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13 Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel

| Updated Mar 20, 2024

Coffee-loving RV travelers have plenty of options, but here are the best coffee makers for RV travel.

If you’re like me you love coffee. I’m actually drinking it right now as I write this. 

For me, a coffee maker is a must-bring for a trip in my RV. Just because you are out on the road doesn’t mean you should go without that perfect cup of joe just the way you like it. 

Owning a coffee maker has some other unexpected benefits too. No more leaving a campsite in search of a coffee shop. And when people smell that intoxicating brew from your site, you may even make some new friends by sharing some.

13 Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel

Here are 13 of the best coffee makers for RV travel, all well-reviewed by RV owners.

And coffee-lovers almost always start with the best water. And that's why many RVers travel with a Berkey Water Filter. These can be pricey, but there are many fans of this water filter, so you can check all the different types and sizes out here.

If you buy something through our links, we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep our lights on so we can continue to provide helpful resources for RVers. Read our full affiliate disclosure here.

For the Space Savers

1 – Cafe du Chateau French Press

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We have all seen those big, bulky coffee machines that work well but don’t make sense to pack for a trip. So if saving space is important to you, a French Press style coffee maker may be the best coffee maker for RV travel. 

It’s also pretty convenient. You just place the coffee grounds or tea leaves at the bottom of the canister, heat some water in a pot, and pour the water over. Then you press the handle downward to create the brewing effect. 

Because you only need to heat water in a pot, this option is also ideal for those who aren’t using electricity. No plugging in necessary to use, and you yield 8 cups of coffee out of it.

The other benefit to a French Press is that it doesn’t need a filter. This means you reduce waste by not having a filter to throw away after using, and don’t need to ever worry about running out!

2 – Farberware Yosemite Stainless Steel Percolator

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Another option that saves space and doesn’t necessarily need electricity to make coffee is a percolator system. Like the French Press, you only really need a stovetop.

This one comes in an 8-cup and 12-cup version depending on how much you need. Like the French Press, it produces no waste other than the used coffee grounds.

One advantage of a percolator over the French Press is that the stainless steel pot will keep your coffee hotter longer.

And you can use this over the cooktop in your RV kitchen, an LP gas burner, or a campfire!

3 – Hario V60 Metal Coffee Dripper

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If saving space matters to you more than anything, this coffee dripper is the best coffee maker for RV travel.

It’s easy to use and clean and most of all, store away. Hario also makes multiple sizes depending on how much coffee you like to brew, as well as different colors to fit your style needs.

The only downside is that it uses paper filters, so stock up! Maybe you'll want to test out the type of filters we highlighted in the video above — Unbleached Coffee filters (all types)

4 – Keurig K-Mini Plus Single Serve K-Cup

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This model is the best RV coffee maker for For those of us who rely on K-Cups but also want to save space while on the road.

This model is designed for easy storage and is sized to dispense coffee directly into a travel mug.

While you can use K-Cups, which run a bit expensive, this coffee maker is compatible with Keurig’s reusable filter so you have the option to use your own coffee grounds instead.

You do need to run off AC power for this coffeemaker to operate.

5 – JoGo Portable Coffee Tea Brewing Straw

JoGo Brewing straw leaning against coffee mug

For ultimate space-saving, nothing can beat this brewing straw. Yes, you read that right. This coffee maker is a straw.

This stainless steel straw has a single-serve filter at the end. It provides all the delicious and robust flavors of French-press style coffee in an instant. Plus, it can be used to brew tea.

This zero-waste method gets rid of wasteful paper filters and coffee pods. It also serves as a teeth-friendly straw with a silicone tip, so you don't stain your teeth or burn your lips.

Convenient RV Coffee Makers

6 – Gourmia Single-Serve Manual French Press

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This is the coffee maker a lot of solo coffee drinkers use and love. 

It’s convenient because it doesn’t use electricity so you can take it anywhere. It also makes a cup of coffee in 30 seconds.

You just have to be okay with a single-serve, up to only 3 cups at a time. Plus, it uses K-cups and I understand if that’s not everyone’s thing. You can use those refillable K-cups.

7 – Maxi-Matic Elite Gourmet Automatic Brew & Drip

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A no-frills coffee maker like the typical model people have at home. It brews fast, is compact, and has a hot plate that can keep 5 cups of coffee hot in the carafe for an hour.

