phat, It's $12 CDN for 12 servings, so for me it's a buck a cup. And yes, that's outrageous.. rapacious green aproned crack dealers...
I love canadian humor. I miss it.
Early, before businesses opened up for the day, I would sit with the business owners in an unnamed small border town. I would drink tea. They would drink coffee... and make great outrageous remarks about just about everything.
ConnieD, *buck$ hurts my stomach and my pocketbook.
I'm not nearly so creative as a canadian.
...
REI had a Cup-pour-ri, that looks it would be used for loose tea and stir in a cup of hot water.
I decided to try it.
I used Peet's Arabica Java Mocha coffee. Great coffee.
The only way I can figure to have fresh ground coffee at the trailhead is either to have a small amount ground (aka Peet's) and use a small manual Pump-n-Seal vacuum pump at the trailhead to keep the air from deteriorating the coffee.
The other thing I might try is making small vacuum-pak packets at home of fresh ground coffee. I keep my coffee "makin's" in an Aloksak to avoid food odors in the pack anyway.
If this seems excessive effort, I have actually purchased the GSI coffee grinder and coffee press to prepare the coffee at the trailhead. I'm not doing that anymore. It just seems so, not "nature".
I think chocolate covered coffee beans may be a UL-ultralight backpacker's answer. I do love to "smell the coffee" however.