Do you remember a couple of months back when I wrote a post about gadgets that might be worth trying inside the rig? One of those gadgets was the coin towels. I admitted that, while I’d purchased the coin towels, I hadn’t actually tried them yet. In fact, hadn’t even opened the box. Well, I had to open the box to snap a few photos for that post. And, once opened, I immediately started using them, including for the purpose of this weird coffee hack.

One of my first purchases in RV life–in fact I bought it the day after I picked up Quill–was a coffee pot that makes single cups of coffee. I had two Mr. Coffee pots in sticks-and-bricks life but I absolutely knew I didn’t want to bring a glass carafe into RV life. Plus, I didn’t want the type of pot where you leave it on to keep the coffee warm. While boondocking, this can be a battery suck.

The single-cup pod coffee maker was exactly what I needed. However, there is a downside to that type of coffee maker. I didn’t want to contribute to the 59 billion plastic coffee pods that end up in landfills worldwide each year. But there’s an easy fix. Just use the filter it comes with and your own coffee instead of a pod.

The Challenge with This Solution

When using your own filter, however, once your coffee is done, you need to empty it. And it doesn’t pour out like liquid. You have to bang it on the side of the trash can, inevitably causing a few of the coffee bits to escape the trash can. I found them on the floor, walls and sometimes even really high on the walls.

Plus, you never get everything out. So, what I’d have to do is take the little filter outside to the water spigot to rinse it off. I didn’t want to do it in the rig because the coffee bits are tiny enough to get through the fine mess sieve I use to cover the drain. And I try very hard not to let any solids get into the gray tank for fear they will sink to the bottom and not flow out when I empty the tank.

Brief Side Note

By the way, if you are wondering how I could be hooked up to water and still rinse off the filter using the same spigot, let me tell you. Or, actually, remind you. I already wrote about my discovery (and now love of) a hose splitter. I won’t repeat the story here but if you are interested it is in one of my previous hack posts.

Back to the Challenge

Certainly, I thought, there is a better, cleaner solution than banging my filter against a trash can.

And then I wrote that post that included the coin tissue. One of the things they advertise is that there are no chemicals or fragrance in them. In additional to using them as a wipe, I suggested they could be used as a coffee filter.

Eureka! This weird coffee hack was born.

Weird Coffee Hack: Step by Step

Step 1: Purchase coin tissues. Place a few coins in a jar and add about 1 tablespoon water for each coin. Watch them expand. I have seen others keep a little jar of moistened coins. That way you always have one ready at your finger tips.

An expanded coin and a dry coin. Dry, they are the size of six stacked pennies. With the 1 tablespoon of water they grow to about 20 stacked pennies.

Step 2: Pull the moistened coin to the full length. It feels kind of bouncy and reminds me of a Slinky.

Step 3: Unroll the moistened tissue. It still is folded into thirds.

Step 4: Stretch the tissue to it’s full width. The tissue on the right is fully stretched (though still folded). The tissues on the left is unrolled but not stretched out.

Step 5: Cut the tissue in half. If you have a full-size coffee pot, you’ll use the full-size tissue as your filter.

I usually make a weeks’ worth at a time. I have two cups of coffee each day which means I wet, stretch and cut seven tissues at a time. This works because, for the purpose of a coffee filter, it doesn’t matter if the tissue is dry or moist.

If you are making tissues for cleaning purposes, you may want to only make them as you need them so they are moist. Or, as I suggested above, keep them moistened in a sealed container.

Step 6: Unfold one of the cut tissues and get your coffee pot’s filter.

What’s Your Favorite Coffee?

Step 7: Get your coffee. Grind if necessary.

Step 8: Place the coin tissue in the filter. It’s not a perfect fit. Be sure the tissue overlaps inside so that no grounds escape.

Step 9: Add ground coffee to the filter.

Step 10: Place filter into the coffee pot. I’ve found it makes no difference whether the excess tissue hangs out (left side) or hugs the filter (right side). Add water and brew your coffee.

Step 11: After your coffee is cooked, carefully remove the filter filled with used grounds and dispose. Now you have a perfect cup of coffee with no grounds in the filter or on the floor around your trash can.

I want to give a shout-out to blog reader, Charlotte, for sending me the Yeti coffee mug in the photo. I’ve found the biggest challenge of using these single-cup coffee makers is finding a mug that will fit. Many seem to be one-quarter inch too tall. The one she sent is perfect. And it’s purple. And I love it.

So, what do you think of my weird little coffee hack?

Links to Posts Referenced Above:

• Gadgets Worth Trying Inside the Rig
• And Still More Fast, Easy, Low-Cost RV Hacks

To see products recently purchased by readers or to browse and shop at Amazon, follow either of these links. Huge thanks for your support.

• ROVOS Mountain Bikes Gloves
• Giro Fixture MIPS Adult Dirt Cycling Helmet
• Command Crystal Knob Jewelry and Scarf Rack

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