A light, ultra-portable way of getting a morning cup of coffee, the new JoGo packs coffee-brewing power into a sleek straw. It pops out of a pocket and uses an integrated filter to deliver the rich morning flavor you want without the gritty grounds you'd rather not chew on. Designed by two wilderness guides and adventurers, it's perfect for on- and off-grid journeys on which traveling lightly is mandatory.
The JoGo lets coffee drinkers mimic the lightweight ease of instant coffee but with the fuller flavor of the ground beans of their choice. Weighing a mere 2 oz (57 g), the 8-in (20-cm) straw features a micron metal mesh filter that keeps the grounds out while you sip, leaving smooth coffee with a full flavor JoGo likens to that of French press.
Using the JoGo is about as simple as making coffee gets. Add the ground coffee directly to a mug or tumbler, pour in hot water, stir the mixture around with the JoGo, drop the straw in the mug and get sipping. You might need to let the coffee cool, just like you would if drinking it directly from the mug, but JoGo's silicone tip helps prevent burned lips from the stainless steel straw body. JoGo promises that its patent-pending filter keeps the grounds out without clogging up, letting the coffee flow naturally.
The JoGo isn't a totally new idea and is actually based on a rather old one, which the company dates back to the 16th century. JoGo cofounder Joey Jones was introduced to the bombilla, a traditional filtered straw for drinking loose-leaf Yerba tea, on a motorcycle expedition between Minnesota and Argentina. It's worth noting that bombillas are not something you actually have to travel to Argentina for, as they're also widely available through Amazon and other retailers, but being gifted one in Argentina on a solo overland trip adds a certain romance to the story.
It wasn't until Jones was serving as a guide on a later Canadian canoe trip that he thought to use the bombilla for coffee. He and fellow guide Nick Yehle tried to use it as a light, convenient canoe coffee-brewing solution but found the filter ineffective with coffee grounds. So the two put their heads together and designed a version that would work with their desired beverage, cofounding JoGo along the way.
Sipping hot coffee through a straw won't appeal to everyone, but backcountry coffee-brewing is always a matter of compromise, whether it's settling for instant coffee, "smoking" your coffee from a pipe, or bearing the extra backpack weight of a homestyle solution like an all-in-one French press/mug and hand grinder. The JoGo is yet another option, designed for fuller, fresher flavor than instant coffee without the weight, bulk or expense of other brewing systems.
The JoGo can also be used for loose-leaf tea, fruit drinks and cocktails that commonly send unwanted bits of matter flying up non-filtered straws (think chunks of mint from mojitos or pulp in orange juice). Unscrew the filter, and it works like a regular reusable straw.
JoGo is offering single coffee straws on Kickstarter starting at a pledge level of US$17. It screamed several times past its $10,000 goal on its first day, and if all continues along as planned, deliveries will begin in September. Each JoGo straw comes with a cleaning brush, carry pouch and custom-color sip tip.
You can watch the Kickstarter pitch video below.
Source: JoGo
