Now that I’m back home in New England, I’ve been enjoying the absurd amount of good beer that’s out here. Haven’t been a big drinker for awhile, so going for quality over quantity these days. And man I remember why I love beer…
Snuck up to Burlington for a wedding and brought some Heady Topper back with me. Transported it back to my fridge like an organ transplant on ice (along with some Petit Mutant, a cherry sour ale)
If you havent tried this beer and you’re a fan of IPAs, you’re missing out. Some might call it overrated but there is nothing in the world that beats a freshly canned Heady (if its more than 3 weeks old, your results may vary).
One of my favorite jam band memories was strolling around a Phish show outside Cleveland OH and seeing someone selling these. I got them for way less than a venue beer and it was infinitely better. At least Phish fans know one good beer, I’m sorry about your oatmeal stout though. And my buddy who I spent years chasing down Heady Topper with before it was widely available was completely surprised when we cheersed later after sneaking them in.
What are people drinking these days? Doesnt have to be beer or alcoholic. I’ve been looking for a good flavor mix for my electrolyte mix while working outside…
Heady Topper is indeed great, iirc their other IPA Focal Banger is quite good as well.
California fam should be familiar with Russian River Brewing — their Pliny the Elder double IPA is I think the best west coast IPA I’ve ever had.
But what I drink the most these days is coffee… small batch light roast slightly-over-extracted from my 30 year old Italian espresso machine, with a bit of organic milk. Gotta be strict with cutting myself off before 1pm!
Never been able to try Heady Topper, tried to get someone from VT to mail me some one time but it was prohibitively expensive. I’m sure it’s good but no beer is worth over $100 for a sixer…
Pliny the Elder is indeed excellent though. Found it on tap in a little spot out in Half Moon Bay one time.
We’ve been making our espresso with a Flair manual press for a good seven years or so. We have a decent grinder but that’s probably what I should upgrade next. Though…we tend to just get whatever for our beans. Should probably pay more attention there, too. But the Flair still makes a very good cup of coffee even when not under optimal conditions.
I also got one of those heat-controlled mugs that was on sale as a refurb, which has been eye-opening. I hadn’t realized that about 130-140F is the optimal drinking temp. It does make a difference.
I’m rocking a Bambino Plus for my daily espresso. I should probably upgrade my grinder one of these days but the Bambino does surprisingly well. I mostly drink Cortados (1:1 espresso to milk) with oat milk.
I’m typically a black coffee guy except for espresso drinks. A double shot sometimes just isn’t enough volume so the milk makes it last a bit longer, but the 1:1 milk ratio doesn’t overpower the taste of the espresso.
My girlfriend has a fancy automatic machine that uses on brand aluminum K-cups type cartridges. Shes likes the quality of the premium cartridges, aluminum is better than plastic, and its fast and simple for her. But with our move to a tiny house, we dont want anything with “huge” power draw. The manual presses are where she’ll need to be but I have no idea because I dont touch caffiene haha
I was going to mention aeropress! A grinder that is good enough for espresso will have its own power draw unless you’re hand grinding. Not that you can’t hand grind for a manual espresso machine but those flairs are not tiny if you’re trying to save on space.
