• 22 Posts
  • 19 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • Dear Nitwit,

    A reduced faith in science might, hear me out here, ••might•• have something to do with science, ya know, killing the planet and what not. You wanna get some faith back? Maybe apply these new technologies to human happiness, or even, who knows human survival.

    One more thing, nimrod. The real risk averse culture? It ain’t your unwashed “zero-sum thinking Millennials” No, it’s your hyper capitalist who’s rigged the system to the point where taking financial risk is erased by government bailouts. They’re the ones who want to eliminate risk.

    And it’s that, plus their increased control of what is and is not researched in practised science that leads to our dismay. See above: “planet dying” Imagine something like pencillin, developed entirely within an academic risky environment, getting made today.

    There’s risk in true critical thinking, instead of lazy “Kids Today” hand-wringing. So, in future, take a fucking risk.





  • I think that’s a great recommendation. I really admire your admission of not being anywhere near zero waste. Me neither! But it’s better to do better than do nothing. The zero waste movement can get quite fanatical, which is a turn off. Especially if it’s about shopping for things to be zero waste with.

    I don’t do everything right, but I do bring my own bags. But it took years, and like any habit, and like you said, it’s about feeling. I’d walk into a store, and it would start to feel weird if my hand is empty. If you forget to bring your bag today, bring it tomorrow. The feelings develop over time.

    I know because I’ve switched recently to getting my bread and croissants in a wax-cloth bag (instead of the throwaway papers). It’s been about six months, and I get it right … about half the time.













  • Good question, not sure I’ve got an answer. Just a term I’ve heard a lot, always sounded like it was doing something on the molecular level. Which I guess everything is. I think it’s this. When you stretch the milk, you’re trying to (about) double it in volume with tiny bubbles (microfoam). If the bubbles are too big, that’s foaming the milk. I think. Lance will better explain it. But foam like that is the way it’s done in most of Italy (from my limited experience). It’s just a different way of doing it.


  • I, too, was like you. Until one day, I learned the secret …

    No, seriously. Lance Hedrick is great about how to make good foam and all the secrets to pouring.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0BqZlXENXW-WG5pS_k-xsFu-xXLy1XVZ

    Just looking at it though I must ask, what kind of milk? It does seem a bit foamy, and I get that with certain commercial milks, and less so with raw milk.

    Also, it was a huge help (my friend talk me this, not Lance) to bleed the wand before using it, really let a bunch of steam out. There’s a kind of balance when you get it right, that if you texture without bleeding, it’s too foamy, and with too much, you have to add air while you’re stretching the milk.

    And that’s exactly how much you can know by looking at a picture. The most important thing I’ve found over the years is milk and coffee taste good.




  • There’s nothing better!

    I live in a tiny town in Brittany, France and have a great roaster here called Cafés Celtik. They opened about five years ago, and they’re doing pretty well, selling to supermarkets and so on.

    Torrefaction (roasting) is growing in France, but coffee making not so much. Not a lot of people in France, even cafés, care about things like roasting dates. So you really have to go in to their shop to buy.

    Also check out Bourbon d’Ansel and Café 1802. About 1/3 the price of Paris roasters. Speaking of stupid expensive.