Category: *.BAK

Categories
*.BAK

Amrut whiskey

2nd bottle was Teeling, an Irish whiskey I’m familiar with. I usually don’t drink single pot still whiskeys, but this one was quite nice, at 46% ABV. If I was told it’s Scotch, I would have believed it.
So jumping straight to 3rd taster, it’s Amrut. That’s a whiskey I’ve actually been waiting for. As I probably mentioned ready, Scotland and Ireland, best known for their whiskeys, are also the worst countries to make whiskeys. Taiwan, Israel, and now India figured that out. I assume this is the regular Amrut, as there’s just the 46 ABV statement (so not cask strength), and not peat in it (so not the Fusion, I guess). Also, there is no age statement. But, it is great: very sweet and rich, like some of the better sherry Scotch whiskeys. For its price of 43GBP, it’s a bargain.

Categories
*.BAK

Mateba

I’m a big fan of firearms history, so I was excited to learn about Mateba pistols, which are quite crazy:

Also featured here:

Categories
*.BAK

Genevieve, Brasserie Thiriez

There are multiple beers from differenent breweries named Genevieve. This one is from France, not a country associated with beers, although the town it’s brewed in is pretty close to Belgium, so maybe that’s the reason. I brought this beer from Denmark, since it wasn’t big on beer shops.
It’s supposed to be Belgian style tripple, but it doesn’t looks nor tastes like one. It’s not bad, just very different, almost more like an oaked cider than a beer. No head, but plenty of bubbles, just like in sparkling cider.
I said in the past that I’m yet to find a barrel aged beer I didn’t like. This might be the one. Although those are gin barrels, if I’m not mistaken.

Categories
*.BAK

Tacticus

Rukkatrukk from its event (I think):

Actus and Exitor-Rho from pulls:

Those two are considered good, but I’m still missing Tan Gi’da for full Mech team.

Tankmasha from farming the shop:

Finally Titus from the shopping event.

Titus is the one I wanted since I started playing, he’s incredibly powerful for being able to ressurect if he kills an enemy with his Vengeance.
The shopping event also brought me much closer to obtaining Marneus Calgar, most expensive Ultramarine character. He’s farmable, but the closer the better. I’m now 430/500 shards, which means it’s possible to farm him in a couple of weeks.

Categories
*.BAK

Abasolo whiskey (Mexico)

1st from the Advent Calendar.
When I was picking a whiskey advent calendar last year (actually, it was this year, in January), I decided not to go with Scotch whiskey, as there’s a good chance I would be familiar or even own half of it. So, despite not being a fan of anything but Scotch, I bought the World Whiskey Advent Calendar by Drinks By The Dram.
First one is a corn whiskey from Mexico. I never ever heard of Mexican whiskey, and only had corn distillate in bourbons. The color is very light, and the taste is surprisingly good, despite 43% (at least not 40%!).
You can taste the actual corn, it’s smooth and quite sweet. And for 43%, it actually hits pretty hard. For 39GBP, that’s actually pretty good deal.

Categories
*.BAK

Old News Alligator Wine, Randers Bryghus

This barley wine I found in Aarhus airport by complete coincidence. While often barley wine is akin to Imperial Stout, this is more of a belgian quadrupel. Amber in color, with no head (expected) and no sediment (unexpected). The taste is also less sweet than expected, with a bit of bitter aftertaste. For the price, it’s an absolute banger, if only it was exported.

Categories
*.BAK

Tres Diablitos beer, Coolhead Brew

I mourn for the day I’ll find a barrel aged stout I don’t like. Today is not that day, though. Despite Spanish name, this Imperial Stout comes from Finland. It has a complex taste, with a warm aftertaste of chillies.

Categories
*.BAK

Limehouse to Dalston

We went up the Regent’s canal to Victoria park.

Got some chai masala in the market. No mushrooms stall today, though.
Bought some personal cakes (it was a filled scone for me, actually) in Violet bakery. The scone was a disappointment.

