Your Daily Dose (Maintain Safe Distance From Screen)

Just to cover all bases for maximum whorebaggery, there's only 3 weeks left on the "Oktoberfest" coupon code for funraniumlabs.com.  Oktberfest proper begins this Saturday, so if you want a Stein of Science and you're in Germany it's probably too late already.  However, the coupon continues through the end of Oktoberfest proper on October 4th.  Just because Oktoberfest ended doesn't mean Scientific Drinking does.

And yes, the coupon code works for Black Blood of the Earth too.

Here endeth the LJ whorebaggery.  Now, I have a new album from The Duke of Uke to go buy. *pimppimpimp*

Cross-posted from Funranium Labs

You've tasted Blood and now you want more.  Well, I'm not surprised.

(That's right, I just combined Rocky Horror with Flight of the Conchords there with consummate skill.)

Whether you are after another hit of Black Blood of the Earth (perhaps your first) or need proper Scientific Drinking gear for the upcoming beery festivities, I'm here to help.  Using the coupon code "Oktoberfest"  at checkout will get you 10% off your purchase.

But the coupon ends the same time proper Oktoberfest does on the 4th of October, so act now while the stars are right!  Cthulhu lies sleeping but you should not!

Cross-posted from Funranium Labs - Coffee Science Recent Developments (3/26/10)

Following a three week countertop exposure of Kona BBotE at room temperature in sealed bottles, the verdict is in: Black Blood of the Earth can survive shipping without prohibitive cold packaging.  I did testing with both air in the headspace of the bottle and with carbon dioxide.  A future test with nitrogen may need to be done.

The first noticed change in flavor of the air headspace happened in the first 24hrs, which I attribute to the difference in mouth feel between cold and hot beverage.  The warm BBotE was similar in flavor to what I am accustomed to when adding one part BBotE to three parts hot water from magical Japanese hot water machine in the breakroom at work.  Flavor was consistent thereafter from 2-10 days.  At 12 days, I noticed a slight tannic note sneaking in.  By 18 days, the flavor had become distinctly "tangy" even when added to hot water.  This stayed consistent thereafter.

The carbon dioxide head space had a similar flavor progression, but off the bat had a minor carbonic bite from the dissolved CO2 in solution.  The "tangy" character was less at the 18 day mark, but still there. 

Interesting to note: at no time did either trial bottle develop mold.  This is a corroboration of the observation while evaporating samples for caffeine content analysis that, even while standing open to fume hood air for three weeks, none of the BBotE samples moldered.

In other interesting news, it is possible that I have identified the chemicals responsible for creating "butt cofffee" flavor.  You know, the horrible taste from burnt, long ignored coffee.  The likely culprits that are known to be present in coffee beans are thiols (well known in chemistry labs for their fishy aroma) and putrescine.  Yes, putrescine as in "the smell of corpses".  Really, putrescine is a decay product from the breakdown of proteins, which is something that happens to all living things, including coffee beans and people (special thanks to the Funranium Labs Staff Mortician for explaining this).  Of course, heat will accelerate this process which is why being a coroner on the east coast during the summer sucks so very, very much.  The same goes for overheated and then ignored coffee.  Just beacuse you stopped heating and walked away doesn't mean the protein breakdown stopped.

At the request of one astute reader, I performed a 48hr BBotE preparaion of Sulawesi beans.  Sulawesi is well known for making a very pleasant smelling, rich, and low acid hot coffee.  Sadly, these characteristics made a somewhat weak BBotE.  Perhaps it needed more time to draw more out of the beans, but the defining description from the test panel was "bland but drinkable".  I may try some longer term preparation another day in the interest of science.  The aroma of the beans themselves is so delightful that I know something wonderful is hiding in them.

I would like to also welcome Test Subject Puppeteer to the ranks of the BBotE cohort.  After approximately 1.5oz each of Kona and Kenya BBotE, in straight and vodka mixed formats, he declared "I feel alert...actually, I feel really competent".  It was as if he had consumed the elixir from Egg Shen's gourd.  He felt kind of invincible.  This may explain the later attempts make his mummy puppet dance on the bar while standing on a folding chair.  Following a near mishap, he decided it more prudent to instead stand on the table and dance with his puppet.  At 2am, he rode his bike from West Hollywood to his home in Koreatown and went to sleep, at his own chosing, not because he was tired.  His remaining BBotE supply is now being rationed for a future night of exceptional productivity.

Test Subject Censorian gives this self-assessment:

"4:00am: drank ~1 oz of batch 031510-1-3. Effects were subtle but noticeable. (I was staying up all night in order to get to work on time.) In 22 minutes I went from groggy zombie hell to efficient focused web surf(land). I had five tabs open, all dedicated to different aspects of the California Aqueduct and Los Angeles Aqueduct intersection. At 6:00am I was comparing two different topographical maps of the area around the St. Francis Dam. By 7:00 am, I felt the effects declining, and opted for a Diet Rock Star, rather than waste BBotE on such menial work. At 7:30am I left, feeling quiet but functional, for my first training day at the U.S. Census Bureau."

In the meantime, keep watching here, the Etsy store, or the Funranium Labs facebook page for the official announcement that Black Blood of the Earth is available for shipping.  It won't be long now...

In light of the recent notoriety I have achieved thanks to the ThrillistSF article and now the spontaneous one on coolthings.com, I am resisting the urge to go hide under the covers or in the closet behind the luggage.  Possibly in the luggage.  I have this voice in the back of my head that is residual security consciousness from the days of having a Q clearance.  It tells me, loudly, "MAINTAIN MINIMAL WEBPRESENCE AT ALL TIMES".  It's part of why I have refused thus far to have a Facebook account.

Don't get me wrong, I've gotten some pretty awesome questions emailed to me that have been tremendous fun thinking about.  Frosty martini prep on a 4-day backpacking expedition with no electricity is my personal favorite at the moment, along with a chance to discuss hot spots of the Mojave Desert.  Actually getting some Steins Of Science out into the world blows my mind along with the reaction that people seem to be as tickled by them as I was when I built my first one.  I'd been doing this as an "maker" project to occupy the idle hands during my furlough time.  Becoming an internexpert isn't something I wasn't expecting.

The hit rate due to Thrillist seems to ebbing now but coolthings.com is ramping up.  And then I have another interview and Three Beer Science Demo on Monday.  Life ain't back to normal obscurity yet.

For your reference, The Three Beer Science Demo

Setup: Get three pints worth of beer, two pint glasses, and one stein of science

Pint 1: Control Beer.  Leave this pint in glass on the table.  Do not drink yet.
Pint 2: Pour into the stein of science.  Put lid on and do not drink yet.
Pint 3: Timekeeper Beer.  Consume this beer at normal rate and have pleasant conversation.

After Pint 3 is done, take sips of Pint 1 & 2 for temperature comparison of relative warming while on the table.  Let minds be blown.  Clean up your experiment by consuming the rest of Pints 1 & 2.