Tastes of the Internet

I will admit - I love the internet.  It has all the answers.  What is sous vide?  When are pomegranates in season?  How can I make my own Bacon Explosion?  It also has a lot of cool stuff available to buy and I am no stranger to the "buy it now" button.  Over the past few weeks, I picked up these cool new items:

• Hamburger T-shirt - When the Burger Beast invited me to take part in his first Miami Burger Tour, it didn't take much convincing for me to hop in on the action.  That said, you can't go on a Burger Tour without proper apparel and it just so happened that Threadless reprinted a t-shirt I had on my watch list just in time for the event.  

 

This burger skips the small talk and gets straight to the point 

•  Bourbon Chocolate Bar - You know that look a dog gets when you say, "Wanna go outside?"  Head raised, ears perked, tail wagging with excitement.  That's the same look I had when I was reading through a bourbon forum post and came across a rumor of a chocolate bar made with George T. Stagg bourbon, the very bourbon I had recently given 2009 top honors to.  Nina Wanat, the founder over at Bon Bon Bar managed to pack in the awesomeness of bourbon into little bite sized chocolate bars made up of bourbon ganache, chewy caramel, dark chocolate, maldon salt, black pepper, and corn wafer.  I found the bourbon flavor to be noticeable enough though not too prominent in each bite.  The maldon salt enhances the flavor of the chocolate in a good way and the black pepper provides a nice spice.  It was an ok purchase influenced by the fact that it had bourbon in it.

 Bourbon loves Chocolate 4eva

• Japanese Ice Ball Molds - I find that good bourbon is best enjoyed neat or with minimal ice to keep it cool without watering it down.  Here in Miami, ice tends to melt quick.  Luckily, the Japanese have found that ice in a spherical shape melts a lot slower due to its' smaller surface area.  Thus, it has the ability to keep a drink cool without diluting it too much.  Previously, I'd only been able to find these advanced ice ball makers that look really cool but come with a hefty price tag.  One day, I stumbled upon a link to the MoMA Store where they were selling a plastic mold for a decent price so I figured I'd give 'em a shot.  While they certainly don't look as cool as the expensive molds, they get the job done and I think they are a lot easier to use.  The package came with two of the 2-ball molds you see below so you can make four ice balls at a time.  This is great for stocking up the ice bucket.  I tested the first ice ball with a glass of Woodford Reserve and it worked great with the ice ball keeping its' shape and lasting for about 90 minutes!  If you like your spirits on the rocks but don't like them getting watered down, this is the inexpensive way to do it.

 

 

 

Domo arigato, MoMA-san