GSI Outdoors Ultralight Javadrip Review

GSI Outdoors Ultralight Javadrip Review

Coffee Talk, Review Amongst Yourselves

Campfire Guy here.  I’ve made many mistakes in the outdoors. Some of my lowlights include not protecting our food from bold,cooler-invading raccoons at Tyler State Park and ignoring the warnings about invasive black ants at Cedar Hill State Park.  Those mistakes occurred early on in my outdoor adventures.  My gear has since evolved, and so has my ability to read notices posted by park rangers.  Reading is still FUNdamental!  Sadly, the most egregious mistake I’ve made occurred on my last camping trip, when I should have known better.  I didn’t bring a backup coffee system.

Coffee Sadness

During my last campout, we used the two percolators atop a double burner propane stove.  The slow brewing percolators couldn’t keep up with the demand of our large coffee drinking contingent.  We had a tight schedule on Saturday morning, so we were all lucky to get a cup or so each.  On Sunday morning, someone left one of the percolators unsupervised and the coffee burned badly.  Tired and in a hurry, I decided to pour a cup.  I was warned that it tasted like a combination of charcoal, bleach, and death.  Sadly, I ignored the warning.  The only thing missing from the description was a dash of sadness.

Dying from Dysentery and bad coffee are equal causes of sadness.

Enter The JavaDrip

I’ve owned a Jetboil Flash for some time now.  You can find the review I wrote on it here.  I usually leave it home for big group campouts because there’ll be another system that usually works.  Never again.  I’ll always bring a backup system.  When I first started using the Jetboil, it was always with the Starbucks Via packets.  One of my readers recommended the  Ultralight Javadrip from GSI Outdoors.

Legs of the Javadrip clip to the basket to keep it compact when not in use.

Pour Over Coffee Goodness

I picked one up at REI and have put it through the paces over the past month at home and at work.  I’ve been using it in lieu of the convenient, though non-recyclable Keurig K-Cups.  The Javadrip is a “pour over” coffee system.  Clip it to a cup, add coffee grounds and pour hot water over it.  Once the water seeps through the coffee and drips into the cup, it’s time for coffee goodness.  On backpacking trips, I’ll use my Jetboil to heat water, but any method of heating water will work.

Water, Jetboil Flash, coffee grounds, sweet mug and the Javadrip round out my coffee making system.
This mug works great with the Javadrip, make sure to test with your mug of choice prior to using.
Add coffee grounds and simply pour hot water into the Javadrip.

At 11 grams, the Javadrip is super light.  The diameter of the basket is 4”.  The orange legs that connect the basket to a cup are about 4” long.  It folds up to about ½”.  I use a #4 paper filter with mine, just to make cleanup easier, but you can use the Javadrip without it.  The Javadrip does not come with a cup.

Makes Great Coffee, But Doesn’t Nest

A graphic on the packaging suggests the Javadrip is able to nest below a standard fuel canister, like the popular 3.5 oz. Jetboil fuel canister.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  The fuel canister diameter is only 3.5”, versus 4” diameter of the Javadrip.  Even with some coaxing I couldn’t get it inside the Jetboil either.  Certainly not a deal breaker, but it would have been nice to have it nest inside my Jetboil.

Graphic in upper left corner is misleading.

 

Javadrip is too big to fit under a this fuel canister.
Javadrip definitely won’t fit inside my Jetboil Flash.

Overall the GSI Outdoors Ultralight Javadrip is a convenient and lightweight system to make a good cup of coffee.  Make sure to test it with the cup you plan to use, as the Javadrip had a tendency to lift up on our thicker ceramic mugs.  When I attend summer camp with our Boy Scout troop next month, I’ll definitely have my Javadrip and Jetboil in tow.

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Easy to use
  • Compact

Cons

  • Doesn’t work well with really thick mugs
  • Doesn’t nest inside the Jetboil Flash

Specs (As provided by GSI)

  • Manufacturer – GSI Outdoors
  • Product – Ultralight Javadrip
  • Price – $9.95
  • Size – 4.2″ x 4.2″ x 0.5″
  • Weight – 11g

Special thanks to reader Ken Pearson for recommending the Javadrip!



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2 thoughts on “GSI Outdoors Ultralight Javadrip Review

  1. So you can just heat up hot water any old way, right? We don’t have the privilege of camping with someone as geared up as the Campfire Guy, so just getting the javadrip, plus a cup, and a way to heat up water would work, right?

    1. That is correct. You just need hot water, coffee, Javadrip and a mug and you are good to go. At work, I use our hot water dispenser. Thanks for reading, commenting and for all the support!

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