https://www.joshcanhelp.com2015-06-19T00:00:00ZJosh Cunninghamjosh@joshcanhelp.comInstallation Cold Brew: Buzz King2015-06-19T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/installation-cold-brew/<p>If you look around this site a bit, you might get the impression that I like cold brew coffee. This is the correct impression to have; <strong>I do.</strong></p>
<p>I wrote about what cold brew does to you before in my <a href="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/coldbrew-i-always-want-it-in-my-mouth/">Blue Bottle New Orleans post</a>. TL; DR: it completely ruins you on cold coffee beverages. Cold brewed coffee is a completely different drink from hot coffee made cold. It’s stronger, smoother (in my opinion), and more well-rounded. These days, if I feel like cold caffeine and there’s no true cold brewed coffee available, I go iced tea.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/06/IMG_3478-e1434732782486.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Because of this mild obsession, I always have my eyes open for new entries into the space. I subscribe to Imbibe, an excellent 6-times-yearly magazine covering beverages of all types along the folks who create and serve them. They specialize in cocktails, beer, and coffee so my vice obsessions are covered nicely.</p>
<p>In the last issue, they mentioned a newcomer to the net-available coffee space, Installation out of Los Angeles. According to their site:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Installation Cold Brew is an all natural coffee concentrate brewed and bottled in Los Angeles, California … We use our very own blend of Central American coffees to create a flavor profile with taste notes of rich dark cocoa, almonds, stone fruit and mixed berries</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I owed my dad, a fellow cold brew fanatic, a gift so I ordered the 2 x 1 liter package right off my phone. It took about a week to get to me and was well worth the wait. I should mention that it is a little pricy. The 2-pack was $48 shipped, so about $1.50 per ounce. Compare that with <a href="http://amzn.to/1Na30B8">Chameleon Cold Brew on Amazon</a> which is about $1 per ounce, so we’re talking 50% more. Is it worth the cost? Read on.</p>
<p>I opened my bottle first and tried it right away, then left it in the fridge overnight. Tasting notes are below with a quick summary for each.</p>
<h3>Tasting Straight</h3>
<ul>
<li>Vegetables on the nose</li>
<li>Smoky, hickory smell</li>
<li>Very little bitterness at first but fades into more</li>
<li>Strong citrusy flavor; hints at sour but doesn’t quite get there</li>
<li>Very slight metallic, not in a bad way</li>
<li>Leaves no bad aftertaste, just mild bitterness</li>
</ul>
<p>I don’t typically drink cold brew straight as it’s a little too heavy to be refreshing. This one, like a few others I’ve tried, is definitely not a straight drinker. The nose was ok but not great and the citrus notes are too strong to be enjoyable to my palate. What I did like was the very minimal acidity and bitterness, common with quality cold brewed coffee.</p>
<h3>Mixed 50/50 With Water</h3>
<ul>
<li>Much cleaner, citrus backs off quite a bit</li>
<li>Becomes very mellow, very little bitter comes through at the end</li>
<li>Mild almond notes are a great compliment</li>
<li>Much more refreshing</li>
</ul>
<p>Adding water to the concentrate made a huge difference. All the funny notes I got on the nose went away and it really smoothed out. This is definitely one that can be enjoyed as a mix on ice without milk or cream. Very refreshing.</p>
<h3>Mixed With 1tbsp Heavy Cream</h3>
<ul>
<li>Shocked to say that this doesn’t add much to the drink at first</li>
<li>Creamy lingering works well with what the coffee itself leaves behind</li>
<li>Brings out the almond notes a bit</li>
<li>Gets a bit flatter; still very refreshing but less going on</li>
</ul>
<p>First, a note about the heavy cream. I drink coffee black at times if it’s a special cup brewed using a pour-over or Aeropress. I always try a cup first before I add cream if I’ve never had the beans before because, sometimes, it’s just right. I’ve moved towards more and more fat content in the dairy I add because more fat means less sugar. I don’t add sugar to my coffee because I don’t like that little bit of sweetness combined with the coffee’s bitterness. I either want a treat (think: coffee ice cream) or no sweet at all. I find that heavy cream, used in moderation, brings out the good flavor in most coffees without ruining it with a hint of sweetness.</p>
<p>Back to the coffee at hand … At first, I felt like I ruined it a bit by adding cream. The notes that made this drink interesting seemed to fall to the back and I was left with an overall flatter flavor. As I kept sipping, through, I came to terms with that because the taste I really liked, the hint of almond, came out with the cream. The notes were still there and the lingering cream aftertaste completely eliminated any bitterness. I also get a bit more of the cocoa that was mentioned in their description.</p>
<p>I have to say that this is one of the best cold brews I’ve ever had, maybe <em>the</em> best. Since I don’t drink this stuff straight, I won’t judge it based on the unmixed concentrate. Mixed with just water or water and cream, this is good enough to pay the premium in my mind. The flavor is excellent and the almond/cocoa mix makes this something I don’t imagine I’ll get tired of anytime soon.</p>
Blue Bottle Giant Steps2015-02-08T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/blue-bottle-giant-steps/<p>This is just a quick review since I bought this and promptly drank it quickly without thinking about taking notes. Unforgivable? Possibly, but I hope you give me the benefit of the doubt here.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/blue_bottle_giant_steps.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>These beans made a great cup of coffee but I wouldn’t call it “all things to all coffee drinkers.” This was a big, big cup of coffee, as the name suggests, so it’s the perfect pair for, say, a light pastry or a bowl of fruit. The flavor is powerful and, as their description states, a little “one-dimensional.” This isn’t a bad thing, per se, but means that the notes and complexities you might find in, say, a single-origin Colombia are not going to be present here.</p>
