Coffee Hacks for Van Life

Coffee and caffeine. They're important. And there's no reason to settle for anything less than a perfect cup when you're living your dream campervan life.

But you will likely have to adjust your coffee kit to meet your van's storage and energy constraints.

That's what happened to me. And after a year on the road, I've finally found my perfect vanlife coffee set up.

The average coffee maker and espresso maker draws significant power. That's because heating water takes a lot of energy.

Just looking at the Amazon list of top selling coffee makers, we can see 120V options below:

And espresso makers often demand even more power:

Not only do these standard household coffee and espresso makers require significant power, but they also take up considerable space. Of course, these drawbacks are not a dealbreaker if your inverter's continuous power rating exceeds the power draw of your coffee maker--and the space it takes up is worth it to you.

It's about priorities.

In my case, I have an inverter with a 700 watt continuous power rating, and my van has a short wheel base, so power and space are serious constraints.

There's a lot of similarities between van life and camping. So when I started my van life journey, I brought along my usual camp coffee kit: A Jetboil to brew a French Press coffee. The Jetboil was inconvenient, as it always felt safest to light it up outdoors. And the French press brew sat cold for half the day because there was more prepared than I could drink. Not that it ever stopped me from eventually drinking it all.

Considering the drawbacks of the camp kit, I decided to switch to my trusty AeroPress and find a small electric kettle that would work with my inverter. The expected benefits here would be twofold: By brewing single servings on an AeroPress, I would always have a fresh and hot cup of coffee. And secondly, the electric energy used to power the kettle is generated by the sun.

So instead of researching a low wattage coffee maker, induction stovetop, or percolator, I began looking for an electric water kettle that would work for AeroPress brew. There are several portable options available that worked with my inverter's 700 watt limitation. I chose a small 13.4 ounce model with multiple heat settings. It's the size of a standard water bottle and was advertised as drawing up to 300 watts. Below is the Sekaer brand model I chose:

Using a watt meter, as mentioned in our article How to Get Started Designing Your Camper Van's Electrical System, I verified the 300 watt claim while heating water to 212 degrees Farenheit. As you can see, the power draw was 273.4 watts:

It takes nearly nine minutes to reach 212 degrees Farenheit. So each cup of coffee consumes approximately 42 watt hours, or 0.34 amp hours of energy.

Since it does take considerable time to heat the water, I've incorporated the timing into my morning routine. So there is no sitting around waiting for hot water. I'm busy doing other things as the kettle does its own thing.

I purchase coffee beans pre-ground. It's just more convenient on the road, and it saves me from having to carry a coffee bean grinder.

As far as perfecting my brew, there is a rabbit-hole of advice worth investigating. I like this conversation about the World AeroPress Championship by the Coffee People Podcast: Tim Williams: World Aeropress Championships

The takeaway here is that a good cup of great coffee is available to even the most minimalist campervan or RV coffee kits.