Smoking outdoors gets some serious star power with the Sun Token vaporizer, a novel take on the vape that harnesses the power of the sun.
Made from cherry wood with borosilicate glass and a walnut finish, the Sun Token is a beautiful piece that’s suitable for sitting on display as it is taking to the park on a sunny day.
They’re calling it the “world’s first solar dome vaporizer,” and as far as we can tell, they’re right. There are solar-panel vapes and solar-charged USBs for vapes but getting lit with a decidedly analog device, no electronics needed, seems to be completely novel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPvfLZBBfk4
As we’ve previously noted in our guide, vaping can give a milder, easier-to-control high than smoking. Since you’re activating raw plant matter without combustion and not lighting anything on fire, you’ll get a cleaner-tasting inhale. With the Sun Token, the sunlight that’s beamed from an included magnifying glass moves around the plant, warming it up and creating smoke that you then inhale like you would a normal bowl or bong.
“Snap on the magnetic dome, and align the sun rays over the bowl using a magnifying lens (included). Smoke will stream upwards and dance around the dome. This method burns 3,000 degrees fahrenheit less than a conventional lighter. It is healthier, better tasting, more efficient, wind proof, fun, ecological, and beautiful to watch. Sunlight travels 150 million kilometers and 500 seconds all to reach your solar dome.”
Hand-crafted in Fredericksburg, Virginia by Hector Campos, the full Sun Token kit is $145. If you have your own bowl already, you can purchase individual pieces or replacement parts.
Progress, innovation, and (re)invention have been the driving factors of the modern coffee boom. Experts and super-fans alike spend countless hours tinkering with coffee to continue to provide the very best product, and we’re lucky for it. We are in a better place in terms of the availability of fantastic coffee, because of it. In these terms, “what’s next for coffee?” is a beneficial way of thinking as it continues to provide better and and better takes on the core product.
Yet, as we reach a point of comfortable saturation for excellent coffee, our modern need for constant innovation has lead us down a path into a murky middle ground between striving for a better cup of coffee and creating coffee-related products to appease a market that’s always seeking something new, something different.
We are in a heyday in terms of coffee. Our storefronts are packed with more and more speciality coffee cafes serving the caffeinated beverage in what many believe to be it’s purest form. The simple coffee bean, and its preparation, has made leaps and bounds from the acrid sting of pre-ground, canned Folgers, and watery “convenience” of instant coffee. The world of coffee is now a diverse and obsessive one, preparation styles rising and falling with new research and quickly changing trends, all aimed at perfecting the way we ingest the simple coffee bean. Coffee drinkers of every ilk, in most major cities, can now find a perfect cafe or roaster that prepares/roasts their beans in a manner that suits their specific tastes to a tee. Be it the subtle nuances of a lighter roast prepared via pour-over or a Carcasa Frappuccino from Starbucks, the options feel unlimited.
A few weeks ago, I was sent an article about a company called Four Sigmatic. Their product: mushroom coffee, a package of instant coffee that combines liquified and then freeze-dried mushrooms with coffee and “all-natural ingredients.” By way of a YouTube video, Four Sigmatic founder Tero Isokauppila claims that mushroom coffee, consumed for centuries by the “indigenous people” of Finland (his birthplace), will provide the awakening aspects of coffee without its negative side-effects. And as lovely as this sounds, when we start doctoring our coffee with substances outside of, say, milk, sugar, and even the occasional squirt of syrup, the question becomes: has innovation overstepped its bounds? And in our efforts to create a cup of “coffee” divorced from its negative side-effects, are we even asking “what’s next” for coffee? Or are we just asking “what’s next?”
There’s nothing wrong with Isokauppila wanting to dip back into traditional Finnish coffee preparation to try and find something beneficially different in terms of the way we drink coffee. Drinking ten cups of coffee at ten in the morning and not having caffeine seizures until ten at night sounds fairly wonderful. But are we still talking about coffee or are we talking about a product riding the coattails of coffee because there’s no other marketable category it can be squeezed into? At this point with the massive amount of coffee-related options on the market – bulletproof coffee, cheese lattes, cascara syrup, etc. — it no longer feels like we’re trying to better coffee, we’re just trying to find a larger customer base. We’re just trying to find a product that resembles coffee enough that it’s sellable to anyone.