<p>What should you do with this coffee? This is definitely one for folks who use cream, it tones down the intensity and acidity just enough. I would serve this with something not-too-sweet, like a breakfast burrito or a hash/scramble of some kind. Putting sweet up against this brings even more of that flavor strength out, which this doesn’t need.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
Mama Lil's Kick Butt Peppers in Oil2015-01-05T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/mama-lils-kick-butt-peppers-in-oil/<p>In another life, I worked at a restaurant that served great Italian/Croatian food to people that were, on the whole, fairly pleasant. It was not a great job but it did have it’s benefits, like all the fresh-baked rolls you could sneak into your mouth while the manager wasn’t looking.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/mama_lils.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>One of their specialties was stone-oven baked pizzas with a creative combination of toppings. There was a suite of regular items on the menu and a revolving one that was hit-or-miss. One day, one of these revolving flavors included the life-changing ingredient we have here, <strong>Mama Lil’s Peppers</strong>. It was love at first … taste. You thought I was going to say “bite,” didn’t you?</p>
<p>Ever since that moment so many years ago, I’ve been adding these sweet and hot little things to almost everything I eat that isn’t dessert (note to self). Pizza, sandwiches (tuna melts in particular, I don’t know why it works but it does), pasta, pizza, salads, steak, pizza – you name something eaten for dinner and I’ve considered whether Mama Lil’s can make it better.</p>
<p>I was very happy to see these peppers for sale online. Sure, you have to order by the flat but, take my word for it, these things not only keep well but they go <strong>fast</strong>. Plus, the oil you’re left with at the end can be used just as creatively drizzled over a panini or slathered over some warm, crusty bread. There’s no way you can go wrong here.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
Make Coconut Chips at Home, Then Give Up and Buy Dang2015-01-05T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/make-coconut-chips-at-home-then-give-up-and-buy-dang/<p>Earlier this month, I went on a cycling trip to Hood River, Oregon with a few friends of mine who, thankfully, make it their mission to make sure I don’t fall too behind and die a miserable death on the side of the road (we’ll ignore the fact that they also encourage me to end up on said road). As usual, we found ourselves talking about consumables and all the wonderful things that were out there. In the space of 24 hours, I had recommended:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mauibrewingco.com/discover_beer/coconut-hiwa-porter/">Maui Brewing’s CoCoNut Porter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://amzn.to/1FttQ0T">La Croix Coconut seltzer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://amzn.to/1K30WuQ">Kind’s Almond Coconut bar</a></li>
<li><a href="http://amzn.to/1Ftu3RM">Harmless Harvest raw coconut water</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/coconut-jam-kopi-and-toast-singapore/">Coconut jam</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.trophycupcakes.com/cupcake-flavors/triple-coconut">Trophy’s Triple Coconut Cupcake</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3347836-10273722-1364330136000?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adagio.com%2Fflavors%2Fcoconut.html&cjsku=20036">Adagio’s Coconut Black</a></li>
<li>Dang’s Coconut Chips (link below)</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/IMG_1508_pc_post.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>See a trend here? <strong>I like coconut, I guess.</strong></p>
<p>Coconut is the flavor/base/source du jour these days for both edibles and non-edibles alike. Coconut oil is nectar of the gods for cooking and skin care, coconut water helps exercise and hangover recovery, and a coconut-flavored something can be found on almost every menu. I remember coconut being a very polarizing flavor a decade or two ago: some people loved it, some people hated it. It appears the haters of this now-commonplace <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Coconut">drupe</a> have all disappeared.</p>
<p><em>Good riddance.</em></p>
<p>Up until the aforementioned bike trip, I wouldn’t have classified myself as a coconut fanatic. Yes, I love coconut and yes, I seem to seek it out everywhere I go. But the subtle obsession I seem to have been germinating over the last few years has remained mostly subconscious. I picked up Coconut La Croix because it sounded interesting (this stuff is now a 4x daily habit). Same with the CoCoNut Porter, it wasn’t a flavor that I had ever seen in a beer before so I tried it (if it’s on a tap list, it’s in a glass in front of me). Coconut water just tastes good and is quite refreshing (it’s my wife that has the problem with this one).</p>
<p>But, writing this out and reflecting on the past, I see that I have a problem. I have let my coconut fascination turn into compulsion and it’s harming the people around me by coloring the usually-measured food recommendations I give. I want to publically apologize to my friends, family, and readers for the pain and suffering this neurosis of mine has caused.</p>
<p>I mean, I’m not going to do anything about it but I’m sorry if you’re sick of hearing about coconut.</p>
<p>Before my preference bloomed into the full-blown mania it is today, I was experimenting with a reduced-carb diet to lose a few pounds I had put on over the last 2 years (totally unrelated: my daughter turned 2 last month). I was looking for something a little sweet with a great texture that wasn’t made out of flour. These little guys caught my eye and, despite a pretty high cost/volume ratio, I decided to give them a try.</p>
<p><strong>And my coconut fixation progressed yet again.</strong></p>
<p>Everything about these chips are just right. The texture has to be one of the most perfect snap/crunch combinations I’ve ever experienced. Each chip gives a tiny little bit, then cracks, over and over for each bite. Dang’s roasting method is impeccable, each chip coming out the color of a perfectly toasted marshmallow.</p>
<p>Then there’s the taste. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness, just enough to be decadent when combined with the fatty coconut meat. You don’t feel like you’re eating candy but your sweet tooth is satiated. And that’s just the plain ones. There’s an almost musical umami going on with the salted caramel chips that can only be truly understood by experiencing them.</p>
<p><strong>So good.</strong></p>
