Darn right, infidel, you are indeed blasphemous! True believers regard caffeine ingestion as a sacred rite and obligation. Caffeine has several beneficial effects that would be handy in a survival situation, basically increasing athletic performance. Marathon runners generally load up on moderate quantities of caffeine on race day. It seems to work for them.

On night searches, if I had the time, I would brew up a Nice Thermos of Tea, laced with sugar. I was in the party that found the object of our search, that person got first dibs; if not, the savory tea was consumed by a deserving searcher.

The trick is to not overdose, just like any drug. That is the reason I scaled back from about six cups of coffee to about three cups of tea some years ago. If for some reason, I can't get tea, there are no overt jitters or withdrawal symptoms.

The best days start with a nice quiet cup of tea...

Very true. I recently transitioned from 3-4 cups of coffee a day to 1 cup coffee (or black tea) in the morning and 1 cup of black tea in afternoon. It took a week for my body to adjust to the lower caffeine intake but I feel and sleep a heck of a lot better.

What sort of scenario do you have in mind? A sachet of instant coffee and milk powder isn't very heavy. If you don't carry or have access to water to make it with, what's going on?

I'm British. If you can't settle down and make a brew while you figure out what to do next, then I'm afraid you can no longer be considered civilised.

Jolt gum

Scho-ka-Kola...a Germany dark chocolate nibble,it comes in small triangles of 100 grams,with a strong cup of coffee worth of caffeine.the round tin which is about 3 1/2 inch across and 1 deep is better than a Altoids tin for a survival kit.hard to find of course but check German grocery stores in the US that have sites on the web.during WW2 the German Army put benzedrine in it.

People would have saved themselves a lot of aggravation and hassle if they would have done exactly that in many situations. Fiddle with the stove, get the water on, and sip. It gives the brain time to get organized.

Actually, you Brits often have some very good ideas......

>Darn right, infidel, you are indeed blasphemous!

Well I'm glad to see we are keeping this impersonal :-)
But if you must persist in the foul perversion of coffee drinking (I don't wonder why the USA is the only superpower, it's simple; caffeine has got you all moving 10% faster than the rest of the planet).
Let me give you the best advise you will ever hear:
tiramasu flavoured coffee.
qjs

I like the single-use, four cup filter packs given out at hotels but I just ran out.

So now I rely on my bodum mug, which rocks!
[url=]Bodum Travel Mug[/url]

Ok gang, here's your million dollar idea: mini cans of java. Take the little packages of coffee grinds and put them in a tin. (The Scouter in me needs the packaging to be environmentally friendly and reusable, and metal cans seem to be infinately more reusable than glass or plastic, and eons better than that vaccuum sealed stuff. Although you have to give it to the screw top lids on glass bottles.)

Starbucks Viva is good instant coffee but @ $8ish for 6 -vs- $4 to $5 for regular filter coffee?! (Still cheap compared to buying readymade in the store, I know, but I'm on a very limited budget.) I got a small plastic tub of Folgers for $4. It was amoung the average of the cheapest ($4-$5) coffees, both filter and instant, at the grocery store, and a known tolerable tasting coffee, and in a non-breakable container with the most secure lid.

Does anyone know of a mini metal can of coffee with secure lid? Enough for a three to five day trip, perhaps a little more.

Not a metal can, but uses ground coffee or coffee pods instead.

http://www.handpresso.com/

Coffee is purchased bulk from an established business (1884) James Aimer Ltd.

http://www.jamesaimer.co.uk

I wondered about those Liath. I think I'm going to experiment this weekend. Thanks for the tip!!