We've moved

We've moved our stumpjack.com URL to a new site. Please go to the new blogsite (http://stumpjack.com) and bookmark it.
Thanks very much.

New Blogsite Coming Soon.

We've been getting a number questions about the Stumpjack blogs recently. We haven't been updating the blogs regularly of late as I've been working on changing our blog format and hosting over from Blogger to Wordpress. It's been a challenging project but we're almost there. I've deactivated a few of the links on Blogger and will be consolidating the sites into a single format on the forthcoming Wordpress site. Thanks for hanging in there and be prepared for a new look with some new features.

Espresso with a TWIST

Here's the link to my Spill the Beans coffee column in yesterday's HTR. The article is about a cool new espresso gadget called the Mypressi TWIST. I need to point out an important error in the edited version (or more properly, altered version) of the article that went to print. In the article I submitted I had written the second sentence to read "Unfortunately, the price of a quality machine forces many more people to assign such units wish list-only status." I also ended the article with "The Mypressi TWIST offers excellent value at its $170 price tag."

In the published version of the article the staff, for whatever reason, combined the two sentences so that the second sentence erroneously reads "Unfortunately, the $170 price tag of a quality machine forces many more people to assign such units wish list-only status."

Quality counter-top espresso machines do not cost $170. They are quite a bit more expensive than that. The intention with the original last sentence was, of course, to make it clear that the $170 cost of the Mypressi TWIST is a very good value and well under the cost of a good counter-top machine.

Beer for strong bones

As if we really need another reason to like beer, here's another article reporting the health benefits of beer. This time it's for the silicon, which contributes to bone health. I want to be a test subject in these studies. Click here for the article.
I'd advise staying away from crappy mass-market corporate beer and go with a good craft or microbrewed beer. We may as well drink good beer while improving our health.

Steampunk Coffee Maker

Click here for today's Spill the Beans coffee column. Just FYI, my title was edited from the much more succinct & interesting "Steampunk Coffee Making" to the wordier/nerdier title in the paper. Also they edited out the following sentence, "We intend to offer vac pot coffee at our coffee shop, for no more elaborate reason than because it makes a great cup of coffee and it's fun." It's no biggie that it was pulled, but I did want it known that we intend to utilize vac pots at the Stump, which no one else is doing in this neck of the woods (again making Stumpjack the first coffee shop in our area to do something ahead of the crowd). Yes, I'm blowing my own horn a little there.

Feb 4: The essay got snagged by this cool steampunk blog. Click here.

Winter break reminder

Just a reminder to all of our friends out there craving delicious coffees and artisan pizzas, we're in the middle of our winter break. Stumpjack will be back to serve you in the beginning of March. Until then, keep in touch with us on facebook for news and updates.
Cheers!

Spill the Beans column: Haiti and coffee

Click here to go to yesterday's Spill the Beans coffee column in which I wrote about purchasing Haitian Bleu coffee as one small way to do something positive for Haiti.

Here's another article I just came across on the same subject, published this past Saturday in the Ethiopian Review.