<p>But I kept coming back to the price. These are about $1.34/ounce, depending on where you buy them ($1.89/ounce at the grocery store we use). Even as delicious and nicely filling as these are, that’s a premium price for a snack. So, being the frugal and resourceful gentlemen that I am, I decided to follow my wife’s lead with everything and just make my own. I should have saved the recipe I came up with but it went something like this:</p>
<ol>
<li>Take raw coconut chips and toss them with homemade simple syrup</li>
<li>Stick them in the toaster oven on broil</li>
<li>Realize about 5 minutes in that broil is way too hot for coconut and switch over to convection at around 350°</li>
<li>Toss the tray of sticky, sweet coconut chips every couple of minutes</li>
<li>Do this for close to an hour</li>
<li>Realize how much time you’ve sunk into this process long after it is too late to start</li>
<li>Ignore your hungry toddler for this time to make sure you don’t ruin all your hard work</li>
</ol>
<p>Again, that’s just a rough overview.</p>
<p>The outcome? Not bad, honestly. They were a little too sweet because I overdid the simple syrup a bit in an effort to coat them all equally. I think letting them sit and soak it in for a while would have helped. The roast was good but not perfection like Dang’s. It was tough to get them evenly toasty all over when you’re just baking them in a pan. After sitting for while to cool and harden, they were definitely passable, could have worked as a garnish for a desert.</p>
<p>Problem is, I spent about 1.5 hours making them (excluding time to make the simple syrup) and only saved a dollar or two on raw materials. In the end, this was definitely not a good time-for-money trade.</p>
<p>If you dig coconut and want a very satisfying treat, definitely give Dang’s a try. If you have 2 hours free to make an inferior product, by all means, follow my lead.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
Kina Tonic For A Unique Gin & Tonic Experience2015-01-04T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/kina-tonic-gin-and-tonic-mixer/<p>A gin & tonic has an iconic ring to it. Just say it out loud:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ll have a gin and tonic.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It sounds sophisticated, civilized, classy. In other words, it feels like the opposite of ordering a Jaeger Bomb. You feel like an adult, like you’ve gotten somewhere, like you really deserve this drink.</p>
<p><em>It’s also an acquired taste.</em></p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/IMG_1489-e1420330236592.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>“Bitter” is not a flavor for everyone. Negronis, Campari sodas, and everything else with this flavor component don’t often float to the top of my “favorite mainstream cocktail” list. This shouldn’t be surprising: bitter is often a flavor meant to convey “toxic” in nature. Want your cat to stop eating a house plant? Spray a little bitter apple on the leaves.</p>
<p>But in a sea of sweet, salty, and sour, bitter can be a wonderful reprieve. The kind of bitter you’re looking for is dull, it doesn’t hit your tongue and cause your face to scrunch up (remember <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOP5PBIghhc">Bitter Beer Face</a>?). It’s rounder, flatter, and should be accompanied with other flavors that create more of a symphony of components. Bitter alone is not typically enjoyable but when surrounded by a little sweet, maybe a little herbal, it creates a very different sensation.</p>
<p>As an example, think about an IPA or imperial IPA. There are some out there that just ruin your mouth with thick, unapproachable hop bitterness. But a well-made one hits you with the late-stage hoppiness first and leaves the bitter around to remind you that you’re drinking something potent. A perfect example is Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA. If you’re not into making beer, a 90 minute boil with early-stage hops is a long one. Hops add more and more bitter character the longer they’re boiled so you typically add some in the beginning, some in the middle, and some at the end. Get it wrong, and it’s it’s awful; get it right and the beer sings with complexity.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/hop_harvest_2012_sm.jpg" alt="hop_harvest_2012_sm" /></p>
<p>All that to say: <strong>bitter can work in some cases for some people.</strong></p>
<p>Let’s come back to the classic G&T. Order one of this at your local watering hole and the results are pretty predictable:</p>
<ol>
<li>Well gin, hopefully something drinkable like Beefeater but not always. Gin is often dismissed as “all the same” by those that don’t drink it so bars don’t really pay attention to the one they use.</li>
<li>Gun-dispensed tonic water, loaded with corn syrup and cheap quinine</li>
<li>Maybe a squeeze or 5 of lime to mask both of the previous ingredients</li>
<li>In some cases, a splash of Rose’s lime because the 32g/serving of sugar in the tonic water just isn’t sweet enough</li>
</ol>
<p>At this point, between the overpowering sweetness and mediocre spirit, you might as well be drinking a Jack and Coke. Any herbal subtleties of the gin are gone and you’re left with something that’s just gross.</p>
<p>The first G&T I ever had was made along these lines but with a few subtle differences:</p>
<ul>
<li>The gin was Tanqueray, which is a great mixing gin in my opinion</li>
<li>I used about 1:1 ratio of gin to Schweppes tonic water; I liked the gin taste a lot more than I liked the tonic water</li>
<li>I used a lot more lime to temper that sweet/bitter combo of the tonic</li>
<li>No Rose’s, for god’s sake</li>
</ul>
<p>I experimented more and more with this cocktail until I realized why I liked it but it wasn’t perfect: I liked the gin but I didn’t like the tonic water. This let me to the gimlet, another classic gin cocktail that suited me better. The perfect gimlet was just great gin, about 3 squeezed slices of lime, and a splash of something sweet (Rose’s is OK here if very little is used, classic simple syrup is fine as well). I abandoned the G&T and adopted the gimlet as “Josh’s Cocktail of Choice.”</p>
<p>But the problem with the gimlet is the same as any other spirit-forward cocktail served in a low-volume glass that gets easier and easier to spill as the evening wears on: they disappear fast. Whether it’s water, seltzer, coffee, beer, or a cocktail, I drink very quickly. Give me a Manhattan and it’s gone in about 10 minutes. Repeat that 3 times and I’m getting an Uber home, bound for a headache the next morning. The gimlet was delicious and refreshing and just not enough liquid to keep my fidgety hands busy. <strong>It was time to try the G&T again.</strong></p>
