To understand makin' coffee, both then and now, on thing need to be understood. Coffee beans and tea leaves contain tannic acid, tannic acid be bitter. (Don't believe me, go get a pecan still in the shell, crack it open and remove that reddish material between the meats and taste it. Much tannic acid.)
Tannic acid dissolves easily in boiling water, not very well below boiling. Drip coffee machines use water below boiling. That is why most folks went to the drip machines when they got cheap.
Most "Old West" coffee was strong and bitter, lots of coffee and boil till it would float a hoseshoe as the old joke goes. To the workin' cowboy livin' on little sleep coffee was more of a drug than a beverage, if modern, stronger drugs would have been available, I am sure the cowboy would have been a "speed freak."
Today if you want good coffee in yer boiler use a coarse ground coffee, bring the water to a boil and remove it from the heat, wait 2-3 minutes and add the desired amount of the desired blend. Put the pot near the fire, but far enough away ta keep it from boiling. After about 5 minutes just tap the side of the pot ta settle the grounds and pour. Very little grounds will be in the coffee.
Never use an egg or eggshells ta settle the grounds, that will either put garbage (eggshells) in yer coffee or a poached egg in yer coffee. It is not needed, if ya do it right and no cosie would have wasted a valuable egg in coffee.
(Besides that the only use for a poached egg is to amuse yerself when sick and in the hospital. Ya tell the nurse ta remove it from yer sight or ya'll see if it sticks ta the wall. Eggs are only fit ta eat with pepper sauce and if yer sick enough ta get the poached egg ya ain't gettin' pepper sauce with it, I've tried.
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Also when "clear" coffee was wanted for fancy doin's, it was put in a cloth bag before putting it in the pot. If ya can't strain a few grounds 'tween yer teeth, just buy 100% cotton, unbleached muslin (cheap) and wash it a couple of times in hot water ta remove the sizin'. Cut a square large enough to allow the coffee to expandd, add coffee and tie with cotton string.
Course good water and a clean pot are very important ta good coffee, don't ferget ta know where the herd is before gettin' water.