The Teadrop Tea Infuser

Teadrop, a tea infuser that combines a timer and a filter to make a consistently perfect cup of tea, is the brain child of Michael DiStefano.  It’s currently in the funding phase on Kickstarter.com; I heard about it via Twitter from noted tea fanatic Kevin Rose, and signed up as a backer.  Looks like a neat little gadget.

Pepsi Throwback

It’s no surprise that nostalgia plus novelty is a powerful marketing combination, and being fascinated by the strategies consumer product companies dream up to move product, I had to smile when I encountered this one a few weeks back. 

The idea behind Pepsi Throwback, if you haven’t encountered it, is that Pepsi splashes their cans with the branding used from 1973 to 1987, and makes the cola inside using cane sugar, once a key ingredient in the Pepsi formula, but phased out in favor of high fructose corn syrup back in the 80s.  Yes, I picked up a case, and no, I can’t tell the difference.

Scotch Whisky. Good for You. Good for Scotland.

BBC News:

Scotch whisky is worth nearly £4bn to the Scottish economy, according to research carried out for the industry. The analysis shows the extent of the boom in whisky from 2000 to 2008, when years of sharp export increases were stopped by the global recession. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), representing the major distillers, said the product has as much impact on the Scottish economy as tourism. It said it produces earnings per worker 12 times higher than that of tourism.

No surprise there.  After all, have you ever sat in front of a fire and enjoyed a really fine glass of 30-year-old tourism?  No, I didn’t think so.  I am a little mystified at the news that the global recession cut down on Scotch exports, though.  I mean, did you people cut back on oxygen during the recession?  What’s wrong wie ye?  Er, I mean with you.

I See Some Chocolate Research Will Be Required

Speaking of things of which I'm a fan, what's not to like about fancy, high-end chocolate?  I found via Twitter this link to the awards page of the 2010 San Francisco International Chocolate Salon.  I’m not sure what a chocolate salon is, other than a room I’d like to have in my house, but no matter.  I'll admit I’m no choco-snob—my favorite chocolate is the one I'm about to eat—but I was intrigued to note that each and every Gold Medal winner is new to me.  Amano?  Guittard?  William Dean?  Never heard of them.  But I sense some gourmet chocolate purchases in my future.

Sparkling Wine in a Can

One of the things I enjoy about traveling is seeing how food is sold differently in different places.  Today’s example is the can of “Prosecco 2Go” that you see to the right, which I found nestled amid the unfamiliar varieties of German bear in the supermarket here in the Berlin central rail station.  Prosecco is a variety of Italian sparkling wine, not unlike a light champagne.  It’s not something you’d expect to see sold in a can next to the Coors in the United States, where, such wines are usually sold as a premium product. 

Proof That Anything Can Be Deep Fried…

…at Top Cultured (via Instapundit). 

For the record, I think deep-fried cheesecake may be the most fantastic idea I’ve ever heard.

Unique Ice Cream Flavors

And by "unique" I think they may mean "horrifying."

Appreciating the Classics: Glenn Beck’s Coma Hot Chocolate

It’s been over five years that we’ve been blogging here at Cuz We Said So, and I realized it’s been nearly that long since I posted Glenn Beck’s recipe for Coma Hot Chocolate.  Finding it recently in the archives, I realized it is once again time:

Glenn's Coma Hot Chocolate:

5 pints of LIGHT CREAM or 1/2 & 1/2.
12 Hershey candy bars.

Slowly heat cream on stove, break candy bars in small pieces and slowly add to warm cream. Stir until melted candy is fully mixed. Serve ASAP and try not to go into a coma.

WARNING: DO NOT EAT WITH TURKEY OR YOU MAY NEVER WAKE UP.

I think I’ll be mixing some up this holiday season…

Crows, Eats, and Beams: links for 2008-12-15

• ‘The Crow’ to Resurrect and Fly Again
  First impression: mistake. Personally, I didn’t care about the franchise the first time, and don’t expect I will this time. Is the world really clamoring for this?
• World Hum Selects the Eight Best Cities for Street Food
  Yum! For all the traveling I’ve done, I haven’t been to any of them. Perhaps a new travel goal in my future…
• Pentagon Eyes Orbiting Power Station
  Hmm, cool, but beaming power to the battlefield… are we asking ourselves what’s the worst thing that could happen?

Kevin Rose at Samovar Tea Lounge

…in San Francisco via Qik.  Check out the tea he’s drinking: there’s 8 kilograms of it in all the world. 

Now I want to check this place out.