Top Gadgets For 2008
The new year is almost a twelfth done, but what can we expect from the next eleven months? Andrew Impey has rounded up some of the finest gadgets that might be wheedling their way into your hearts and lives before the year's out. Then again... unless you're particularly fond of death coming in the form of Hello Kitty, maybe you'll be leaving them well alone.
TOP TEN GADGETS FOR 2008
Siphon Bar: cracking coffee
More and more people are drinking coffee these days and for a while now, coffee shops have been the trendy places to hang out. Sipping your triple mocha-latte with extra cream and reduced calorie chocolate flakes, while you observe the complex social behaviour of procrastinating Homo sapiens.
Anyway, for those of you who are more interested in the actual brewing process (than who’s sleeping with who?) there’s a coffee bar in San Francisco that you should probably visit. The Blue Bottle Café has a $20,000 coffee maker that is halogen powered and which was specially imported from Japan.
The preparation of your daily caffeine hit turns into a mini opera right before your very eyes. The process can last up to 90 seconds, depending on your beverage of choice and staring at the whirlpool is mesmerising.
The key to a good cup of coffee, according to the staff, is subtle changes in temperature, with the resulting flavours being “kaleidoscopic”. I think that’s possibly taking it a little far. At the end of the day, it’s a big chemistry kit; it looks cool; there are naked flames; it bubbles and there’s a whirlpool; now where’s my cappuccino? (more info)
More and more people are drinking coffee these days and for a while now, coffee shops have been the trendy places to hang out. Sipping your triple mocha-latte with extra cream and reduced calorie chocolate flakes, while you observe the complex social behaviour of procrastinating Homo sapiens.Anyway, for those of you who are more interested in the actual brewing process (than who’s sleeping with who?) there’s a coffee bar in San Francisco that you should probably visit. The Blue Bottle Café has a $20,000 coffee maker that is halogen powered and which was specially imported from Japan.
The preparation of your daily caffeine hit turns into a mini opera right before your very eyes. The process can last up to 90 seconds, depending on your beverage of choice and staring at the whirlpool is mesmerising.
The key to a good cup of coffee, according to the staff, is subtle changes in temperature, with the resulting flavours being “kaleidoscopic”. I think that’s possibly taking it a little far. At the end of the day, it’s a big chemistry kit; it looks cool; there are naked flames; it bubbles and there’s a whirlpool; now where’s my cappuccino? (more info)
See More Top Gadgets for 2008
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Image: Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
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