Out of this whole list, the Elite is the best bang for your buck.

8 – Makita 12V max Cordless

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The Makita can brew 5 ounces of coffee in 5 minutes without an outlet. It’s the best coffee maker for RVs that operates on a 12V rechargeable CXTLithium-Ion battery. 

Espresso Yourself

9 – STARESSO Portable Espresso Machine

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Some prefer espresso over coffee. Why should they miss out on it during an RV trip?

This espresso machine is the compact and portable kind.

10 – Breville the Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

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Those more serious about their espresso will rejoice at this Breville.

Some Like It Cold

11 – County Line Kitchen Cold Brew Mason Jar

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Cold-brew has become more popular over the years and for good reason. This way you can still enjoy coffee even in hot weather!

This Mason Jar technique is easy to store and use.

There are so many types and versions of a French Press to choose from, but more important, I think, is the technique used in our recent video! At one of our RV Lifestyle gatherings, we wanted to see what are viewers are brewing up… let's see how different RVers create their favorite cup of coffee! I've put links to the coffee makers featured in this video at the end of the post.

BONUS Coffee Makers featured in our Video

12. Nespresso Vertuo Coffee and Espresso Machine by Breville, Matte Black

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12. Ninja Coffee Maker

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13. Stainless Steel French Press

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Your Vote for the Best Coffee Makers for RV Life

What do you think is the best coffee maker for RV travel? Let us know in the comments! And if you really want to streamline your coffee experience while RVing – check out this coffee-in-a-bag set up!

RV Lifestyle officially recommends The Dyrt

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You can book campgrounds for tents, RVs, cabins, and glamping, or find free camping. The Dyrt has it all. And in case you didn't know, The Dyrt is the #1 camping app and website in the US, with over 8 million campsites, reviews, and tips submitted by campers, for campers. And The Dyrt PRO version makes every camping trip easier. With offline map backups, offline search, exclusive discounts, and trip planning tools, PRO can improve any stage of camping.

The Dyrt app lets users with basic accounts search for camping and save favorites, completely for free. The Dyrt PRO is an upgrade that makes it easier to go camping. Try PRO for free today.

Use the code RVlifestyle for your 30-day free trial!

Mike Wendland

Published on 2024-03-20

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

41 Responses to “13 Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel”

May 20, 2024at9:00 am, APKRESULT said:

Just got back from a road trip in our RV and I have to say, your article was super helpful in choosing the right coffee maker for our travels. We settled on the French press option and it worked a charm! Thanks for the recommendations, we’re now having our daily coffee ritual on the go

May 21, 2024at10:09 am, Team RV Lifestyle said:

Glad it helped! French press really does make a great tasting coffee – Happy trails! Team RV Lifestyle

June 27, 2023at8:04 am, Jenni Fangsrud said:

Can’t believe Coleman Camping Coffee Maker didn’t make the list. Don’t need electricity so great when you can’t use a generator early in the morning. Fits in propane stove and makes great drip coffee.

June 27, 2023at9:12 am, Susan Surateaux said:

Totally agree. I love my stove top percolator. I have never been disappointed!! I sometimes make it the night before so just warm up in the morning. Take my dog for a walk and pour a hot cup when we get back.

June 29, 2023at9:45 am, Team RV Lifestyle said:

Thanks for sharing this, Jenni! Sounds like a good one – Team RV Lifestyle

September 16, 2022at2:11 pm, 29 Must-Have Camping Gadgets For 2022 | RV Lifestyle said:

[…] Want more options? Here are the 13 Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel. […]

June 18, 2022at11:24 am, 15 Best Things To Leave In Your RV | RV Lifestyle said:

[…] You can check out our recommendations for the Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel. […]

May 02, 2022at8:05 pm, 7 Great RV Kitchen Gadgets to Save Space said:

[…] The great thing about this coffee brewer is that it is a manual, single-serve coffee maker. It’s compact, portable, and lightweight, which is why it’s one of the Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel. […]

December 03, 2023at4:44 pm, Dee Ripple said:

My husband is the coffee drinker in the family. I drink tea, so that is easy. I purchased the coffee bags, similar to tea bags, and he was thrilled. Easy to make, easy to dispose of. We have large thermos cups so I boil water for each of our cups and we make our respective drinks, then I boil enough to put into my regular thermos so we can make more later but don’t have to stop to heat more water. Works great for us…and he doesn’t miss the brewed coffee. Saves space, too.