<p>What brought me back to the original cocktail that got me into gin was simple: better tonic. I tried Q Tonic and was blown away by the different. Use great gin (Tanqueray, Sapphire, Aviation), quality limes, and Q Tonic and you have an altogether better (though, now, much more expensive) drink.</p>
<p>But could it be even more? Could it transcend the standard? <strong>Enter Kina Tonic.</strong></p>
<p>I found Kina Tonic in Imbibe magazine and it immediately sounded like something I’d like. <a href="http://www.kinatonic.com/">From their site</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Made directly from real imported Cinchona Bark and a secret blend of spices, Bradley’s Kina Tonic is some of the best damn tonic in the world. Brewed in small batches in Seattle, Washington and made completely by hand, you’ll never have anything quite like this.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bold claim, right? I had to try it. I found an overpriced bottle from a specialty retailer here in Seattle and went to work crafting the cocktail to their specs:</p>
<ol>
<li>1 part tonic syrup</li>
<li>2 parts gin</li>
<li>4 parts soda water (from my <a href="http://amzn.to/1ev2ouv">Soda Stream</a>)</li>
</ol>
<p>The tonic was not the pre-mixed and carbonated tonic I was used to, it was a concentrate so it poured like heavy simple syrup. The amber color made a cocktail that was yellow, not the clear that you’d expect with a typical G&T. And there was no lime, an essential component, at least in my mind. At first sip, I realized this was an altogether different drink. <strong>And I loved it.</strong></p>
<p>At the risk of overusing this term on the site, the big difference was it’s earthiness. There was more of a warmth present. It was still very refreshing but the overall feel was different. It was easy to drink slowly and really take in the mix of flavors. It also smelled amazing. With a typical G&T, the main smell is pungent lime; with this one, you smell the sweet, herbal syrup as you enjoy tastes of the same. It’s aromatic and relaxing. Just writing this I get a faint whiff of this tonic from memory (it’s 11AM, not quite cocktail hour in our household).</p>
<p>In the end, it would be hard for me to serve this as a gin and tonic for 2 reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>You’re setting the wrong expectation for what’s about to be served; a gin and tonic is standard and, much like a margarita, is typically made a specific way to appease most imbibers</li>
<li>You are likely to ruin that G&T standard</li>
</ol>
<p>Bradley’s calls this mix a “Tonic and Gin” and I think that’s a much better description. The name is different enough that someone will take notice of the rearranged order of words, just like they’ll take notice of the rearranged flavors. Also, the tonic is the star here, not the gin. You’re not masking the gin – far from it – but the gin takes a backseat to the wonderful combination of herbs and spices present in Bradley’s. You want people to ask “what tonic are you using?” rather than “what gin is in this?”</p>
<p>As an aside, and a testament to it’s ability to stand alone, Kina works great with just seltzer and no gin. I eat with and serve a number of people who choose not to drink alcohol and serving Tonic and Gins makes it easy for everyone to enjoy “cocktail hour” together. Beer and wine make for great conversation topics but not if part of the group isn’t joining in.</p>
<p>Give this delicious combination a try and just see if you can go back to a happy hour G&T ever again.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
Coconut Jam, Kopi and Toast, Singapore2015-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/coconut-jam-kopi-and-toast-singapore/Singapore is a magical wonderland of food, architecture, color, culture, and food. And food. Oh the food.<p>Singapore is a magical wonderland of food, architecture, color, culture, and food. And food. Oh the food.</p>
<p>Because of its location, Singapore has a mix of authentic dishes from the best countries to have authentic dishes. India, China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam all populate the restaurants and food courts (not a bad thing here, in fact it’s heaven on earth for people who love good food) with spicy, savory, simple, and sweet dishes you’ve had and dishes you haven’t. I was truly blown away by both the variety and the quality here.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/kopi_and_toast.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>But I’m here to talk to you about one dish in particular. It’s probably the simplest thing I ate there and, hence, one of the easiest things to recreate. It’s called <strong>kopi and toast</strong>, or, more completely, <strong>kopi and kaya toast</strong>. It’s simply:</p>
<ul>
<li>A small cup of coffee, usually quite strong, somewhat like Turkish coffee</li>
<li>Typically white toast grilled quickly and with the crust removed post-construction</li>
<li>Butter</li>
<li>Kaya, or coconut jam</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s definitely “a thing” in Singapore so, on my first trip there, I had to try it.</p>
<p>Like all simple things made well, it was delicious, satisfying, and left a mark. The photo above is where this memorable meal went down, in a small cafe several blocks from where we were staying in Chinatown. It was our last morning there and we had to make sure to get our fill.</p>
<p>We bought a couple of jars of kaya while we were there but found that eating it at home was, somehow, not the same. Just recently, though, I stumbled across <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPWB1J2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FPWB1J2&linkCode=as2&tag=joshcanhelp-20&linkId=AMJGUYEYGDWLZCHC">a delicious-looking kaya</a> on Amazon and was determined to recreate the consumption part of that morning.</p>
<p>The keys, at least in my memory, were three things:</p>
<ul>
<li>The bread was grilled, not toasted. There are a few ways to make toast – toaster, pan-fried,grilled – and each one is a little different.</li>
<li>The bread is just simple white bread. Not Wonder Bread but not brioche or potato bread or anything special</li>
<li>The butter was added in between the slices of toast once they had the kaya spread on. This means it’s not melted and you’re going to get a bite of butter so it needs to be high-quality.</li>
