Okay, I’ll admit it. I view Facebook at least once a day.
Probably somewhere in the 30 to 60 minute range each day. And I’m sure there
are over half a billion other Facebook users that spend just as much time each
day if not more time than I do on Facebook. And that doesn’t even account for
the time people spend on the internet each day. And though most of these social
media sites are free, someone is paying the cost for your “wall”. Advertisers,
that’s who.
You’ve seen it. Those same shoes you were browsing on the
Nordstrom site. Or that cocktail smoker from the Williams-Sonoma site. How they
miraculously appear right next to your Facebook feed. Or sometimes these
sponsored links appear as part of your daily Facebook feed. And you know
businesses won’t continue to pay for these ads unless they are generating
sales. From the masses of daily Facebook addicts. Or me…
The Norlan
Whisk(e)y Glass
I first viewed this sponsored link as part of my Facebook
news feed and initially didn’t think much of the ad. You see, I’m a hardcore
Riedel junkie with various Riedel glasses for different grape varieties as well
as what I originally thought was the best whiskey glass bar none. The Riedel Single
Malt Whisky glass has an exaggerated curved lip that had sips of the “water of
life” that forced the elixir on to your tongue versus sending them initially to
the back of your throat with that inevitable alcohol cough/gag reflex. No
better whisky glass… or so I thought.
Then I invariably decided to visit the Norlan website
that described why their glass was better than other whiskey glasses. For
starters, their glass was composed of borosilicate glass, the same that’s found
in laboratory glassware and Pyrex. It also had a double wall meaning that
colder whiskey wouldn’t cause condensation on the outer surface. Then they had
this cool animation showing how aromatics and alcohol exited their glass with
alcohol dispersing outwardly and aromatics being concentrated to your nose.
Let’s see, $48 for a pair of glasses? I do have a friend who enjoys straight bourbon
with her cigars… it would make the perfect Christmas present. Wait, I should
also get a pair for me…
So when they arrived, I immediately washed the glass and
poured exactly 1 ounce of Whistle Pig rye into the Norlan and the Riedel
glasses. Both the Mrs. and I swirled and inhaled from each glass. SLAM DUNK!
Not even close! The Norlan glass gave off a lot more aromatic notes than the
Riedel. And since that day, the only glass I use for my Whistle Pig, High West,
Basil Hayden or Masterson’s rye is the Norlan glass…
Misen Knives
Once again, I first viewrd their ad as a sponsored link
on my daily Facebook feed. Because those Kamikoto knife ads started appearing
months ago – and I did initially view the Kamikoto website – I initially simply
ignored those Misen ads. Partly because I have more kitchen cutlery than I
really need, partly because the main Misen knife advertised was a chef’s knife.
I already have 3 all-purpose knives in my kitchen armamentarium, my Shun
Dual-Core kiritsuke, Global 8 inch
chef’s knife and Bon Kramer santoku.
But one day, that sponsored link included a quotation from J Kenji Alt-Lopez,
the culinary guru from super website Serious Eats. And he stated that though he
often receives freebie knives and kitchen supplies from manufacturers hoping to
get mentioned on Serious Eats, he felt that the Misen chef’s knife was the BEST
knife for $65 or less. It even was on par with knives 2 to 3 times that price
point.
Of course, I still didn’t need another multi-purpose
blade. But I was looking for a replacement bread knife at the time. You see, my
trusty Wusthof 8 inch bread knife purchased in San Francisco in 1990 for $42
was beginning to require a lot more sawing motion to slice baguettes. Both the
8 and 10 inch current Wusthof versions were $139.95 at Williams-Sonoma – which
I was willing to pay since my current version lasted almost 30 years. Then I
noticed that Misen also offered a 3 piece set with a 8 inch chef’s knife, 3
inch paring knife AND… a 10 inch bread knife. And if you gave them your e-mail
address, they took another 10% off the $130 listed price and it even included
shipping to the 50th. SOLD! Never mind that Misen uses AUS-8
Japanese stainless steel with 0.75% carbon content bolstered with vanadium
sharpened to a 15 degree angle, this knife is as comfortable in the hand and
slices like no-one’s business. If you don’t have a knife set that you like, I
highly encourage you to order the 3 knife set from Misen!
Did I Bite Again?
Lastly, for the past several months another sponsored link
has continually appeared on my Facebook feed – probably because I keep
perpetuating the feed by continually visiting their website… No, it doesn’t
have to do with wine… or kitchen implements… or bar accoutrements… It’s
something that would simply remain in my hurricane or disaster backpack. The
GoSun solar cooker.
For starters, my hurricane backpack contains most of the
necessities that Civil Defense recommends after any natural or manmade disaster
including several freeze dried meals packaged in Mylar with oxygen absorbers
that supposedly can last over 20 years. All they need is boiling water to
rehydrate and you have a complete meal. I also pack black CamelBak water
bottles with the intention of leaving full water bottles in the direct sunlight
to heat the water in the event that my gas powered cooking devices aren’t
available. Of course sunlight alone won’t heat water in those CamelBaks to the
boiling point and even if they did, the bottles probably would simply melt.
Then I saw the GoSun ad…
It’s basically a dual walled borosilicate glass tube
positioned between parabolic stainless panels to concentrate the sun’s rays
centrally thus raising the temperature within the glass tube to boiling or even
higher… with just the sun. They offer several different sizes of solar cookers
and state that they can even bake within the glass tubes though my main
interest is in the GoSun Go model which is designed to boil water mainly for my
freeze dried post-apocalyptic meals. And since shipping won’t commence until
May, the regular $139 price is currently available at $119 as a pre-pay bonus.
Of course, I’m still contemplating this purchase as it
would simply be used for my disaster backpack. Nothing else. Or in the words of
Alton Brown, a uni-tasker. And it got me thinking… if a hurricane directly hit
the 50th with that much force, it probably would destroy not just my
house but also my disaster backpack. If it simply cut off electricity island
wide but spared the house or at least the disaster backpack, my gas and
charcoal powered cooking vessels would also be available to boil water. And
horror of all horrors, if the disaster were nuclear, I wouldn’t be able to go
outside anyway (assuming I were still alive) since the atmosphere would be ripe
with radioactive fall-out.
So while I did take the bait for the Norlan glass and
Misen knives (which I still would purchase in retrospect), I’ll continue
contemplating that solar cooker… for now…
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