The Right Coast |
|
|
Thoughts from San Diego on Law, Politics, and Culture
Right Coasters
Gail Heriot Saikrishna Prakash Michael Rappaport Maimon Schwarzschild Thomas Smith Christopher Wonnell Email Us Gail Heriot Saikrishna Prakash Michael Rappaport Maimon Schwarzschild Thomas Smith Christopher Wonnell Links Andrew Sullivan Atlantic Blog The Buck Stops Here Corporate Law Blog Crescat Sententia Crooked Timber Curmudgeonly Clerk Daniel Drezner En Banc EveTushnet.Com FreeSpace How Appealing Instapundit Law and Econ Blog Little Green Footballs Legal Theory Blog The Leiter Reports Marginal Revolution Overlawyered Pejmanesque ProfBainbridge.Com Punishment Theory Rasmusen Weblog SFA Politics & Relig Southern Appeal SpoonsExperience USS Clueless The Volokh Conspiracy The Yin Blog Archives The Bear Flag League Aaron's Rantblog (LA) Absinthe & Cookies Accidental Jedi (Fres) Angry Clam (LA) Baldilocks BlogoSFERICS (Expat) BoifromTroy (LA) CalBlog (Los Angeles) California Republic Citizen Smash(SD) Cobb (Los Angeles) Daily Pundit (SF) Dale Franks e-Claire(Northern CA) Fresh Potatoes(Orang) Infinite Monkeys The Interocitor (LA) The Irish Lass (Sacra) Left Coast Conserv. Lex Communis (Fres) Master of None (LA) Miller's Time (Sac) Molly's Musings (SD) Mulatto Boy (LA) Howard Owens (Vent) Pathetic Earthlings) Patio Pundit Patterico's Pontifications(LA) PrestoPundit (Orange) QandO Right on the Left Beach Shark Blog (Expat) Slings and Arrows (SD) So. Cal Law Blog (LA) Tone Cluster Window Manager Xrlq (Orange) 
|
December 13, 2003
Christmas guy toys -- Part I: Coffee By Tom Smith My favorite things I often buy for myself. But here is an update on various toys, many fitness related, that might make a good holiday gift, or you can just buy for that techno-nerd fitness geek on your shopping list, i.e. yourself. (I-am-not-a-sexist disclaimer: I use 'guy' to mean male and female guys.) First things first. Caffine. You wake up but you don't want to get up. At all. Then your mind moves to that first cup of java. You find you have gotten out of bed. Life may not be good yet, but there is hope. What works? The best coffee, short of the little coffee bar on the corner up from your pensione in Sienna or even the occassional Starbucks, comes from a French press. This is cheap, effective technology. Here's one at a great price. But sometimes you want to make a big pot of the stuff at home, like every morning. What to do? I think the dirt cheap brewers you can get at Target for $20 can do a pretty good job. But if you want something more reliable and longer lasting, or just want to indulge your coffee fetish, here is a dandy machine. The milk frothing device really works, but don't expect to be as good as your local espresso bar. If you are really a nut with money to burn, buy this and invite me over to try it. I'll even set it up for you! Another promising type of device is this thing. I've never tried it, but some people swear by the vacuum method. It looks like a bit of a hassle to me. If I had time to do this, I would just use the French press instead. If you are sick enough, you may want to buy a conical burr grinder. I don't have one, but it's the next step. Where should you buy coffee? I know lots of bean-heads turn their noses up at Starbuck's, but I don't think they are that bad. If you want something better, you can buy it at Peet's. Or look around locally. There may be a coffee roaster in your area that does a good job. Look for beans that look really oily, almost like they've been dipped in olive oil. That oil is where the flavor comes from, or most of it. That's why a french press is better than a gold filter, and gold better than paper--it lets more oil through. |