Wine is certainly a great thing, but it has a small flaw. It is very delicate and relatively hard to keep in top shape. Even in bottles it does not last long. Wine from french kings definitely has a certain allure, but the taste is not something to brag about. Even worse, if you want […]
Caffeine extraction
Having pure caffeine is essential if you want to prepare your personalized energy drink. You can buy it or, even better, make caffeine extraction yourself. By extracting it from coffee or tea you will probably extract also other substances, which would further personalize your drink. Maybe even enhance the kick-start-me effect. There are several ways […]
Cider brewing
A quick cider brewing overview My experience with cider came relatively late, decades after I started drinking beer. Actually, I never associated beer with cider, the later was – for me – a refreshing drink in the summer, while beer was an alcoholic drink. Make no mistake – you still get intoxicated from cider, but […]
Heavenly elf cake
Technically speaking elf cake is not a true fantasy food, since I have not yet read a book describing something like it. But its heavenly taste, its immense lightness and fantastic looks make is a definite stuff of legends. It would nicely fit into an elven story of elaborate dinners with light desserts, fairy tales […]
Gut microbes
The fascinating thing about the microbes living in our gut is that they actually outnumber the number of cells in our body. And with that variety, you cannot deny that gut microbes must be important for our well-being. They are contributing at least something. However, we are still in the process of unraveling all the […]
Homemade Nutella
One, if not the best, things that you can put on bread is Nutella. Admitted, it is even better without bread. Just a spoonful of pure smooth hazelnut and chocolate delivered directly into your mouth. I tried a lot of other hazelnut/chocolate spreads and none could match Nutella. So I was surprised to find an […]
Cognac (brandy) making in three steps
Cognac is one of the most recognizable high society drinks. It is really not hard to imagine important looking people in an antique furnished room, sitting on leather couches, discussing important things and drinking cognac from nice rounded glasses that they delicately warm in their hands. Well, drinking brandy I should say, although this dispels […]
Flower candy
The simple candy that I made was so perfectly crystalline it practically begged to be decorated. It needed something to be trapped inside it, something that would make it even better and would shine from the inside. And what better way to do this than to capture some real flowers together with their subtle taste […]
Caffeine from coffee, tea, matcha, mate, guarana and soft drinks – is there any difference?
There are many natural sources of caffeine. The problem is that it is called by different names. Either because people want to sound more special (especially when advertising their product) or they simply don’t know. Guaranine, theine, and mateine are all the same substance – caffeine. They just differ in their plant of origin: guarana, […]
Japanese chestnut pumpkin
During my stay in Japan, I discovered a chestnut tasting pumpkin. It was fabulous! When I tasted it for the first time I could not believe what I was tasting. But the next bites reassured me that my senses were indeed working and I’ve immediately fallen in love with the taste. To my surprise, the […]