Let’s talk camp coffee. 

We’ve gone old-school – dumping coffee into a pot, letting it boil over the campfire and waiting for the grounds to sink to the bottom.  The result: gritty coffee.

We’ve prepared little coffee bags at home with our favorite grind and paper coffee filters. The result: Drinkable coffee, but usually weak.

We bought a cool little coffee press designed for camping. The result: Decent coffee, complicated preparation.

We’ve packed a tiny bottle of instant Folgers. The result: really bad coffee.

We’ve even gone without.  The result: grouchy campers.

But the camp coffee dilemma has been solved, thanks to Starbucks and its VIA Ready Brew packets. This is instant coffee that actually tastes like really good coffee.  It’s available in Starbucks stores and now can also be found at Costco, Target and WalMart. Twelve packets are $9.95.

– Deb Acord

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