There are probably as many recipes for this as there are/were real cowboys and cowgirls sitting around the campfire, eatin’ beans and drinkin’ coffee.

Some folks say that to make real cowboy coffee you only need four things: a hot fire (preferably outdoors), fresh water, an enamel pot and some ground coffee. Assuming you don't have a fetching cowgirl in a buckskin skirt handy to handle a hot pot, you’ll probably want to make sure you've got a towel, some soft dirt or sand, or anything else you can find around the campsite to wrap the pot and keep it hot! Just like being aboard a ship, a starry sky and friendly company help a lot.

Making cowboy coffee is a cake walk. Just fill the pot with fresh water, bring it to a boil and throw in some coffee you’ve smashed with a rock, the butt of your gun or, of all things, a peppermint stick (you can use a grinder, but it would suck all the romance out of the process. The peppermint stick is traditional and Arbuckles Ariosa coffee still includes one).

How much coffee should you use? Those who must measure say to use 3/4 cups of ground coffee per quart of water while some use two or three tablespoons per cup. Others just throw a handful or two into the pot until it “looks right.”

Bring it back to a light boil (or for about a minute, whichever comes first), and then take it off the heat and let it steep for about five minutes before you pour. To keep it warm, wrap the pot with that towel or bury it part way in soft dirt.

The only tricky part is keeping the grounds at the bottom of the pot when you pour. Adding a splash of cold water will drive most grounds down, and tossing in a few dried egg shells is also supposed to do the trick. However, I have it on genuine Texan authority that real cowboys (and the women who love them), just strain it through their teeth.