How to Make Coffee Without Electricity

Download Article

Power outage got you down? We’ve got you covered

Co-authored by Eric McClure

Last Updated: February 2, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

Slow Pour

|

Cowboy Coffee

|

Cold Brewing

|

Video

Whether you’ve woken up to a power outage or you’re simply trying to stay awake while waiting for the power to come back on, it helps to know how to get a decent cup of joe in a pinch. Luckily, we’ve got three really phenomenal options for making tasty coffee without any electricity. We even got some inside tips from coffee expert Emilee Bryant when it comes to making cold brew with no power! Scan your options, pick the best choice based on what you have available, and follow our steps to get a cup of coffee so good, you’ll forget you can’t turn the lights on.

Ways to Make Coffee With No Electricity

Slow pour: Light your stove with a lighter or match and boil water. Pour it over the coffee grounds in your normal coffee machine.
Cowboy coffee: Boil water in a saucepan, pour grounds in the water, and remove from heat. Wait for the grounds to float to the bottom and filter them out.
Cold brew: Pour fresh grounds in a mason jar and fill it with cold water. Set it in a cooler or fridge for at least 24 hours and enjoy.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Slow Pour (Best Method in a Pinch)

Download Article

1
Fill up a pot with water. This is probably the best option if you just want normal coffee as quickly as possible. Fill your regular coffee maker pot to your desired water level. Transfer the water to a clean pot.
- What you need for this:
  - A gas stove
  - Ground coffee
  - A coffee maker (or French press)
  - A lighter
  - A pot
2
Light your stove. You can still light a gas stove burner without electricity. Grab a long match or lighter. Confirm all of your oven’s knobs are set to the off position and spark your flame. Hold it up to the burner you’d like to light. Turn the gas knob for that burner to release a little gas and pull the lighter or match away as soon as the burner lights. Do not continue holding the burner open if it doesn’t light.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- What if my stove won’t light? Some modern stoves will cut the gas valve off if the power goes out as a safety feature. If this is the case (or you simply can’t get the stove to light), you can use an outdoor grill.
- Safety warning: Do not turn the gas on and then spark your flame. You may accidentally cause a small explosion. Also, if you don’t get the burner to light in 1-2 seconds, close it. You don’t want to risk filling the room with gas on accident.^{[2]
  X
  Research source}
- Keep a fire extinguisher nearby when doing this.
Advertisement
3
Boil the water and prep your coffee machine. Set the pot of water on the burner and wait for it to reach a rolling boil. While you’re waiting on the water, put a fresh filter in the coffee maker and fill it with grounds, like you would when making coffee normally.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- This also works with a French press. If you don’t have a traditional coffee maker, you can prep your French press instead.
Keep the lid to your coffee maker open so you can see the grounds. Carefully bring the boiling water over to the coffee maker and use a ladle, turkey baster, or measuring cup to transfer the hot water to the grounds. Pour the water very slowly and aim to cover all of the grounds.^{[4]
X
Research source}
5
Let the coffee brew and enjoy your cup. Wait for all of the water to finish flowing through the grounds and into the pot. Once the dripping stops, pour your coffee into a cup and enjoy!
- Save extra coffee in a thermos. If you have a thermos or an aluminum water bottle you can store the leftover coffee there to help keep it warm for at least a few hours.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Cowboy Coffee (Best Option with No Coffee Maker)

