long handle, is a thumb-sized shovel.
More recently, I tested the AeroPress Go Plus. While the Go has a microwavable plastic cup and a silicone lid, the Go Plus cuts no corners by upgrading to an insulated travel mug complete with a sealable lid and a secret screw-off bottom for stashing filters. It makes a big difference if you don’t actually plan on drinking your coffee right where you make it. The Go Plus’ brewer is also large enough to make two shareable cups instead of one solo serving.
Regardless of which AeroPress model you take with you, the process of making great coffee is generally the same. Place the capped chamber on your mug, add some grounds, pour in water, stir, then plunge. The whole process is nearly as fast as instant coffee. The brand’s instructions say one scoop of coffee and 10 seconds of stirring is great for a concentrate that can be enjoyed straight up or diluted Americano style. That said, the AeroPress famously can be deployed in various ways and, in many of our editors’ experiences, never seems to produce a bad result. Try experimenting!
Elements of using the AeroPress are ideal for tight, temporary spaces like hotel rooms. It creates little waste — just pop the spent grounds and filter out into the trash — and cleaning is as simple as a quick rinse. There are even reusable filters so you can cut down on materials. AeroPress makes a stainless steel model as well, though I prefer the two-piece Fellow Prismo because it creates a pressurized seal that opens up different brewing possibilities. The Prismo isn’t supposed to fit on the Go, but I’ve managed to make it work with a little extra oomph.
Of course, you’ll need water. It doesn’t have to be hot, but since I prefer piping coffee even in the summer, I’ve taken advantage of the electric kettles provided by many accommodations. If you’re without one, check to see if the coffee maker in your room can dispense hot water by running a podless cycle. (I’ve considered buying a collapsible kettle but haven’t had the need yet.)
You might not realize it, but coffee beans are perishable just like any other fresh food. This vacuum-sealed jar is a fairly inexpensive way to keep them pristine.
Traveling with fresh, whole-bean coffee is a luxury enabled by this hand-crank burr grinder. Its collapsible components and 50 grind settings don’t sacrifice portability or precision.
I can’t overstate the difference fresh coffee makes over a pre-ground bag you might find at the grocery store or an old pod that’s been sitting around for who knows how long. It’s my snobbiest coffee take, but it’s true. Think about it: The coffee you drink at a specialty shop is better than what comes from your drip machine at least partially because it’s been better sourced and freshly roasted.
My advice? Whenever you travel, stop by a local shop early in your trip and get your beans there. It’s one less thing to pack and lets you try something new while supporting a local business. In the past year, I’ve picked up fresh beans in Wyoming, Costa Rica and Ireland.
When you buy a bag of fresh beans, it’s usually vacuum sealed, but that seal is broken the first time you open it up, letting oxygen in and making your new purchase vulnerable to a loss of freshness and flavor. Having your own storage solution that can re-engage that airtight seal might sound technical, but the Fellow Atmos line of canisters isn’t complicated at all.
While there’s an electric Atmos model that can remove air and later release that vacuum at the press of a button, I prefer the manual iteration because it’s cheaper. All it takes is a few twists of the lid to keep your beans safe and sealed. I travel with the mid-sized 0.7-liter can, but there’s a smaller 0.4-liter size if you only need a weekend’s worth of beans.
VSSL Java G25 Coffee Grinder
Turning those beans into fresh coffee requires a grinder, and there’s no better travel option than the VSSL Java G25. It’s built like a stainless steel tank, so I pretty recklessly stuff it anywhere in my suitcase. Its crank folds down to make an already small item even more packable.
Most importantly, the Java G25 is effective at grinding however finely or coarsely you want it to. I’ve used its 50 settings to make a powdery espresso grind and big flakes fit for a French press. Even the best manual coffee grinder will never be as instantaneous as an electric grinder, of course, but we have to cut corners somewhere in this situation. And I don’t mind the mini workout it takes to crank the full 25-gram capacity. It only adds to the satisfaction of the final result.
A coffee scale unlocks more precision, and everything about the design of this model makes it perfectly suited for bringing on your next vacation.
A proper coffee scale is widely accepted as a must-have when it comes to manual brewing methods because it lets baristas and hobbyists dial in precise measurements of grounds and water to achieve a better cup of coffee. Yet, coffee scales and travel don’t usually jibe. The design of the AeroPress recognizes this, as the numbers up the chamber are intended to guide your water levels for scale-free brewing, but that’s just what’s listed in the instructions.
In reality, plenty of people concoct their own recipes, and there’s even a community built around sharing them. I personally find myself going back to that of coffee YouTuber James Hoffman, who uses 11 grams of coffee and 200 grams of water.
The Maestri House K-112 Mini Coffee Scale has become my go-to for exact measurements when I’m away from my full weighing station at home. It’s truly mini, less than 4 inches in length and width, plus USB-C charging means I don’t have to pack an extra cord aside from what I use for my smartphone and tablet. There’s no protruding weighing platform either, so it tucks away into a pocket easily, though don’t get careless with its glass surface.
This scale weighs down to a tenth of a gram and features a timer that automatically starts when you begin pouring water. While there’s nothing fancy about those specs — they’re the bare minimum for a coffee scale — having them in a GameBoy-sized package makes the K-112 an automatic add to my setup.
If you’re as obsessive over your travel coffee setup as I am, keeping everything organized is a lot easier with this modular bag. Yes, I’ve gone overboard here.
You do not need every recommendation in my travel coffee arsenal, but I do. I fully recognize that I’ve lost the plot and that it seems like I’m opening a coffee shop instead of checking into a hotel. This is the candy bar bag carrying bag scene, except I’m scamming myself. Roast me.
But if you do find yourself equally invested in your caffeine routine while on vacation, I highly recommend the AeroPress Sidekick by Sttoke Coffee Travel Bag. It’s similar to a padded camera bag, but instead of storing lenses and tripods within its modular dividers, there’s space for your brewer, mug, grinder, scale and whatever else you want to stuff in there. I especially like the pockets on the cover, which are a great place to stash recipe notes, extra filters and accessories.
The weatherproof shell sports impressive durability, though I’ve never needed to test it in the rain because the Sidekick fits perfectly in my carry-on or the shoe compartment of my go-to weekender bag.
Even if you don’t need a beefy bag like this one, I recommend a dedicated container for your coffee gear. One of your packing cubes will do just fine. It makes it easier to keep coffee gear and clothing separate, and it also serves as a central gathering place to avoid leaving anything behind. The last thing you want when traveling is to lose a brewer’s cap or a grinder’s basket and be stuck with whatever coffee perils await you in your next hotel room.
CNN Underscored has a team of skilled writers and editors with many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products who ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when applicable to make certain we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item.
For this article, associate testing writer Joe Bloss gave the scoop on products he actually travels with to make sure he rarely, if ever, has to drink nasty coffee while on vacation. Bloss has brought these products to Central America and Europe, and he uses many of them even when he’s at home. An experienced writer of coffee product reviews, he has also penned guides on the best pour-overs, French presses and coffee scales. He was drinking coffee as he typed this, and all this talk about travel has him itching to book a trip.