Then we went to Hash E8 in Dalston. We had a reservation and even arrived on time, but they didn’t have it in their system. So we had to wait 15 minutes to get a table. Although both the owner and waitress apologied to us, so no hard feelings.

Categories
*.BAK

Fletchers Red Oak cider

I rarely drink cider. This one we found while visiting Ludlow, and turns out it’s a very local brand, that doesn’t even have a proper website.
Barrel aging makes everything better: whiskey obviously, beer, and even cider. It’s delicious, smooth, with almost no gas and a lot of body. Hits pretty strong too.

Categories
*.BAK

Life is Perception, Blackout Brewing

First time I’m trying beer from Romania. It’s a very solid Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, aged in Palo Cortado (special sherry) barrels for a year.
Zero head, tastes like sour cherry, leaves you energetic. At 12GBP it’s not cheap, but worth it.
Would try some more Barrel Aged from Blackout Brewing when I get the opportunity.

Categories
*.BAK

Asahi Cookin Cut Rubber Cutting Board

Asahi and Hasegawa are two main brands that produce cutting boards from synthetic rubber. Those are considered the best for keeping your Japanese knives sharp. I was thinking of getting one when I was visiting US, but there I discovered the cost would be the same if I order in in the UK. I guess because they ship it from Japan anyway. So, after some back and forth, I decided to try one anyway.
If I were told that’s a wooden board made from some light-colored wood, I’d honestly believe that. It is heavy and slightly textured. The real test is in a couple of months of usage, though. And not so much in the board itself, although I’m curious to see how it retains stains and scratches, but more in how often will I have to sharpen my knives.

Categories
*.BAK

Coconut Florentine Pastry Stout, Yonder Brewing

Usually I dislike lower ABV stouts, but I really enjoyed this one. The head is very tall, had to let it settle for a bit. The taste is smooth, sweet, definitely strong coconut influence.

Categories
*.BAK

Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

Finished listening to Six of Crows. My impression hasn’t changed much.
It is an internaining, but flawed book. It is never explained why Inej is such a great assassin if she was trained as a gypsy acrobat. Are all gypsy acrobats great assassins? As she’s seventeen, are do they become more or less deadly with age? Why there aren’t more acrobat gypsy assassins then? Same goes for Kaz: he’s supposed to be a cripple, but then he managed to beat opponents in hand-to-hand combat over and over again 🤷‍♂️
The whole buildup for Kaz’s childhood story turned out to be nothing. I expected that his brother was killed while assaulting the crooks that scammed farm money out of him, just stabbed or hit on the head. But no, he died from the plague. Now blaming scammers for this to the point that your entire life is a revenge… is a bit too much. Also, how convenient that the head scammer is also the head of the gang. I would have hired an actor instead, but who am I to judge?
For some reason, Leigh unable to hold suspension, at all. At one point she sets up a scene where Matthias traps Nina in a cell, and it’s almost convincing that he’s willing to trade her for his former position in “Inquisition”… but this resolves a couple of pages later. And this happens time and time again. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers, but it’s like Bardugo tried to avoid them proactively.

Also, isn’t it “neat” how the group of thieves is divided into 3 couples (one of them is gay-bi)? 🤡
The ending is fine, there are at least a couple of good plot twists, and it segways into the second book, which is both good and bad: I prefer complete stories, but I don’t suppose author could finish in on anything solid.

Categories
*.BAK

Miyabi Mizu

A quick rundown on Miyabi knives, main Shun competitors:

Black
– The most expensive
– MC66, 66 hardness

Birchwood / Artisan / Mizu
– SG2 steel, 63 hardness
– Birchwood: wooden handle
– Artisan: Big European handle
– Mizu: slim Japanese handle from Kaizen

Koh / Koya
– FC61 is like VG10, 61 hardness
Only difference is handle
Both with long bolster

Kaizen / Kaizen 2
– FC61 / VG10

Since I already own VG Max Shun Premier, I went for Mizu, and since I didn’t need two 8″ knives of the same shape, I picked 6″. Wish there was santoku available, but there wasn’t.
Now we just need to wait and see how sharp it will be in a month.