</ul>
<p>I waffled on the bread for a bit. I was half-tempted to use just plain white bread as that was probably what we had in Singapore. In the end, we tried two different types of bread: a como loaf from Grand Central Bakery here in Seattle and a par-baked baguette from Manoucher in North York, Ontario.</p>
<p>I mentioned above that the bread was grilled rather than toasted. Our house is sorely lacking any kind of flame source besides a creme brulee torch and the gas furnace so we had to settled on the toaster. The grilled bread had a crispy shell but was, for the most part, soft so the jam didn’t squirt out of the back when bitten.</p>
<p>For anything that needs good butter, I always use <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007N6Z5J0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007N6Z5J0&linkCode=as2&tag=joshcanhelp-20&linkId=GNKB3NLIRJFAUUIE">grass-fed Kerrygold Irish butter</a>. That sounds like a paid advertisement but it’s not; I’m head-over-heels for this butter. It’s not the absolute best I’ve ever had (that title belongs to a block of butter I had in Paris with little chunks of salt in it) but it’s excellent, particularly for the price point.</p>
<p>We make coffee at home with an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047BIWSK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0047BIWSK&linkCode=as2&tag=joshcanhelp-20&linkId=WOFSPEQT6VI7IN53">Aeropress</a> and great beans but the Singapore style is a little stronger so I needed to up the amount of coffee used. I also used some <a href="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/blue-bottle-giant-steps/">Blue Bottle Giant Steps beans</a>, described as “viscous, fudgy, substantial.”</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/kopi_kaya_ingredients-e1421628032841.jpg" alt="kopi_kaya_ingredients" /></p>
<p>So, with the ingredients gathered, I went to work making a traditional Singapore breakfast for the family</p>
<ol>
<li>I toasted the two types of bread until they just barely started to get brown. The como crisps up fast and I knew that would detract from the experience.</li>
<li>In the meantime, I brewed up a cup of the Giant Steps to share with my wife and I (it makes our toddler jittery so she abstained)</li>
<li>Once the bread was ready, I pulled it out and spread a thick layer of kaya jam on one side of each of the pieces</li>
<li>I sliced the butter about 1/16″ thick and laid it on the kaya side of half of the piece of bread</li>
<li>Assembled appropriately</li>
<li>Served to two happy ladies</li>
</ol>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/01/kopi_kaya_finished.jpg" alt="kopi_kaya_finished" /></p>
<p>Nope, looks nothing like what we had. But that’s OK. <strong>It was fantastic</strong>.</p>
<p>This coconut jam is so rich and decadent, combined with the salted butter it’s heaven. It’s got a very “olfactory” taste, like orgeat has. Your nose seems to do more work to amplify the flavor than it usually does. It coats your tongue with sweet, delectable flavor and sinks into the bread, creating a very pleasant sponginess.</p>
<p>The jam is quite sweet but, somehow, not too sweet at all. Even after finishing several of these delicious little sandwiches, I still snuck a small spoonful of the jam from the open jar.</p>
<p>Both breads worked great but we all agreed that the baguette was the winner here. It imparted just enough bread flavor to enhance the rest of what was going on.</p>
<p>We brought home 2 jays of kaya jam directly from Singapore and, though we liked them both, they weren’t even in the same league as this stuff. <strong>It’s honestly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.</strong> Perfect creamy consistency, perfect natural coconut flavor, perfect sugar level; this one can’t be beat.</p>
<p>Speaking to the “keys” I mentioned above, I’m convinced that the secret here is the unmelted butter encased in the kaya jam. The flavor of the two together was an incredible level of umami. I concentrated on the bread above but, after this experiment, I realized that the bread was really just the delivery mechanism and needs to get out of the way. I’d say any white bread will do but, again, the baguette was a great choice here.</p>
<p>The one thing I would do differently is the coffee. I really like this coffee but the strength is a little too much here. Because this combination is so rich and sweet, I would choose a lighter bean to go with it, maybe a Guatamala or a Columbia. The sweetness of the jam contrasted the bitterness of this coffee a little too much for my taste.</p>
<p>So, there you have it, a very easy-to-make Southeast Asian treat that you’d be hard-pressed to dislike. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPWB1J2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00FPWB1J2&linkCode=as2&tag=joshcanhelp-20&linkId=AMJGUYEYGDWLZCHC">Pick up a jar of this stuff today</a> and try it with your family; they’ll be glad you did.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
My Favorite Hot Sauce Ever ... This Month2014-03-05T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/secret-aardvark-hot-sauce/<p>Hot sauce became my go-to back in the early 2000’s when I was busy losing 100 pounds and was having trouble dealing with the loss of so much delicious food (I was eating garbage but it’s what I had become accustomed to). I read in a Men’s Health magazine that your body, when processing spicy foods, uses more calories than baseline metabolism. Whether that’s true or not, I was looking for any kind of edge I could get so hot sauce became my best friend.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/03/IMG_2899.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>The stark meals of bland chicken breast and meager salad have, thankfully, been left in the past but my love of hot sauce stayed around. I’ve learned that this “magic metabolism multiplier” was not a big contributor to my weight loss, having gained back almost 40 pounds from my lowest weight. Not that I’m complaining, this beer won’t drink itself.</p>
<p>But I digress.</p>
<p>I’m not a “drench every meal in spicy, red goo” kind of guy but I love trying new ones and seeing what peppers and spice combinations go with what foods. Tabasco, with it’s vinegary tang, doesn’t work on everything, nor does a basic jalapeno sauce. Chipotle is an odd one, it only works on certain dishes and it’s hard to tell which ones without trying the combination.</p>
<p><strong>Secret Aardvark Sauce</strong>, however, is my all-star go-to player for almost everything.</p>