And again, this isn’t a bad thing, just an ill-defined one. Look at the recent explosion of cold brew products in coffee shops and grocery stores alike. Ten years ago, the preparation of a cold coffee beverage was relegated to dumping ice into a steaming hot cup of joe or a dumping a whip-creamed covered Frappuccino down your throat. Yet, coffee experts saw a need, and after extensive tinkering, cold brew has become an excellent product endorsed and encouraged by speciality coffee pioneers like Stumptown and Blue Bottle, amongst others. But, don’t fool yourself; cold brew was the solution to a business problem — how do we get people to keep buying a hot beverage when it’s 80 degrees outside? — a delicious one, but a business-driven solution, nonetheless.
So, yes, striving to change the way we drink coffee can lead us down interesting, and occasionally financially appealing side paths, cold brew being a solid example. Yet, when we start tinkering with the basic concept of coffee – liquid meets roasted, ground beans — we aren’t talking about innovation anymore, we’re talking about invention. We’re working towards a new product, coffee-related or otherwise, aimed at addressing a consumer want (“coffee without the jitters” in the case of mushroom coffee).
Speciality coffee isn’t perfect, it never will be, but through innovation of the existing product — coffee beans — the industry continues to expand its reach and its ability to sate a wide spectrum of coffee drinker’s needs. Mushroom coffee, and those beverages like it, are aimed at a customer base, those who want a coffee-like product without the negative side-effects, but let’s not go as far as deem this a step forward in terms of discovering what’s next in the world of coffee. It’s a product that may incorporate coffee, but beyond that, it’s something entirely new and different. It may have the benefits of coffee, but it’s more akin to tea or matte, then a black cup of drip coffee.
Products like mushroom coffee fail to address the question of “what’s next in coffee” because they aren’t seeking to answer it. Instead, they seek to create a beverage that expands the overall world of caffeinated beverages, the term “coffee” becoming more an easy descriptor than an accurate one.
A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory revealed that indoor growing operations are energy intensive, and responsible for an alarming percentage of the nation’s energy use. What will the marijuana industry do?
In California, the top-producing state, indoor cultivation uses about 3 percent of all electricity use. A single cannabis cigarette represents 1.5 kg (3 pounds) of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to driving a fuel efficient hybrid car 22 miles, or keeping a 100-watt light bulb on 24-hours a day.
This energy use can account for as much as 50 percent of a grower’s total overhead, and is detrimental to the environment – taking the “green” out of the growing marijuana industry.
In order to reduce this energy drain, the team at Scale Energy Solutions devised a new type of “Micro-Grid” that integrates clean technology solutions into indoor cannabis grow facilities, to significantly lower energy use and reduce environmental impact.
“The cannabis industry is now using six times more energy than the pharmaceutical industry, and this paradigm is not sustainable,” says Timothy Hade, co-founder of Scale Energy Solutions. “Our new approach to energy reduction not only slashes costs for growers, but also improves the industry’s total environmental footprint, which in the long run will increase its chance of acceptance at a national level.”
Some companies are touting energy-saving LED lighting as a means to lower energy costs, but this addresses only a small part of the overall problem, Hade said. Additionally, many growers say that LEDs do not perform as well as the high-pressure sodium or metal halide lamps, especially when the plants began producing flowers – the valued part of the yield, according to the New York Times.
Scale Energy Solutions is one of the only company’s the provides a comprehensive solution, by essentially re-engineering a grower’s energy grid.
“We provide a way for cultivators to reduce operating costs and improve profit margins in an increasingly commoditized market,” Hade said. “By applying new technologies to cannabis growing, we create a truly greener industry.”
For more cannabis business coverage, visit the MJ News Network.
Late in 2015, comedian Kayode Ewumi and best friend Tyrell Williams uploaded the first episode of this web series they created. It was called “Hood Documentary.” In it Ewumi plays Roll Safe, an aspiring grime rapper.