December 05, 2023at3:55 pm, Team RV Lifestyle said:

Sounds like a great solution to a coffee and tea drinker couple – and we love the space that would save. Thanks for sharing! Team RV Lifestyle

May 02, 2022at6:15 am, 7 Great RV Kitchen Gadgets To Save Space | RV Lifestyle said:

[…] The great thing about this coffee brewer is that it is a manual, single-serve coffee maker. It’s compact, portable, and lightweight, which is why it’s one of the Best Coffee Makers for RV Travel. […]

April 24, 2022at4:59 pm, Jim B said:

I drink coffee, my spouse doesn’t. The Melitta pour over (either carafe or mug size) is inexpensive, easy and effective. Paper filters available everywhere. Just boil water. No complicated or cumbersome equipment required. Saves space in the RV.

April 26, 2022at9:33 am, Team RV Lifestyle said:

Saving space in the RV is always helpful! Thanks for sharing — Team RV Lifestyle

April 24, 2022at1:41 pm, Susan Jones said:

The best, by far, is the Nespresso. OMG! Foamy and strong. Almost creamy and then steam some milk and you have nirvana in your hands!

January 23, 2022at5:55 pm, Todd Moskaly said:

You left out another option, The American Press..

April 24, 2022at9:17 am, Mike McKie said:

We use the Keurig for ease of use and zero cleanup. However, you can’t beat a stainless steel insulated French press. Unfortunately, cleanup requires water, it’s messy and you need a secondary container to boil water.

April 08, 2021at7:53 am, Roe Gary said:

I have just bought Keurig Plus Single Serve K-Mini Coffee Maker For RV. Perfect size, the temperature of the water is really hot making the coffee even better, i don’t personally travel with it but it does the job as a full time home one.

March 21, 2021at5:42 pm, Jo Bowlin said:

I love my MiiR Pourigami! It’s made of metal, so it’s durable, and folds up into something about the size of a wallet. I use regular small coffee filters and it works great!

March 19, 2021at9:58 am, Mike Baker said:

I’m surprised I’m the only one so far using the Keurig Mini. It fits snuggly behind the water spigot in our LTV. Quick and easy.

March 19, 2021at9:16 am, Nancy said:

Aeropress makes the best coffee!!!

August 29, 2022at9:44 am, Ginny Brideau said:

Hands down!!!! Totally agree

March 18, 2021at11:44 pm, Kevin said:

We tried the various presses and even the areopress.

For my nickel, the cheap 4 cup Cuisinart works just fine. Brews 4 cups, at least that’s the claim, I find it just barely fills up my 22 oz travel mug. The only time it fails is when I forget the water or the coffee, it is morning after all.

April 24, 2022at4:23 pm, Kevin Davis said:

I agree! It’s cheap, fairly clean, and you can use it as a drip with hot water when you don’t have 120v.

If you turn it upside down for a few seconds after using, it doesn’t get scaling that takes vinegar to clean.

March 18, 2021at9:26 pm, Conrad said:

I use the single serve Melitta drip cone #2 with the Bamboo filters. Boil 1.5 cups of water in a pot on the propane burner when dry camping in an LTV Unity.

March 18, 2021at8:30 pm, Amy Delpiere said:

I don’t know if I can recommend it, but that Makita 12V coffee maker was by far the most surprising on this list.
We use a stainless steel french press with our propane stovetop if we want more volume or if we don’t have shore power. When we’re plugged in we use a little, and cheap, single mug drip coffee maker that doesn’t require a paper filter.

March 18, 2021at7:55 pm, Gerrit DeVries said:

For many camping years, our favorite has been for the Hamilton Beach BrewStation. 12 cup capacity, front spigot for dispensing. We fill the night before, set the clock timer to begin at 6AM, and smell the aroma to awake. Place our mug at the spigot, cut a slice of coffee cake, and enjoy an early morning campfire for an hour watching the campground come alive. Ah yes, that’s what camplife is all about!

