Making coffee - no brain edition

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Today is a holiday here, which means all the stores are closed. I, being the brain trust that I am, completely and utterly forgot to buy coffee filters at the store Saturday. I, being a true coffee addict, have had to make about 4 cups of coffee so far this morning. I've only drunk 2 of them the others were too bad. The best one so far: pour coffee and boiling water into a graduated cylinder, let sit for a few minutes, try to pour it through cupcake papers into a cup (it's a lot trickier than it sounds) to filter out the grounds. I feel undercaffeinated and like an idiot for not figuring out the no coffee filter logic problem.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Use fabric. Cheesecloth, if you have it. a handkerchief or bandana would work, too. Grind your coffee coarsely (if you grind your own) and let it steep in hot water for about four minutes. then put the cloth in a strainer, and pour the coffee through. Voila!

If you get yourself a french press, you'll never be in this spot again!

[jnd4rusty]

Paper towels work in a pinch but be super careful.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Okay, bandana works way better than scotch taped together muffin papers, and this tastes pretty good. Now I just have to keep forgetting that I have worn this bandana on my sweaty head at work before and I'm good to go....

[sms001]

I hate to admit this, but in my defense it WAS "clean" trash (no garbage or floor items, just paper goods) but I've fished the last filter out and rinsed it really thoroughly with boiling water. Far superior to any other stop-gap measure I've used. I will certainly keep the bandana (wtf? That's spelled right, isn't it? huh - spellcheck says two penultimate "n's" but that don't look right either.) idea in mind for the next go-round.

Thanks CoffeeMonkey.

[csquared]

Cowboy coffee. It is how we did it in Boy Scouts.

Boil the water over an open fire (you can probably substitute a stove).
Add in your ground coffee.
Stir.
Remove from heat.
Add a handful of cold water to settle the grounds.
Pour carefully.

Note: I don't drink coffee. I don't even like coffee. Use at your own risk.

[Kittish]

Kitchen towels and wash cloths are good choices for when you need an emergency filter. I use a kitchen towel to strain out the grounds when I make cold brewed coffee. Use about half a pound of grounds in a container that will hold one to two quarts of water. Cold water to fill the container, put a lid on it, stick it in the fridge for a couple days. Strain and squeeze out the grounds. It's really strong at this point, should be able to mix at 2:1 or 1:1 (water, coffee) with hot water, depending how strong you like your coffee.

On our coffee pot is reusable filter basket, just dump out the old grounds and rinse and it's ready to go. One less thing I have to track for replacement.

[Food Lady]

This is a problem I never run into; I have an espresso maker, which has its own metal filter. I do have one of those reuseable filter for straining herb decoctions, and it was less than $5 at the grocery.

[ArcticChicken]

let it steep in hot water for about four minutes

I let my french press sit for 15.

[dalesys]

Use fabric...

T-shirts. Underwear. The mere rumour of this will stop 99% of coffee moochers.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

T-shirts. Underwear. The mere rumour of this will stop 99% of coffee moochers.

I hope they mean clean underwear . . . *shudders*

If for some reason I run out of filters (and I usually keep a spare pack and buy a new one when I open the last pack) a paper towel works in a pinch.