R.S., as Roll Safe goes by for short, looks like Eddie Murphy from his Delirious tour and is so certain about his abilities. Quickly, we learn that R.S. is a little delusional and not that good. Yet he’s captivating his earnest foolishness nonetheless.
As Ewumi told Vice UK: “”Everyone knows someone like RS, no matter what context [it’s in]. He’s that guy in the hood convinced that he knows everyone and everything.”
BBC Three eventually picked up the web series and Ewumi has retired the character. But one indelible moment from the show has resurfaced online recently and inspired our culture’s highest honor: becoming a meme.
Yes, Roll Safe has become the internet’s newest calling card in the land of petty memes. It’s about using circular logic to prove that it’s not your fault of why someone’s mad at you. Truth be told, most of these are pretty clever. Here are some of our favorites.
When you piss her off on purpose, so she can say goodnight at 6pm and you can just play FIFA for the rest of the day in peace. pic.twitter.com/UrM5QvrV5A
If you get curved twice then you didn't get curved at all. Two curves make a circle which means you're at your starting point pic.twitter.com/fBqscgJw2h
Robert Galinsky is a contributing editor to The Fresh Toast, writing various colorful articles involving vintage shopping tips and interviewing The Village People’s Randy Jones on gay marriage. But he’s also a thriving New York City artist activist and this Valentine’s Day, he’s starring in a special presentation of The Bench in New York, an event you should check out if you’re in the area. Here’s what you need to know.
The Bench, set in urban decay and rubble, explores the emotional heartbreak of five homeless characters and the catastrophic hysteria surrounding AIDs in the 1980’s. The sparse set is spectacularly integrated with beautiful hand-drawn art projections, from Daphne Arthur’s graphic novel adaptation of the play, and is scored by world re-known composer and multi-instrumentalist Deep Singh. It’s a unique and fresh blending of visual and audio arts, written by and starring Robert Galinsky.
What Are People Saying About It
Previous performances of The Bench have been called “Galinsky is effortless—really quite extraordinary.” —Backstage Magazine; “The Bench features ensemble work, being done by one human being, with sustainable characters that have incredible nuances. It is palpably and real.” —Anney Bonney, Curator at The Kitchen; ‘Galinsky’s street dwellers speak in their own voices, and their voices ring true.” —The New Haven Independent; “Not your normal kind of theatre… it keeps your head moving.” —The NY Amsterdam News; “Galinsky herds multiple personalities into an evening of furious poetic justice.” —New York Press
I’m Interested, How Do I Go?
The special Valentine’s Day presentation at Dixon Place (161a Christie Street) on Tuesday February 14, 2017 at 7:30pm. The show runs 55 minutes, no intermission, and tickets are $18 ($15 in advance) and can be purchased by visiting their website or calling 866-811-4111. Audiences will also be treated to delicious Valentine’s Day sweets, before and after the show, provided by Chef Danielle of Annie Mae’s Bakery.
For more info on Robert Galinsky please visit his website.
No matter what you may have seen on the Discovery Channel, home distilling in the United States remains very much illegal. But why is that? Making beer and wine at home for personal consumption is perfectly within the bounds of the law — why not booze?
First, here’s what the law says now. It’s perfectly legal to own a still, and you can even use it, as long as you’re not making alcohol — so, you can make essential oils without a permit, or perfume, or distilled water.
How home distilling is often seen today (image via Dave/Flickr)
Making ethanol for fuel use at home is also legal, provided you obtain a permit from the TTB. Home fuel permits are reportedly not difficult to get, but TTB agents are allowed to visit your production area to make sure you’re not drinking the stuff.
Making alcohol for drinking, however, is a whole different beast. According to federal law, making beverage alcohol at home is illegal, plain and simple. Why is that?
The government cites several reasons for keeping distilling illegal. First, it can be dangerous. Distilleries bring two materials into close proximity — alcohol vapor and heat sources — that can cause disastrous explosions when not managed correctly.
In most states (including Oregon, where I live) getting a distilled spirits plant permit (often called a DSP) is challenging, and requires significant investment in infrastructure like sprinklers, ventilation, and other systems to keep production staff and visitors safe.