Download Article

1
Light your stove, grill, or fire pit. If you don’t have a commercial coffee maker or French press, this is your best option. Any kind of fire will work for this, so long as you can use it to boil the water. You can light a match or long lighter and turn a stove burner on, start a propane or charcoal grill (outside), or even use a fire pit.^{[5]
X
Research source}
- Why is it called cowboy coffee? This is how cowboys used to make coffee in the days of the wild west!^{[6]
  X
  Research source}
- What you need for this:
  - Some kind of fire
  - Coffee beans
  - A wide saucepan
2
Bring a quart of water to a boil in a wide saucepan. Grab a clean saucepan—the wider, the easier this will be. Fill the saucepan with roughly 1 quart (1 L) of water and set it over your fire source. Wait for the water to begin boiling.^{[7]
X
Research source}
- If you want to make more or less coffee, use a ratio of 2 tablespoons (12 g) of ground coffee for every 8 ounces (235 mL) of water.
3
Add ¾ cup of ground coffee to the water. Carefully remove the saucepan from the heat. Sprinkle ¾ cup (70 g) of coffee grounds directly into the water. That’s right! Add it right to the water.^{[8]
X
Research source}
- The finer the coffee grounds, the more flavorful the coffee. If you’re grinding your own beans, aim to get them as fine as possible. This will dramatically increase the flavor and quality of the coffee.
Set the saucepan back on the fire and return the water to a boil to extract the coffee from the grounds. This shouldn’t take more than 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to overheat the grounds by boiling it for longer than that, since this will destroy the flavor.^{[9]
X
Research source}
5
Take the saucepan off the heat and wait for the grounds to sink. This should take about 5 minutes. With the coffee off the heat, the spent grounds will slowly sink to the bottom of the pan. Let the saucepan rest and wait for all of the grounds to float to the bottom.^{[10]
X
Research source}
- Faster alternative: If you’re in a rush, sprinkle a little bit of cold water on top of the coffee. This will cause the grounds to sink much faster.
6
Filter out the grounds or scoop out the coffee and enjoy. If you have a coffee filter, you can pour all of the coffee water and grounds over the filter and into a mug or mason jar. Otherwise, simply spoon the drinkable coffee off the top of the saucepan and into your mug.^{[11]
X
Research source}
- Do not drink the grounds. Unlike other methods, you can’t enjoy cowboy coffee until the last drop. Any of the ground-filled coffee will be pretty gross.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Cold Brewing (Best Option if You Have Time)

Download Article

1
Fill a mason jar with coffee grounds and cold water. This is probably the best way to make coffee without power if you have a good fridge or plenty of ice, and you aren’t in a rush. Take a mason jar and fill it with your desired level of coffee grounds. Use a ratio of 1 tablespoon (6 grams) of coffee per ¼ cup (80 mL) of water. Coffee expert Emilee Bryant says to use the coldest water you have available for this.^{[12]
X
Expert Source

Emilee Bryant
Coffee Expert

Expert Interview}
- Alternative: You can use a French press if you don’t have a mason jar.
- This is a great way to make coffee in general! Bryant explains, “It's so easy…dump a ton of coffee in a mason jar, put a bunch of water in it... and then you put it in the fridge. Overnight, you have something ready for the rest of the week!”^{[13]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Emilee Bryant
  Coffee Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- What you need for this:
  - Cold water
  - A way to keep the water cold
  - Plenty of patience
2
Set the mason jar in a fridge or cold cooler for 24 hours. If the power went out recently and you haven’t opened the fridge, it should stay cool enough for this work, but you may want to use the freezer if it has been a few hours and the fridge is no longer below 32 °F (0 °C). You can also fill a cooler with ice and put the mason jar in there, instead. Let the coffee steep for at least 24 hours.^{[14]
X
Research source}
- Your results here may vary a bit, since you don’t have a fully-functioning refrigerator when the power goes out. The longer you can wait, the more likely the coffee is to be enjoyable!
3
Filter the grounds out and enjoy your coffee. If you don’t have a filter, you can simply pour the top portion of the coffee into a cup. Just try to avoid all of the remaining coffee grounds that have floated to the bottom. We also recommend a splash of cream in your iced coffee, if you have any lying around you can use.^{[15]
X
Research source}
- Why does the coffee taste so different? “The really cool thing about making cold brew is when you pour the water on, you're actually going to extract a lot more of the chocolatey, more of that nougat, molasses [flavor] over time because you're not using heat,” explains Bryant.^{[16]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Emilee Bryant
  Coffee Expert
  
  Expert Interview}