"Cowboy coffee" is made by heating coarse grounds with water in a pot, letting the grounds settle and pouring off the liquid to drink, sometimes filtering it to remove fine grounds. While the name suggests that this method was used by cowboys, presumably on the trail around a campfire, it is used by others; some people prefer this method. This method is still used in certain situations in Finland, Norway and Sweden, which have the highest consumption of coffee per-capita,[5][dead link] but filter brewing is the standard method there today.
Cowboy coffee is connoisseur coffee if made properly. It should never be boiled. About 200 °F (93 °C) is the optimal temperature to make coffee. Bring the water to a simmer then remove from heat and wait a few minutes for it to cool to the optimal temperature. Use a thermometer or experience to do this. This time can be used to grind the coffee beans. A hand operated grinder can be used where no electrical power is available. Cowboy coffee is associated with crudely made coffee with a burned flavor because often out on the cattle drives the cook was inexperienced or in a hurry and boiled the water with the ground coffee in it. It was often too strongly flavored if the cook used standard proportions of coffee to water. This method requires less coffee. Use only about two thirds of the amount recommended for drip coffee. If high quality freshly ground coffee is poured into very hot but not yet simmering spring, rain, or filtered water in a glass or ceramic container and stirred a few moments with a wooden or ceramic utensil then allowed to set about a minute then filtered through a gold plated coffee screen, the result is equal or superior to more expensive or time consuming methods
