Coffee is our ingredient of the season. You can find our favorite cold-brew formula here. And here’s a list of Sarah’s favorite coffee shops in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philly.

Back in May we went on camping road trip. If you’re interested, here’s info about our visit to Canyonlands, our visit to the Grand Tetons, and camping on BLM land. Back in July I told you about our big camp kitchen snafu during the road trip. The one where we forgot the stove!

In that post, I described how we adjusted our menus so that we were still able to camp and eat well. Without easily accessible hot water, priority #1 was figuring out coffee. We made Nescaffe Frappes. And I may have said that “knowing this recipe is up there with knowing how to escape a grizzly bear attack or how to cut off your arm in an avalanche. Life or death.”

You probably read that and freaked. Then you started stressing about how you’ll get caught in an avalanche because you couldn’t cut the grizzly off of your arm. And the bear only attacked because you were SLOW-AS-F on your hike because of the POUNDing caffeine headache because SOMEONE forgot the camp stove. F*ck.

Next time, pack the instant coffee and follow this simple recipe.

Instant Coffee Frappe Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tsp quality instant espresso
• 1 tsp sugar
• water
• milk (optional, but delicious)
• ice
• cup or jar with a tight-fitting lid

How-to

• Place the coffee granules and sugar in the jar. Add just enough water to cover everything and then maybe a touch more. See my photos.
• Place a lid on the jar and shake vigorously. Shake the living bee-jeezus out of the mixture. Shake it until everything has dissolved and then shake it some more. As best as you can, you want to create a dense foam out of the mixture. If you’re at home, you could use one of those little electric frothing wands. But we’re camping, remember? Don’t stop shaking.
• When you can’t shake any more, add some ice. And then you can add about 8 oz of water or milk (I like a combo or even straight milk).
• Enjoy. It’s so much better than you thought it’d be, no?

This recipe will save your life.