Also, some home distillers are tempted to make their own equipment, and that can be a misstep. Not all metals are rated for food-grade alcohol contact, and some can leach heavy metals and lead into the resulting spirit — not the kind of buzz most people are looking for.
Cynically, there’s another reason: Federal excise taxes. Distilled spirits like whiskey are taxed at the highest rate of any alcohol, far more than either beer or wine. (Actually, a tax on spirits as the very first tax ever levied in the United States.) Let people make whiskey at home, and the government might end up with a serious financial hangover.
The following sentence will be written like a normally punctuated and formatted sentence but should be read as an all-caps gleeful scream with multiple exclamation points.
Beyoncé is pregnant and having twins.
See how normal that sentence looks? Yet it is anything but normal as Beyoncé and husband Jay Z—the antecedent of the ether we call Lemonade—will be introducing two new lives into the world. Beyoncé made the announcement with the following Instagram post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP-rXUGBPJa/
This announcement will be an ongoing storyline, surely. (For instance, did you know the substantial conspiracy theory that Beyoncé didn’t actually birth Blue Ivy Carter? This IG post almost seems a direct way of curtailing any of that this time around.)
For now, let’s see all the other celebrity parents Jay and Bey will join in introducing twins into the world.
A lot of humans aren’t having it with the world lately. Everywhere you click on the internet, you’re reminded of the turmoil rumbling throughout the country. You want a break from everything, you dream of escapism.
So you turn to the one subject that reliably produces the funnies, or at the very least, the “d’aww” feels: cute animals. There’s always some funny creature who will help you forget about your pain and problems with the world for a second.
But in 2017, that may no longer be so. Because the animals—well the animals are just as disappointed as you are. And they’re just not having it anymore.
In our modern world, is there any image more shame-inducing than Netflix asking “Are You Still Watching?” Don’t worry because Netflix is working on a device to increase your laziness one step higher.
Introducing MindFlix, a wearable headband that allows you to choose and control Netflix with your brain waves. A cohort of the company’s engineers tinkered with a Muse headband, a wearable gadget that monitors brain waves, much like a heart monitor tracks your heartbeat. They also outfitted the headband with a motion sensor device to create the device they’re calling MindFlix.
To clarify, Muse doesn’t read your brain. It doesn’t know what you’re thinking. Instead it tracks neural activity in the frontal lobe. Here’s what we can tell: By stimulating your brain with thoughts of “I wanna watch this,” it will activate the device to start watching whatever program you’re currently hovering on.
Information is limited regarding the device. It was crafted during Netflix’s seasonal hack day, a regular event where employees gather to experiment with new ideas and possibilities. So it’s not part of Netflix’s official technologies yet. Still, the idea of not leaving your couch and changing the program without moving seems pretty tantalizing.
You might grab an egg, cheese and bacon on a roll with coffee on your way into the office, but what if you could blend two of three together into one drink?
Ready to gag yet? Yeah, us too.
Cafe Giang in Hanoi, Vietnam, is serving a frothy, creamy drink that blends some of your favorite breakfast ingredients into one drinkable item. The drink consists of eggs, cheese, condensed milk, sugar, powdered coffee and some other “secret” ingredients.
The owners and creators won’t divulge what the “secret ingredients” are, and I’m not sure customers would even want to know. What more could you put into this concoction? It’s beyond imagination.
It doesn’t look so bad in photos. It looks like an extra-foamy latte. Check it out:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEP45pqpqYb/
It might sound super gross, but the history of the drink is actually quite poignant. Smile Sumo reports:
“It was created during the French war in Vietnam during a milk shortage. The country traditionally served coffee with condensed milk, but during the war cans we sparse, so Nguyen, who was a bartender at the time in the city’s Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel, whisked up an egg to replace the milk.”
A reviewer for The Mirror braved the drink and found it weirdly delightful: “I sipped it slowly, slightly surprised by its creaminess but fully expecting the sweet and the bitter melange. I braced myself for the aftershock, but it never came. I suppose we learn to build tolerances over the years, which means we should never really write off anything.”
So this bizarre egg-thing has a plucky backstory and doesn’t taste as gross as it sounds. Just goes to show that you can find inspiration in the simplest things, even if they are coffee drinks whipped into breakfast weirdness.
