Friday, August 19
10E2681: Bias?? Fridays are tie days.
Wednesday, August 17
10E2680: Why add a splash of water to whisk(e)y
Cooks Illustrated magazine had a tiny bit recently on why it can be effective to add some water to your neat whisky - or whiskey. Link to article.
TLDR below;
"...the flavor in whiskey is in the form of ethanol-soluble molecules. The higher the proof of the whiskey, the more flavor molecules dissolved in the alcohol portion. Cutting the spirit causes some of those flavor molecules to come out of solution, so they are more readily smellable and tasteable"
BUT - the physical magazine (Sept/Oct 2022) better described the chemistry at play and know you will appreciate this...
"alcohol-soluble flavor molecules tend to avoid the whiskey's surface when it's more than 50 percent alcohol.... Cutting the spirit with water lowers its proof and brings these molecules to the liquid's surface, amplifying the drink's flavor and aroma when sipped."
This knowledge almost as essential as knowing what shaking does to a martini... further reading.
Wednesday, June 29
10E2679: Tunnocks and obsessive behaviour
A sweet treat from Scotland almost at "Irn Bru" level of fame and sweetness... Tunnocks Teacakes. Fortunately available all over the UK. Only recently realized they are essentially what Americans call s'mores! So good...
The foil wrapper is iconic. But do you crush it or smooth it flat after eating... are you obsessive?? Watch the STILL GAME clip and decide...
Monday, May 2
10E2678: Table Talk Pies
Table Talk pies have been a popular treat for generations of Americans, and especially those who live within a 500-mile radius of the Worcester, MA plant where the company has been baking pie since 1924. At its peak, Table Talk was buying four million pounds of Maine blueberries for its blueberry pies, the second most popular flavor after apple. -via Business Review
Until at least the 1950's the pies came on a tin that was redeemable for 10c. What - is that equivalent to about $5 now!... Not sure how that worked out economically. Dig the use of the old tin for home projects like the lightswitch above. In the 80's the owning family sold the business to Beech-Nut, who almost ran it into the ground due to over expansion. The grandson of the former owners has since bought back the farm so to speak. Fantastic.
Wednesday, March 9
10E2677: Endurance found
At the Bottom of an Icy Sea, One of History’s Great Wrecks Is Found
Explorers and researchers, battling freezing temperatures, have located Endurance,Ernest Shackleton’s ship that sank in the Antarctic in 1915.
Read via the NYT. Get out the rollneck sweaters!
Found using submersibles [assumed that -ed.] from aboard the Agulhas II. File under 'for the man who has everything..." Image and more info at Shipbucket.
Thee are almost as cool [stop it -ed] as a Magne Viking...
Further reading: 10E2658: Magne Viking | No Well Dressed Man Should Be Without One
Tuesday, December 14
10E2676: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
THIS is how you do multiverse.
A film from Daniels [Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert -ed.] and starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., with James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – In Theaters March 25, 2022.