<p>At a family pizza night a few years ago, my step-mom, a woman with legendary heat consumption abilities, put this sauce on the table. With it’s hand-drawn label and goofy name, it looks kitchy in all the right ways. It’s a big bottle for hot sauce, 10.5oz, which lures you into thinking that it’s probably not that hot. I asked her about it and she said she found it in West Seattle. The deli highly recommended it so she picked up a bottle and here it was, daring me to try.</p>
<p>Using the bottle size as my heat guide, I squeezed a healthy portion on my slice pizza and dug in. I immediately realized my mistake and swallowed as fast as I could before it worked itself into my heat-sensors. <strong>This stuff was hot! And delicious!</strong></p>
<p>I spent the rest of the dinner applying small doses and reveling in the taste and heat that this quirky little bottle had to offer. The heat was clear, and fast-acting, not the “creep up on you after you’ve already had too much.” And it was a good punch too so you didn’t have to drown out all the other flavors just to get a good sweat going.</p>
<p>But it was the flavor that really stood out to me. Not too strong and neutral without being boring. It felt like this could go on anything and only improve the situation. This sauce doesn’t seem to have an ethnicity stereotype; you can put it on foods from any culture.</p>
<p>So I had found my perfect hot sauce, at last! But who wants to drive to West Seattle every month? Thankfully, they have an online store so everyone can taste this little gem. In fact, it was in that online store that I discovered other Aardvark sauces I had never heard of.</p>
<p>I tried the Drunken Garlic Black Bean sauce and it was very good. Not the “put this on everything” type of addition that the habanero is but a great sauce for egg rolls, gyoza, or as a meat marinade. The Drunken Jerk sauce is next on the list.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
There is Cold Brew and Then There is Black Blood of the Earth2014-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/theres-cold-brew-and-then-theres-black-blood-of-the-earth/Made by Funranium Labs, Black Blood of the Earth (BBotE henceforth) is a very high-quality bottled cold brew that’s clearly made with passion and vim.<p>Cold brew is definitely a “thing” these days. Some “things” are “things” because they occurred somewhere extremely visible in popular culture and went on to fame. Cupcakes are a “thing” like that, an obviously enjoyable product that enjoys a bit of the limelight.</p>
<p>But some “things” are “things” because they’re unique, uncommon, and stand on their own. I maintain that cold brew is that type of “thing:” a discovery that coffee lovers make and never forget about.</p>
<p>Why does cold brew get to be the one thing and cupcakes the other? I think it all comes down to quality. Some people like cold brew, some don’t (no one I’d choose to associate with) but you can’t deny that it’s something different, better beans = better output, and care and attention is required for a great product.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/Chronovore-Coffee.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>So there you have it: <strong>cold brew is great and it’s here to stay</strong>.</p>
<p>I’ll let my <a href="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/coldbrew-i-always-want-it-in-my-mouth/">other post about cold brew</a> explain the process and composition, I want to talk about something specific and something special. I want to talk about one of the best-named products out there: Black Blood of the Earth.</p>
<p>I first heard about this wicked brew online somewhere, I can’t recall where. It sounded interesting and a bit evil in all the right ways. Made by Funranium Labs, Black Blood of the Earth (BBotE henceforth) is a very high-quality bottled cold brew that’s clearly made with passion and vim. I mean, just look at the equipment above and the bottle label design:</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/goat-883x1024-e1419609642191.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p><small>Photo from <a href="http://www.funraniumlabs.com/">Funranium Labs</a></small></p>
<p>I was sold on the first browse of the site. But one thing caused me to pause. Can you see it? Yeah, you probably can. <strong>It’s expensive</strong>. We’re talking $55 for a liter of the stuff. That’s the same price/oz of a good (not great) scotch. When I first saw the prices, I balked a bit and held off.</p>
<p>But Christmas rolled around and I was looking for a fun gift for my dad. He doesn’t drink scotch, or any alcohol for that matter, but he loves coffee, particularly cold brew. Since gift-buying always trumps sound financial decision-making for me, I splurged on a bottle of The Goat. The majority of that decision was based on getting a good gift but I’d be lying if I said that part of me just wanted a taste.</p>
<p>The bottle came and it looked as wicked as it sounds. It’s an opaque brown color, almost jet black, and pours thicker than any coffee you’ve seen. It glugs out of the bottle snarling at you, practically daring you to try it. It makes no apologies, this beverage, and is not for the weak of heart.</p>
<p>I had probably 2 ounces of The Goat, on ice and with milk. <strong>First impression: it’s strong</strong>. This is probably the strongest coffee I’ve ever had (a close second is the stuff they used to brew at a software company I worked at many years ago; the secret is to quadruple the amount of coffee used and half the water) that still tasted like something I wanted to keep drinking. that’s because the strength is flavor, not bitterness (that and caffeine).</p>
<p>The strength (and the price) comes, primarily, from the amount of coffee being used. Funranium Labs has a <a href="http://www.funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/bbote-vs-coffee">comparison chart</a> that pits the brew in question against a canned Starbucks Double Shot. The amount of caffeine in 1oz of BBotE is equal to about 36oz of Double Shot. Ignoring the different caffeine content in beans and varying extraction methods, Funranium is using over 30 times the amount of coffee in their brew. <strong>Yeah, strong and yeah, worth the price</strong>.</p>
<p>Funranium also prides themselves on using great coffee, which can’t be said for a cold coffee drink you can buy at 7-11.</p>
