coffee

Aboard Pino, we grind our coffee by hand using a little grinder with ceramic burrs. Then, we brew the ground using our 6-cup stovetop mokapot (rescued in the trash) and dilute the coffee with water (as it's very strong expresso).

We use our french press when there are guests, otherwise it takes forever to brew enough cups for a large group. We like to buy our beans in large 2 kg (5 lbs) bags. We also stock jars of instant coffee.

Instant coffee as a wood stain

When diluted in water, instant coffee makes a good stain for wood. We like it because it smells good and because we always have plenty around!

For a dark brown, use less water (1:1), for a lighter tone, dilute with more and re-coat until happy with the tint. For a dark coat, we like to add two layers with a paintbrush and let it dry in the sun. See the base for our woodstove installation, and the box for our dry toilet for an example of this type of staining.