All the Best Coffee Products Percolating in the West Right Now

On a hike through the mountains, camping on the beach, or simply going somewhere you won’t have access to great coffee? These days, with these innovative products, it’s easy to stay properly caffeinated with the good stuff, even when a Chemex isn’t the best option. 

Hit the Ground Running

Verve Coffee Roasters

Direct-trade coffee is roasted to Verve’s specifications, then transformed into soluble coffee in single-serving packets. Choose from Verve’s Streetlevel blend, or pick single origins from Kenya and Honduras. Just add 10 ounces of hot or cold liquid and it’s go time. “Forget what you thought you knew about instant coffee. We took everything that makes the perfect cup (quality coffee sourced at Farmlevel, expertly roasted, small-batch brews) and made it completely transportable. One-step coffee, whenever, wherever.”  —Colby Barr, cofounder of Verve Coffee Roasters

Ritual Coffee Roasters

This S.F. roaster has joined the rising tide of instant coffees, creating a crystallized-coffee product with start-up Sudden Coffee. The coffee comes in individual servings packaged in futuristic tubes, but with all of the flavor of the present.

Steeped Coffee 

The coffee from this Santa Cruz start-up is instant in a different way: It’s super-finely ground and packaged in a bag like tea for steeping. Dunk the bag in boiling water for 15 seconds—or up to five minutes, depending on your desired strength. 

Bottles and Cans, Just Clap Your Hands

Vivic Sparkling Coffee

This direct-trade carbonated coffee is produced and canned in Sonoma County. Three flavors—original, sarsaparilla, and lavender—contain spring water, licorice root, and just a little organic cane sugar.

Dripdash Kyoto-Style Coffee

Kyoto-style coffee is brewed over 16 hours, drip by drip, resulting in a rich coffee with little acidity and no bitterness. Produced in Palo Alto, it has all the high energy of a Silicon Valley start-up in a bottle.

Blue Bottle Coffee Organic Bright Cold-Brewed Coffee

A potent little can that packs a punch, this coffee has a smooth texture and chocolatey, acidic notes.

Pour-Over on the Go 

Not ready to switch to instant? There are plenty of well-designed options to take along on adventures, all of which will take any beans you choose. One particularly lovely example is this sleek pour-over set from San Francisco–based company Fellow.