Categories
*.BAK

Trouble Sleep, Stigbergets Bryggeri

I don’t remember a barrel aged beer I didn’t like yet. This Swedish Imperial Stout is no exception. Very smooth and sweet, like a cold brew with maple. With surprisingly tall head, half glass of it. As with most barrel aged imperial stouts, feeling relaxed, but not heavy, despite 12.5 ABV.

Categories
*.BAK

Anova Precision Cooker sous vide

I’ve been cooking my steaks sous vide in a slow cooker for a year or so. Finally, I decided to get a proper sous vide. After some research, I settled on Anova. Then I discovered that it is 50% cheaper in the US, so I decided to get one during my trip.
That was easy enough. But then “luckily” coming back to the UK I decided to check voltage before plugin it. And it’s 110V only. If I’d plugged it, it would have fried immediatelly. There’s such a thing as step down voltage transformers. But for 1000W, they cost as much as the cooker itself.
So I ended up buying another one in the UK. I went for a slightly older version than the one I brought from US, but looking at the specs, I’m not sure why I would pay 100GBP more in the UK for it. At first I thought that the sleeve wasn’t removable in the old version, but it is.
The first dish I cooked was scallops. They worked out perfectly. Then I tried poached eggs. I was very excited, as sous vide promised you could cook them in their shells. Two recipes suggested 75C for 12 minutes. It was a disaster. The shells wouldn’t separate, the whites too runny 🤷‍♂️

Next is cooking a steak, I guess.

Categories
*.BAK

Scotch Malt Whiskey Society

For a couple of years I’ve been told that if I like whiskey, I should become a member of Scotch Malt Whiskey Society. After my visit to Newcastle, I finally decided that it’s now or never.
The idea is that they buy whole casks from distilleries, then bottle them under names such as “Dark Fruit Feedback Loop” from Distillery 48. They still have the important stuff like age statemen and ABV, and even processing. The aforementioned bottle they’ve sent as a welcoming gift was fantastic, 17 years old, Oloroso matured. I would happily pay the membership of 100GBP just for that bottle alone.

Categories
*.BAK

Soldering

As a kid, I had to do some soldering, and I hated it. But people change, purposes change, and technology changes as well. Now we have cordless USB-C charged soldering irons.
My ultimate project is to resolder a SATA connector that is broken on my laptop motherboard. Not that I need the laptop, but it’s a goal.
But in the meantime, I got myself a practice project:

I don’t plan to solder all of the components, but it’s a good practice. Also, helps discover stuff that you’re missing. Like the flux that came with the solder is completely crystalized, and not very useful. Same goes for the wire.
I now also understand why people pay 70GBP for a soldering iron, and not 20GBP. While my soldering iron shows temperature, it’s the target temperature, not the current temperature. And it cools very quickly once you start soldering.

Categories
*.BAK

Painting Horticulus Slimux

I model I was planning to paint for a few months, so I bought it as soon as it was back in stock.
It’s again a step up from the previous model in terms of complexity, 30 parts. But assemling it is slightly easier, because they added groves and indents on the parts you need to join.
Drybrushing it was still tiresome. I think it took me an hour just to do a layer of Dawnstone.
The amount of detail on this model is incredible. Someoen went wild. I had to create a list just to keep up with my plans for all the “characters”.

Continue reading “Painting Horticulus Slimux”
Categories
*.BAK

Rince Cochon Blonde

I know I’ve been complaining about Belgian beers a lot lately. But this blonde beer is honestly very good. Feels stronger and sweeter than stated 8.5%, and doesn’t leave any heaviness behind. The closest I could think of is Delirium Tremens, and that’s a high praise from me. I wanted to stay that still, I don’t plan to buy this beer in the future, but actually, I’d buy their Triple