IN FLIGHT
Updates, Guidance, and Stories from the Urbane team.
Have Coffee, Will Travel
There are few things worse about being a road-warrior consultant than the sacrifice of creature comforts while traveling. A few of us here at Urbane have figured unique solutions to meet these challenges when it comes to our desire a well-crafted cup of coffee. Through various different iterations and testing, some of the more dedicated to caffeine team members have decided to share how they get their caffeine fix while on the road.
Magen Wu - The AeroPress Addict
| Brew Tools | AeroPress |
| Brew Method | BlueBottle AeroPress Method |
| Grinder | Porlex Mini |
| Scale | Eyeballs It (Lives Dangerously) |
| Roaster of Choice | Bandit Coffee - St. Petersburg |
When I’m traveling, I want something quicker and easier that will also keep me from stopping at a Starbucks. I travel with a collapsible silicone water kettle, AeroPress, filters, Porlex mini hand grinder, and cup along with a bag of coffee. The beans I travel with the most are from Sey, Bandit, or Onyx Coffee Labs. I have condensed the kit to (snugly) fit in the Blue Bottle Coffee carrying case.
Once the water is heated in the kettle, the process is pretty efficient. I personally prefer the inversion method for AeroPress and feel like it gives me all the caffeine I need while still preserving the taste of the coffee I get similar to when I do pour overs at home.
Zack Fasel - Capitan "One Up"
| Brew Tools | Bonmac Pour Over and Leverpresso |
| Brew Method | James Hoffmann's V60 Technique |
| Grinder | Porlex Mini |
| Scale | Acaia Lunar (not pictured) |
| Roaster of Choice | Sey Coffee - Brooklyn |
I grew up hating the taste of coffee. What I realized later on is I hated the taste of /bad/ coffee. After finding great methods and learning my coffee preferences, I switched from grabbing super sweet energy drinks for my caffeine fix to brewing a diverse set of coffees and teas.
My road setup gives me flexibility in styles of caffeination and condenses nicely into the discontinued Timbuk2 kit with a collapsible kettle on the side (which is a necessity in the US). All of this easily fits into a carry-on for a week-long trip. I typically travel with two different coffees (leaning towards lighter roasts) and two teas (Silver Needle and Oolong) to have some diversity. The kit continues to evolve with small improvements, and may end up with a grinder upgrade soon.
Erin Jacobs - The Airstream Barista
| Brew Tools | Blue Bottle Pour Over |
| Brew Method | Intelligentsia Pour Over Method |
| Grinder | Hario Ceramic Mill |
| Scale | Hario Drip Scale (not pictured) |
| Roaster of Choice | Intelligentsia - Chicago |
When traveling to client sites, I'm not as crazy as others on the team for my setup, typically relying on coffee sweeteners to hold me over with bad coffee. However, during the weeks I'm working remote from my Airstream, there's definite rituals when it comes to my coffees with a nod to the simplicity of camping.
After some evolution of coffee preference and some convincing with regards to its simplicity, I finally ditched the Keurig in favor of pour overs. I have both an electric Fellow Stagg kettle and traditional "just add fire" kettle to ensure I always have hot water.