I
always pack an immersion coil & small glass mason jar with me, even if the hotel room advertises that a coffee maker will be in the room. It takes up so much less room than a full coffee maker.
It looks like this:
The immersion coil is a metal heater coil that boils water. It hangs in a container (by that little white clip,) which has to be able to handle the heat of the coil getting hot enough to boil water, without melting. I place it in the glass mason jar, (Classico spaghetti sauce jar,) as it is nice & thick enough to boil water in and sturdy enough to survive traveling. It's clear, instead of metal, so security can see through it, and see my coffee supplies & coil stuffed in it.
It takes a couple minutes to heat up & boil the water. I usually place the whole thing on the bathroom counter. There is usually an outlet in there. You also have to be careful when taking the coil out of the water, not to place it on a surface that will melt or leave a burn mark. Hotel bathroom counters are usually a marble-type surface. Placing the hot coil on a washcloth works fine, too.
I use a washcloth to pick up the mason jar & either pour the water into a filter basket (swiped from my home coffee maker) over my coffee cup and let it drip.
Or, my new thing is that they make coffee pouches with the coffee enclosed inside, just like a tea bag. I simply drop a coffee pouch into the mason jar and steep the coffee.
Alternately, Starbucks has come up with a really good instant coffee in packets, which tastes close to brewed coffee, when in a pinch.
The immersion coil can be bought at Bed & Beyond, which has them on their wall of small kitchen gadgets.
Or at
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/NORPRO-559-Immersion-Warming-Liquids
Dual Voltage version:
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Immersion-Water-Heater-Voltage
