So one of the sales reps I support was kind enough to send me a Starbucks card and I thought rather than blow it all on Frappuccinos strong black manly coffee, I'd actually get something that I could use long term. I really wanted a desktop coffee maker for work. I saw this little gem:

and plunked down my gift card. It runs $7.95 and works pretty well. You grind the coffee coarsely and let it steep. There's a mini-plunger that pushes the screen down filtering out the coffee grounds. And a handy little flip top pour/drinking spout lets you decant. It's double wall insulated and I suppose if you had to drink from it, you could. In my experimenting it has let some of the grounds/tea leaves escape into my cup, but that's not bad. It's easy enough to clean. The only bad thing about it is that it's just not very big. It makes about five ounces, which while technically a cup of coffee by most measures, just doesn't fill my mug. Still, it's better than office coffee so it'll do nicely.

I think I'm in love.

I was in Baton Rouge Wednesday and Thursday and while in the airport on my way back bought a bag of this lovely product. I brewed a pot in my Chemex this morning and it's awesome! Black as Donald Trump's heart and quite a bit thicker than his wallet, I was a little afraid that it would be bitter. I did add a little bit of sugar and my wife inadvertently put a dollop of whipped cream on top, and it tasted every bit like a really top notch cappuccino. Tomorrow I'll make some and drink it straight up black, to see how different it is. Chicory is the root of the endive plant and contains a high concentration of a natural sugar called inulin. Now see, you done learned somethin' I gah-ron-tee.

Can't talk, pretty busy. But I felt I must post this. If you haven't played this game and are into board games in any way, you must play it. I was kindly invited to Sid's house f'realz and his lovely wife cooked us an eqaully lovely dinner. Afterwards, while drinking coffee laced with Bailey's and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings (evil, the woman is eeeee-vil) the three of us played this. Afterwards we talked and talked and talked s'more. Thanks guys!

Boy I can't tell you how many times I've been out in the boonies and really, really wanted an espresso (okay it's been every time, so like....six). Well my wait might be almost over!!

Handpresso looks like a bicycle pump (how Franch) attached to one of those plastic bubbles that you get from the bubble gum/cheap toy vending machines. It uses an espresso pod. You pump it up to 16 bars (about the right pressure), fill it with hot water, pop in the pod, hit the button, et voila. It's 99 euros (143.5302 U.S. dollars) plus whatever they want to jack you for, for shipping and handling. So say two hundred bucks? Would you pay that? I sent an email to them and if I get an availability notice that it can be bought around these parts I'll let you know.

HT to http://singleservecoffee.com

UPDATE - This "caffeine crack pipe/bong" can be yours for a total of 127 euros (185.4708 U.S. dollars) including shipping. It's not available in the US... yet.

Leigh and I journeyed to nearby Pilot Mountain to partake of the local scenery and to get away from our three lovely children. It was three days well spent.

The Kahva Vacuum Coffee Pot design over at Gizmodo is very cool.

The idea of a vacpot is nothing new:

As the water heats, the rising air pressure makes it flow upwards from the glass water chamber into the metal brewing unit. Once the coffee is ready, take it off the heat and the coffee will return through a filter into the Kahva's glass bottom via a vacuum that has been created by the cooling of the coffee maker. To pour, simply turn the grip and let the coffee flow.

The induction powered base station is pretty awesome. Looks like it might be a bear to clean, but it's very pretty. This, though is a work of art.

Hi, I'm Scott and I'm a coffee snob.