<p>A better comparison, though, would be to another high-quality bottled cold brew, like Chameleon or Stumptown. I like both of these quite a bit and drink them regularly. The main difference, for me, was both quality and strength. Stumptown and Chameleon won’t get you into trouble; BBotE will tear your heart out if you aren’t careful. Also, I love that you can buy different types of BBotE. You choose the type of coffee you like, which, as a bit of a snob, is important. I like Central and South American coffees more than, say, African ones. You can choose where the beans come from:</p>
<ul>
<li>Malabar (Light Roast)</li>
<li>Ipsento Panama (Light Roast)</li>
<li>Panama (Light Roast)</li>
<li>Colombia (Medium Roast)</li>
<li>Ethiopia (Medium Roast)</li>
<li>Kenya (Medium Roast)</li>
<li>Kona (Medium Roast)</li>
<li>DEATH WISH (Dark Roast, Robusta – BEWARE)</li>
<li>Peru Salkanty (Dark Roast)</li>
<li>Sumatra (Dark Roast)</li>
<li>Tanzania (Medium Roast)</li>
</ul>
<p>… which I think is fantastic. And, for those wondering, no I haven’t tried DEATH WISH before.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
AleSmith Grand Cru - One of My Favorite Beers of All Time2014-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/one-of-the-best-stouts-money-can-buy/<p>I’m a beer guy, that’s all there is to it. There’s not a well-made beer I don’t like and I make a point of trying as many as I can get my hands on (while still staying within rational consumption guidelines). I live in Seattle, ride a bike, and write code so combine that with my affection for fermentation and you have a Seattle cliche through and through.</p>
<p><strong>I’m OK with that.</strong></p>
<p>Seattle produces some great stuff to pour or shovel down your throat and craft beer is one of them. We have a huge beer culture here – homebrew shops, events, tap houses – and part of that is a huge number of craft breweries. I live near Ballard and there are close to 20 within a short bike ride.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/Screenshot-2015-01-03-09.51.29.png" alt="" /></p>
<p>That’s just a few of them. There a couple not shown here and, to the SE a bit, many more. It’s unreal.</p>
<p>So, yeah, there’s a lot of beer here and, yeah, it’s excellent. But is it the best in the country? Best on the West Coast? I’d say no to both, mostly because San Diego exists.</p>
<p>I lived in San Diego for 5 years and it’s where my love of excellent beer started (thanks <a href="http://instagram.com/peopleofthesun">Oscar</a>). Looking back, I wish I was as into it then as I am now because I missed out on some good beer at the time.</p>
<p>But I had my fair share. Lost Abbey, Pizza Port, Stone, Green Flash, Ballast Point, Coronado, Karl Strauss … those were just a few of the ones operating when I lived there. I looked at a list recently and couldn’t believe how many are there now.</p>
<p>But there was one brewery that blew my mind over and over again and still does to this day. <strong>That brewery is AleSmith</strong>, one of my favorites of all time.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/140.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Like I once was (well, I still kind of am) with wine, my initial strategy with buying beer was:</p>
<ol>
<li>Decide on a type of beer that sounded good</li>
<li>Determine the price I was willing to spend</li>
<li>Find the best-looking packaging taking 1 and 2 into account</li>
<li>Look for the highest ABV (alcohol by volume)</li>
</ol>
<p>This, surprisingly, served me very well for a while. As a comparison, now that I know a little more, my current strategy is:</p>
<ol>
<li>Decide on a type of beer that sounded good</li>
<li>Look for something I’ve never had</li>
</ol>
<p>Using the first set of steps, I developed a taste for heavy, dark, high ABV beers, which eventually lead me to AleSmith. The deal-sealer? Their labels (their average ABV helped a little too). I am a huge fan of their branding; it’s consistent, creative, and not over-the-top. In a sea of wild illustrations and crazy colors, AleSmith bottles stand out in their simplicity. You take the test:</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/alesmith_decadence.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p><em>… or …</em></p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/317cd522e4ad43715a8d697eed160412.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p><strong>Right.</strong></p>
<p>But, in the end, a beer (or wine) is not judged by its cover, it’s judged by the content of it’s bottle. So let’s do just that.</p>
<p>Grand Cru is a Belgian-style dark, strong ale, typically called a Quadruple. If you’re in Europe, these beers are like fruitcake: given at holidays, rarely enjoyed otherwise. During a short stint in Paris, just a short train ride to beer Mecca, I was surprised by how hard this type of beer was to find. In far corners of a few speciality grocery shops, you could find a handful on the bottom shelf, priced to move. In fact some Belgian breweries create this type of beer only for the US market since it doesn’t do well closer to home. Madness, I say.</p>
<p>This particular beer is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of the style. It’s heavy, it’s sweet, it has a 2-digit ABV, and it drinks like pureed birthday cake (in a good way). It’s meant to be enjoyed slowly, occasionally, and with another person or 2. It’s very rich, likely too much so for most people, but the different layers of flavor and sweetness come together to make every sip cause a low, quiet “mmmmm” to emanate from your mouth. It’s caramel and brown sugar and chocolate and dreams and wonder all wrapped up in a glass.</p>
<p>Here are my tasting notes, as concrete, undeniable evidence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On the nose … Figs, Apple, chocolate, burnt sugar, alcohol, apricot, tootsie rolls!</p>
<p>Taking a sip … OK, wow. Tart cherries plus caramel immediately, not too much alcohol but it’s there in a great way. Chocolate a nice component with the cherries. Get the apricot as well. Aftertaste is nice caramel, just fades out slowly, doesn’t get funky.</p>
<p>Started drinking this a little cold and it did much better straight out of the fridge than this type of beer usually does. Was strangely refreshing!</p>
<p>Carbonation is medium, just enough.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>See?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve tried many, many quadruples and this is truly one of my favorites, regardless of the country of origin. It just represents the style so perfectly across the board.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>