March 18, 2021at3:00 pm, Cary Alburn said:

My go-to coffee maker in my PleasureWay Ascent is a 4 cup Mr Coffee that I’ve had for maybe 35 years. It’s compact to store and makes enough coffee at a time to fill a mug and my travel mug. Cheap to buy, even today.

For tent camping either with my airplane or my pickup, I have the Coleman propane coffee maker. It works quite well, although it’s piezoelectric lighter failed within the first week I used it, so I have to match light it. The stainless steel carafe version is essential, though, to avoid breakage.

Lastly, I have a Bialetti Moka Express stove top cappuccino maker, which makes delicious cappuccinos. It works well on any type of camp stove or the propane cooktop in my RV.

March 18, 2021at11:59 am, Despina Raizes said:

We use a French Press. Cleaning out the coffee at the bottom uses up to much water. We solved the cleanup problem by purchasing French Press Brewing Bags from Amazon. Cleaning is easy peasy. Remove the bag and rinse the carafe using less water than if the coffee grinds were in the bottom.

April 26, 2022at8:28 am, Barbara Smetana said:

Great tip! Thanks – love my double insulated stainless steel French Press – makes the best tasting coffee we have had, but the cleanup is a bit messy. I’m ordering these bags today!

March 18, 2021at11:57 am, Sarah Anne Smurlick said:

I use a Melita pour through. Hot water boiled in whistling kettle on gas stove.

March 18, 2021at10:52 am, Pennie Snavely said:

We use a Bunn coffee maker makes coffee in just water is preheated in a reservoir in the back

March 18, 2021at10:32 am, Linda said:

When we have access to electricity we use a Nespresso Pixie for coffee. To froth milk for Latte’s and Cappuccinos we use a very small battery operated Zulay Original Milk Frother. We heat the milk in the microwave or stove top. You can also buy a small collapsible electric tea pot from LOUTYTOU which heats milk or boils water for tea or French press coffee in 2 minutes. Last, when we are going to be someplace where will only have access to the propane stove we carry a Zulay Stovetop espresso maker which makes espresso or Americanos with ground coffee. These come in several sizes. I think these stovetop machines make far better coffee than a French press. All of the above items can be purchased on Amazon.

March 18, 2021at10:13 am, shoneyma@nycap.rr.com said:

I use a Melitta drip filter holder with a wide bottomed thermos. For me, the big advantages are the easy cleanup and the fact that I don’t need electricity. The paper filter contains the coffee grounds and makes for no fuss disposal. (Try getting squinched down grounds out of the bottom of a French Press). The hot water can come from either my propane stove or an electric kettle. Plus the coffee is really good.

March 18, 2021at9:42 am, Linda Hoffman said:

We use a Nespresso Pixie. We also have a Zulay Original Milk Frother, a very small handheld battery operated device for frothing milk for Latte’s and Cappuccinos. You can heat the milk stovetop or in the microwave. You can also buy a LOUTYTUO collapsible electric Tea Pot to heat milk. This little device can also be used to boil water for French Press coffee or for tea…takes less than 2 minutes. Last, if we are going someplace where we need to conserve or don’t have access to electricity I carry a Zulay stovetop espresso maker. You can make espresso or an Americano with ground coffee on your propane stove. All of the above can be purchased on Amazon.

March 18, 2021at9:41 am, Anker said:

I also use the Aeropress but also use the Clever Dripper (https://cleverbrewing.coffee/products/clever-dripper). Both with a separate tea kettle that we heat on the propane stove.

March 18, 2021at9:39 am, Annie Maes said:

You forgot the AeroPress! Light, portable and fast. I use it daily at home. No paper filter taste. Excellent coffee. They make a travel size now as well.

March 18, 2021at8:57 am, Fritz Maiser said:

I use the AEROPRESS. they even have a documentary on Netflix or Amazon prime.

March 18, 2021at11:56 am, Polly said:

AEROPRESS makes the best!!!

March 18, 2021at8:34 pm, Dave Shaw said:

Yes! The Aeropress is an amazingly simple, light, portable, and well priced coffee maker. So good we use it in the house. $32 from REI.

March 18, 2021at8:17 am, Patrick Kernahan said:

Have been using a stainless steel vacuum insulated French press for the last 20 years with outstanding results.
Used in a pop-up and now B+(C)
No electricity needed so great for dry camping.

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