By the way, it matters how you look at things. If the SHTF, guess what
will be a hot commodity? Coffee! Yep, with all of us coffee drinkers out
here, having extra coffee will definetly give you something to trade with.

You could become a right-popular person.

During Ivan and to some extent with Katrina, I got cut off my coffee. It was not a pretty sight.

Seriously, I am a 3 pot a day guy. I've been drinking it black and rough since I was 12. When we were buying hurricane supplies, I picked up a big jar of instant and said "I'm done, what else do we need?"

But eventually I just didn't have any water or way to heat it, and went cold turkey. It took about 4 days to get over it but my family survived the ordeal.

And as soon as everything was back to normal, I became a javahead again.

Originally posted by Tom Bedlam
But eventually I just didn't have any water or way to heat it, and went cold turkey. It took about 4 days to get over it but my family survived the ordeal.

4 days, thats not too bad! Did you take painkillers? What was it like, describe in more gruesome detail please!

I hope yer watching this Marg!

The first day it wasn't too bad until maybe noon, then the headache set in. Nothing helps. It feels like your eyes are being pushed out from the back.

Then the stupor. I slept a lot. Which was ok, because the first day we didn't do a lot. That night I got nauseated (tells you how bad I am) but didn't quite blow chunks.

The next two days just snappy and bad headache, but by day 4 it was almost gone.

A week into it, I could actually wake up without a fix. No pain, no excessive drowsiness.

I couldn't wait to get back to the coffee though.

Starbucks sold a heavy duty camping french press a few years back - we take it with us and it really works wonderful - eliminates a lot of the grounds.

Also, works well with just about any grind.

Depends on the length of "survival" needed. Living in Calif, and about 1/2 mile from the San Adreas fault, we have a good ration of food on hand to last at least 2 weeks. I have enough coffee to probably last a month or more.

If we're talking end of the world survival ... or survival for many months ... I'm not generally stocked up for that anyways so coffee would be the least of my concerns in that scenario.

But like everything else it would be best to ration it to a handful of cups a day to cut down on the caffeine withdrawal headaches. Slowly wean yourself off the need ... reuse the grinds at least once ... and pack a whole lot of ibuprofen to deal with the oncoming headaches!

Originally posted by Tom Bedlam
I couldn't wait to get back to the coffee though.

Oh god yes! I think we will always be craving that ohyum liquid joy forever. *sobs*


Well heres to hoping the SWHTF (wont)

When I run out of coffee in the bush I resort to ground up bugs, roots, dirt, chicory root, kind of like coffee but with a punch.

I saw a Hobo once who boiled his socks and drank the broth of it. I think he called it chaw or something, sounds nasty but I guess if your desparate you'll do nearly anything.

I live in the country, and so, as I see it ... Survival isn't going to be all that difficult. I also have many, many vacuum packed bags of Gevalia coffee set aside. I enjoy their limited edition coffees, and their seasonal "flavored" blends like Blueberry Cream, etc. Unfortunately, those require milk, or cream, and sugar/artificial sweetener to enhance the flavors.

I would also have to pack in a bunch of packs of cigarettes, or move to a tobacco growing state. LOL!

You want to see an old man win a war of invasion single handedly, take away my coffee and cigarettes, and brother ... You're goin' down!

An easy way to make coffee for survival:

1. Ground coffee.
2. Mini-stove/bowl to boil water (should be part of your kit anyway)
3. Permanent metal coffee filter that normally goes into coffeemaker machine.

Just boil the water, add ground coffee to the filter, put filter in cup and pour water into the cup (through the coffee/coffee filter).

Makes good coffee.

Camping with my dad when I was younger he always brought coffee. The problem was he made "cowboy" coffee, That means you put the grounds directly in the water and boil it. Now it makes a rather strong cup of coffee (put hair on your chest he always used to say) but it was discusting. I introduced him to the idea of using a clean sock when he boiled the coffee that way you still get the coffee but not the coffee ground meal that usualy went allong with it.

Coffee is verry important to me. I get sick when I don't have enough caffene in my body. (which means I am addicted to it and need to cut back)

Depending on how long you plan to be out you could buy one of those bricks of coffee. They are the same as the ones in the tins but they are lighter and are more compact.

If your plan includes staying out forever and seting up a homestead I would suggest that you buy some untreated unroasted coffee beans and start a garden. Hopefully you can find what you need on the internet to start a coffee beean garden and figure out how to roast the beans. Then you have coffee for life.

Anyone out here know what the shelf life is of coffee in these plastic containers?? I am from the older tin can generation so I was wondering about these newer containers.

I ask this with a view to storing a certan amount of coffee..not so much as for drinking but as capital..for barter. Preferably in the smaller containers ..not the 2.7 lb cans.

I have done the same with certain ammunitions..not for my usage as ammunition but as a barter tool....capital.

I have been wondering the same about cigarettes..though I do not smoke??

Anyone know much about these informations??

Thanks,
Orangetom

I too am a coffee lover and for the past 2 months have only been drinking instant, besides the occasional Tim Hortons (I am Canadian after all), I tend to limit my instant to Maxell House, it is a good coffee for instant anyway.. stay away from no name brands.

Originally posted by Yarcofin
Better to stop drinking coffee, smoking, and drinking altogether right now while you still can, because you don't need withdrawl symptoms adding to your mountain of problems in a survival situation.

That leaves me with just one question. If I can't smoke, drink coffee or beer than why the hell would I even want to survive?

In the immortal words of Opie Reed, "A man with no vices has nothing to lose by dying."

I'm another that needs a kick start of coffee every morning. I just drink one 16 oz. cup a day though so I might get thru the withdrawals pretty quick. I'm not betting on it though.

Once you roast coffee it has a very short shelf life. Even store bought vacuum packed coffee will loose quality over time. If you wish to use it as a bartering medium in small lots, then you should buy whole beans in small containers. If you wish to experiment in packing your own small containers, then I suggest the best way would be to choose a quality air tight container, pack it with coffee beans, flush it with cold nitrogen (not liquid, just cold) to get out all oxygen, then vacuum pack it. If any O2 remains then it will taste like dirt in very short order.

Cigarettes have an even shorter shelf life, but for those who are desperate to smoke, even the worst will do.

Sugar,Salt, and especially spices have long been used as high value barter items if you are looking for better options. Bartering vices is not always a good plan as not everyone needs coffee and smokes. Look for things that would appeal across the board. I don't need any bullets but I'd trade up for pepper.

Thanks for the tips on coffee as well as other barter items.

I have bookmarked that site on coffee for future reference.

I neve knew that about green coffee beans...or even unground beans.

Thank you for the information,
Orangetom

I grew up on the coast of Florida. One thing I remember is my mom, who was a major coffee head, always had instant coffee, a sterno stove and lots of sterno in our hurricane kit. We may have lived on fruit and sanwiches when the power went out, but she was not going to give up her coffee!