I Don't Know What Exactly Makes This Coldbrew So AMAZING but I Do Know I Always Want It In My Mouth2014-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.joshcanhelp.com/coldbrew-i-always-want-it-in-my-mouth/<p>A correctly-prepared glass of cold brew coffee will do three things to you:</p>
<ul>
<li>Ruin iced coffees and iced americanos forever</li>
<li>Put you at risk of a massive heart attack</li>
<li>Change how you look at coffee</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/blue_bottle_new_orleans_iced.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Cold-brew coffee isn’t just a hip way to order coffee that’s not how; cold-brew refers to how it’s prepared. Instead of brewing for a short time with hot water, it’s brewed for a long time – half of a day – with cold or room temperature water. The result is, well, it’s brilliant.</p>
<p>The difference between the two methods makes all the difference depending on what final temperature you’re looking for. Truly cold-brewed coffee over iced doesn’t taste like any coffee you’ve ever had. It’s impossibly smooth and completely devoid of bitterness. There’s no need for milk or sugar at all but add the two and it’s truly decadent, like a $5-dollar shake. Let it sit in ice too long and it’s still perfectly drinkable.</p>
<p>It’s also got 632 times as much caffeine per ounce as hot coffee. At least it feels that way. My first encounter with cold-brew was a bottle of Stumptown in Portland, Oregon at a fantastic sandwich shop. The woman ringing the group up stopped when I put the bottle on the counter, looked me straight in the eyes, and asked, “do you drink coffee regularly?” I smiled and answered affirmatively. She warned me, “be careful with this stuff, it’s very strong. Really, really strong.” She wasn’t kidding. 10 ounces and I was chattering the entire drive back to Seattle. I’m surprised I wasn’t thrown out in the first 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Cold-brewed coffee is my favorite way to consume this dark, wonderful beverage. Like espresso, you can cold-brew any coffee but some beans are better than others. When I was cruising through the Blue Bottle inventory online, I noticed a cold-brew kit, complete with instructions (incredibly simple), 1 pound of a special blend of beans (unfortunately no details could be found online), and a bag of roasted chicory (I had no clue at the time what that was exactly). I was intrigued. I bought it straight away.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2014/02/IMG_1416-e1420169647545.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Roasted root chicory has been used for a long time as an addition to or substitute for coffee all over the world. The reasons for this range from economic (cheap substitute used during the Civil War) to epicurean (“New Orleans style coffee” is coffee with chicory added, hence the name of this kit) to medicinal (“<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory">chicory is well known for its toxicity to internal parasites</a>“). It’s a part of coffee lore that I was not familiar with and excited to explore.</p>
<p><a href="https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides/new-orleans-iced">Instructions with great photos are here</a>. Grind the coffee coarse, add the included chicory packet, and let it sit at room temperature in 2.5 quarts of water. What you end up with is 4-5 cups of dark, syrupy concoction that will keep for a week in the fridge. That might not seem like a lot if you imagine yourself drinking this 8oz at a time. Remember, though, that you’re using ONE POUND of coffee for this volume. Treat this nectar like espresso and serve it up 2 or 3 ounces at a time. To get a full glass, add water and/or milk to thin it out. <strong>You’ve been warned.</strong></p>
<p>So, how does it taste? <strong>In a word: great.</strong></p>
<p>This cold brew is a little different from others I’ve had in the past. I typically drink this dark, delicious beverage with a splash of milk, rarely if ever so I add sugar to my coffee. This one was good with milk but much better with some brown sugar in it. The directions recommend simple syrup so anything sweet really brings all the flavors together. You just need enough to offset the extra bitterness.</p>
<p>There was the distinct bitterness that came from the chicory but, in this drink, I think it adds that little something extra. The concentrate, as advertised, was very strong so I didn’t drink it straight except for a taste. By itself, it’s just too much to handle. This is to be expected when you’re using over 14 grams of ground coffee per serving.</p>
<p>The caffeine concentration was a little hard to get used to at first. Most cold-brews I’ve tried can be half coffee, half 2% milk or less. This one needs to be mixed like espresso, 2 – 3 ounces max plus water and/or milk. I mixed a few too strong and, while delicious, I was wired for hours. I’m a fast caffeine metabolizer and, despite drinking coffee regularly, am fairly sensitive to the chemical. I had to be careful.</p>
<p>The directions say that the concentrate lasts 5 – 7 days. At 5 days, I could tell that the flavor was degrading a bit (bitterness coming through stronger) but I added a bit more sugar and was fine with it.</p>
<p>Overall, I was very pleased with it and looking forward to ordering another batch before summer.</p>
<p>I was out of the Three Africans I ordered along with the iced kit so I thought I’d try a scoop of it hot mixed with the chicory. I wanted to see if the higher temperature yields a poor result.</p>
<p>I ground just under 1/4 cup of the beans on fine, added 1/8 teaspoon of the roasted chicory, and brewed the ground, brown pile in an Aeropress.</p>
<p>The coffee itself is quite smooth but there is a faint but lingering bitterness that comes through. It’s not all-together unpleasant, I’ll say that, and I wonder if that’s either the chicory doing it’s thing or maybe out of its temperature comfort zone.</p>
<p>The brew is easy to drink, especially with a splash of half-and-half. It’s earthy and rich, medium-bodied and consistent throughout. It’s hard to tell exactly what the chicory adds but you can tell it’s there, both in the smell and in the taste; there’s something a little different about this cup. I would not use less than 1/8 teaspoon or else you won’t be able to tell it’s there. More than that might bring out more bitterness but that would be good for some. I think I (accidentally) got it right.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.joshcanhelp.com/_images/2015/02/pc_logo_023.png" alt="" /></p>