Summer food fun and drink - Kopi Luwak at Coffee Fest 2008 · Wednesday September 17, 2008 by colin newell
This has been the first time I have been to the United States of America since 2002. And
it was good. Very good.
Last Friday we hopped on a morning Clipper to Seattle and were there in a smooth 2 hours or so. The Victoria Clipper is like riding in a jet plane… on the water. Moving along at 30 knots in a high speed jet powered catamaran is a pretty neat way of getting around. It works. In combination with a Clipper Vacation weekend, it makes for a great pre-paid get-away where you can pick your hotel… and go.
We have stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel before so this one was no surprise. I personally like quaint old boutique hotels – and the Roos never lets us down. The rooms are a tad small and rough around the edges, but the place is squeaky clean – and it has Von’s Restaurant and Bar – and dang, I love that place!
Anyway – smooth trip down. Only hitch was, there was a cruise ship in or going out and there was a dearth of Yellow Cabs. We called the number on my cell and we had 3 in about 10 minutes – which was great because we had a fan club shortly after docking.
The ride to the Roosevelt from the Clipper dock is about 7 minutes if it is 5. Check-in was courteous, pleasant and a breeze. We show our chit and we are in. Same for the taxi. It is paid for. You pull your wallet for tips – that is pretty much it.
After getting settled in the hotel, it was off to the convention to pick up our conference bag and credential holder. Another breeze.
Walking onto the coffee fest floor for the first time ever was a total knock in the socks for me. The air is filled with coffee, caffeine, chocolate and love. The Love was in the room. For 30 bucks one could spend 3 days drinking coffee and espresso, tasting chocolate and smoothies and rubbing shoulders with some of the brightest in the business. How fun is that?
The social side of this event is killer – next year I am going to plan more and get involved with more stuff. As it happened, I met up with numerous coffee friends and Seattle area buddies and turned it into a marathon. Andrea and I had a great time and will do it again next year.
Highlights? Tasting the free samples of farmed Kopi Luwak. For those folks who do not know what Kopi Luwak is… Wiki it.
For me, drinking it – even the 2 fluid ounce sample I was provided was like… ahem… kissing my sister on the lips. Yea. It was that yucky. Two sips and I was rushing for a mango smoothie. I have read all kinds of glowing reports about this coffee – my opinion: It tasted wierd and generally off… not something I would actually pay for. I did discover a neat drink made with taro that was awesome. I could go on and on about the particulars of Coffee Fest, but I think I will save that for my coffee website.
Our new motto: We drink the Kopi Luwak so you don`t have to!
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Summer fun food and drink - a burning in Seattle · Monday September 15, 2008 by colin newell
Attended Seattle Coffee fest this weekend – overall it was a great time and I will have a much larger report on it shortly.
My rant is on the current issue with the new bio-eco friendly coffee and tea to-go cups that are appearing in cafes everywhere.
What happened was this: My wife and I were in a Bakery in Seattle and while Andrea was preparing her cup of Tea, the Eco-friendly cup collapsed in her hand splashing her with water just off the boil!
Angry I was yes. Frustrated indeed.
We immediately got ice on it and kept it iced for almost 3 hours and she did not need a hospital visit.
Ok. I know all about all the law suits over coffee and take out cups. It is old news. The real issue are these new eco friendly and biodegradable “paper” cups that collapse when you breathe on them… or start to biodegrade the moment the product is poured into them.
My wife dodged a bullet. Many people will not be dodging this bullet and there needs to be more testing of these new eco-friendly products.
Ironically, a gentleman at the next table came over and offered: “I saw the whole thing…” (me now thinking he is a lawyer…) and he turned his hand over revealing a massive weeping scald blister from when he burned his hand a week earlier in the same bakery.
Bakeries and cafes: Get with the program and stop putting your customers at risk!
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Summer food fun and drink - black hole swallow internet · Tuesday September 9, 2008 by colin newell
Scientists at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) plan to smash particle beams together at close to the speed of light to create mini-versions of the explosion believed to have triggered the birth of the cosmos.
Not quite like cloning Dolly the sheep… but curious none the less.
So. Tomorrow. The World might end with a giant Moob
Moob. That is the opposite of… well, you know.
A black hole, in theory, has such intense gravity that matter can move into it approaching the speed of light.
Such things actually exist in the Universe. At a great distance from us, thank heavens.
Mini-Moobs, like White Dwarves exist within 10 light years. 8.6 Light years actually.
While not as crazy as Black Holes, the White Dwarf is pretty intense from a physics point of view – a couple of square inches of material from a W.D. weighs in at over a ton. A couple of square inches of a black hole weighs in at… well, actually… pretty close to infinite weight. Help me Jenny Craig, help me!
So. Cosmologists think an explosion of an object the size of a Canadian nickel occurred about 13.7 billion years ago and led to the formation of all matter. Stockwell Day would argue 3000 years ago – but that is another matter. Get it? Matter?
Never mind.
Some critics say the experiment will create “black holes” of intense gravity that could implode the Earth, or that it will open the way for beings from another universe to invade through a “worm hole” in space-time. Cool. When they come through the gate, I will be waiting with my phaser…
And that bad boy won’t be set to stun I promise you.
Anyway. Have a nice day.
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Summer food fun and drink - time to butt out this theme · Monday September 8, 2008 by colin newell
It is a beautiful summer night in our concrete and steel tower overlooking the miserable neighborhood of Rockland… Million dollar houses. Rich folks with their noses in the air.
And now I know why.
They are trying to breathe.
On this perfect night, Andrea and I open the windows to let in a softening breeze. The mid-September evening is rich with a delicate sea breeze and the aroma of summer drawing to a close.
But wait, there is more. The slow moving zephyr brings in the noxious assault of a neighbor puffing away on her balcony.
She has a new baby and she is crashing with her folks. Naturally, we would not want her exposing her bambino to the effects of second hand Butt smoke.
So let’s expose the neighbors instead. What we could find out!
Oops. Digression.
The way I see it: If someone does not give a rodents ass what they press and suck into their mouthes, they sure as heck are not going to spend much time worrying about my lungs.
Oh well. I need to be more patient. She has a new baby. No father. And no one is going to be kissing her anytime soon.
It sucks.
So please don’t exhale.
