Finum Brewing Basket

It's always been difficult to get a decent cup of coffee while camping or hiking, but these brewing baskets make it a lot easier. The coffee bags (that look like tea bags) are overpriced and don't taste that great, and I've never been good at making cowboy coffee. With a brewing basket, like the Finum or the MSR Mugmate, you can bring the same coffee that you use at home. Just put your grounds in the basket, the basket in a cup (held in place by the tabs on the side), pour hot water over it and let it steep.

The flavor and strength of your coffee depends on how long you let it steep. You don't get grounds in the coffee because of the fine mesh of the filter, although the last swallow can be cloudy (I believe that's where the coffee dust settles).

The difference between the Finum and the Mugmate is price - I got two Finum Brewing Baskets for the price of one Mugmate. In fact, the Finum has a two-fer kit for about $15. They are virtually the same product as the Mugmate, but the Finum is marketed toward tea drinkers.

For hikers, this is small and adds almost no weight - which makes it preferable to a coffee press for me. And you don't have to bring along any type of percolator or pot that takes a lot of space, just something to heat the water. It fits all standard mugs and is fairly easy to clean.

I recommend it highly if you are a coffee drinker, and recommend it over the MSR Mugmate due to price.