Back country coffee first ascent vs dark timber

jpuckett

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 2, 2015
Messages
244
My cyclist and coffee snob buddy swears by First ascent. Beauty of first ascent is its instant. But I know a lot of guys like dark timber on here. Anyone compared the two? Bouta buy both and try em side by side before my buddy and I go chase mountain goats. (He drew an archery tag)


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Joined
Jul 31, 2016
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732
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Washington
Not a fan of dark timber. Its terrible. And you have to fiddle with it forever. By the time you are done fiddling its cold and weak unless you use two bags, then its just cold.
I haven’t tried the other but strongly encourage others to ignore the hype and steer clear of DT. Unless you like weak coffee. I will stick with starbucks vias.
 

bmart2622

WKR
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Jun 16, 2013
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Montana
I agree with you skaldugwas, I really wanted to like the DT but I just can't. I use 2 of the bags and it takes forever and still doesn't taste great.
 

cg2737

WKR
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Jun 4, 2015
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658
Location
Finger lakes, NY
I have not tried the Ascent. However I also found the DT to be very week. It took two bags to make it even taste like coffee. I took Starbucks and another brand of Instant that I cant remember last year. I ended up liking both of them over DT.


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HookUp

WKR
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Nov 4, 2015
Messages
957
I scoured the depths of google and found Mount Hagen Organic Freeze Dried Instant coffee. Ordered some up and it's considerably better than Vias.
Its good enough that ff I don't want to make a pot at the house I'll just use a single stick.
 

cg2737

WKR
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Jun 4, 2015
Messages
658
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Finger lakes, NY
I scoured the depths of google and found Mount Hagen Organic Freeze Dried Instant coffee. Ordered some up and it's considerably better than Vias.
Its good enough that ff I don't want to make a pot at the house I'll just use a single stick.

That is the one I could not think of. I agree, very good. Thanks


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Not a fan of dark timber. Its terrible. And you have to fiddle with it forever. By the time you are done fiddling its cold and weak unless you use two bags, then its just cold..

I wonder if the ascent packs that get sent to me are different than everyone else. I boil my water, I pour it from the jet boil into my cup... aprx 10oz, then I spend about 4 minutes bobbing a single pack in and out of the hot water... seriously isn't too difficult, and nowhere near long enough to go cold... and it tastes great!

ive had a lot of crappy coffee in my days... and ive put a ton of cream and sugar into said crappy coffee to make it enjoyable... most of the time I drink this stuff black, but lately ive been putting a tbsp. of bowmar hot chocolate into it.

I just don't get what all the hate is about really...

just last week I made a cup of it while I was sitting in a starbucks eating dickies bbq... cause everyone is welcome there now regardless of purchase... best thing Howard Schultz has done in a while.
 

bmart2622

WKR
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Jun 16, 2013
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2,177
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Montana
We get how the coffee is made, it just comes out not tasting good and is weak even using 2 bags. And quite frankly when I am on a backcountry hunt I don't want to spend 5 minutes steeping coffee bags in the morning.
 

bmart2622

WKR
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Jun 16, 2013
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2,177
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Montana
I like to fire up the stove and get the water boiling right when I wake up and then by the time I'm dressed my coffee is ready to drink as I eat breakfast. I'm certainly not waking up early or leaving camp late because of the time it takes for cofee.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Messages
732
Location
Washington
I wonder if the ascent packs that get sent to me are different than everyone else. I boil my water, I pour it from the jet boil into my cup... aprx 10oz, then I spend about 4 minutes bobbing a single pack in and out of the hot water... seriously isn't too difficult, and nowhere near long enough to go cold... and it tastes great

I just don't get what all the hate is about really...

.
Try making it howling wind and spitting snow. It will cool down plenty before its “ready”
Probably not a big deal during archery elk, late rifle is another matter

My “hate” as you put it comes from the same place as my love for this site. Lots of “trusted “ names in the backcountry world endorsed dark timber right off the bat, granted DT really has their heart in the right place as a company, but when the rubber hits the road its just really crap coffee that makes me ashamed of ever complaining about starbucks vias in the first place...But then there is no accounting for taste.
 

Mtnboy

WKR
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Feb 26, 2013
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ID
I tend to think Dark Timber is significantly better than Starbucks Vias, the 3-4 people who I've let try my Ascent packs also agreed.



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5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,527
Location
Colorado Springs
Some of you guys must be getting some bad packets of the Vias, or using a bad flavor. I'm sitting here at home drinking my Italian Roast Vias as I type.........and I could have brewed up anything I wanted. Via's........they're not just for camping anymore.:)
 

Mac7

WKR
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
606
Location
Idaho
Tagging this for ideas. Hell I still use Folgers instant on the mountain. Guess I need to upgrade.
 
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