Coffee in Red Dead Redemption 2: Camp Coffee in the Wild West

In Red Dead Redemption 2, coffee is a campfire drink: buy ground coffee and a Coffee Percolator at a general store, then brew a cup from the camp menu to restore Arthur's Stamina and Dead Eye. It lets you enjoy a hot cup at your own campsite in the wild. Red Dead Redemption 2 coffee is a small detail that reflects real frontier history, when cowboys and chuckwagon cooks lived on strong coffee, often from a brand called Arbuckles'. Here is how it works in the game, the true story behind it, and a campfire method you can use on your next trip.

Red Dead Redemption 2 in Brief

Red Dead Redemption 2 is an open-world western developed and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on October 26, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and arrived on Windows in 2019. Set in 1899, it follows Arthur Morgan, an outlaw in the Van der Linde gang, as the old frontier gives way to railroads, lawmen and a changing America.

The game is famous for its slow, detailed survival rhythm: feeding your horse, hunting, cooking and making camp. Coffee fits right into that routine.

How Red Dead Redemption 2 Coffee Works

Coffee in RDR2 is part item, part roleplay. Here is the practical side:

• Ingredient: ground coffee, sold at general stores (it can also be stolen). You need some for each cup.
• Effect: a cup restores Arthur's Stamina and Dead Eye.
• Coffee Percolator: to brew in your own campsite, buy the percolator from a general store catalogue, listed in the hunting and fishing pages. Once you own it, the brew option in the camp menu unlocks.

Mechanically, other drinks and tobacco restore similar cores, so many players brew coffee mainly for atmosphere: sitting by the fire at dawn, steam rising off a tin cup, before riding out. That is exactly how it felt for real cowhands too.

Coffee Tips for Arthur

• Brew a cup when you wake at your campsite before a long hunt to top up your cores.
• Stock up on ground coffee whenever you pass a general store.
• Pair coffee with a cooked meal at camp to look after both health and stamina.

Real Old West Coffee: The Story of Arbuckles'

Coffee was the fuel of the frontier. Trail cooks kept a pot going over the fire, and cowboys drank it strong and black, often from tin cups. But for much of the 1800s, buying coffee meant buying green, unroasted beans and roasting them yourself in a skillet, an uneven, smoky job easy to get wrong.

Brothers John and Charles Arbuckle changed that. In 1865, they developed a way to sell coffee already roasted, coating the beans with a glaze of egg and sugar that helped seal in flavor and aroma. Their brand, Arbuckles' Ariosa Coffee, became a huge success with chuckwagon cooks on cattle drives.

• The coffee shipped in wooden crates of 100 packages.
• Each package included a stick of peppermint candy, a reward for whoever cranked the coffee grinder.
• The brand became so tied to the West that it is still remembered as the coffee that won the West.

RDR2 is set at the very end of that era, when pre-roasted, packaged coffee had become a normal general store product, much like the Ground Coffee Arthur buys. For more on how America fell in love with coffee, read why Americans drink coffee, and for the bigger picture, see the history of coffee.

Old West Coffee vs Today

How to Make Campfire Coffee Like Arthur Morgan

You do not need a percolator to make great campfire coffee. The classic cowboy coffee method uses only a pot, water and coarse grounds. The secret is to avoid hard boiling the coffee itself.

Cowboy Coffee (Makes About 4 Cups)

• 60 g (about 3/4 cup) of coarsely ground coffee
• 1 liter (34 fl oz, about 4 1/4 cups) of water
• A splash of cold water to settle the grounds

1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot over the fire or camp stove.
2. Pull the pot off the heat and wait about 30 seconds so it drops just below boiling.
3. Stir in the coarse grounds.
4. Let it steep for 4 minutes, stirring once halfway.
5. Pour in a small splash of cold water. It helps the grounds sink to the bottom.
6. Pour slowly into tin cups, leaving the last bit and the grounds in the pot.

Percolator Method

If you do carry a percolator, use the same ratio with a coarse grind in the basket. Heat it gently and let it perk for 5 to 7 minutes once you see coffee bubbling into the glass knob. Watch the heat: a roaring fire makes it bitter fast.

Campfire Tips

• Grind coarse. Fine grounds turn cowboy coffee muddy.
• Bring sugar and a peppermint stick if you want to honor the Arbuckles' tradition.
• Use a bold roast: subtle flavors get lost outdoors.

Our Cowboy Blend, a mix of dark and medium roasts with cocoa, caramel and vanilla notes, was practically made for this. For a darker, smokier cup, try French Roast. More outdoor tips are in our guide to coffee for hiking and camping.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Coffee FAQ

How do you make coffee in Red Dead Redemption 2?

Buy ground coffee and a Coffee Percolator from a general store (the percolator is in the catalogue). Once you own the percolator, the brew option unlocks in the menu when you set up camp.

What does coffee do in RDR2?

Coffee restores Arthur's Stamina and Dead Eye. Other drinks and tobacco have similar effects, so it is also a nice roleplay touch.

What coffee did cowboys drink?

Cowboys drank strong, black coffee brewed over the fire. Arbuckles' Ariosa, a pre-roasted coffee coated in an egg and sugar glaze, was a hugely popular brand with chuckwagon cooks.

How do you keep grounds out of cowboy coffee?

Use a coarse grind, let the coffee steep off the boil, and add a splash of cold water at the end so the grounds sink. Then pour slowly and leave the last of the pot behind.

Saddle Up With a Fresh Pot

Arthur Morgan's world was rough, but his coffee routine is one worth borrowing. Bring the Cowboy Blend on your next camping trip, keep French Roast around for bold mornings, or pack Premium Instant Coffee when you are traveling light. Every Feel Espresso coffee is roasted 1 to 5 days before delivery, a lot fresher than anything a chuckwagon ever carried.