Michael Kalus

coffee

Coffee Chronicles 008

"Official" tasting notes and background information. The Beans Opening the bag, I do get a hint of sweetness with some "heft". Looking at the beans they are surprisingly uniform and are the colour of milk chocolate. After grinding, the aroma greatly intensifies. Brewing Method AeroPress I

coffee

Coffee Chronicles 007

"Official" tasting notes and background information. The Beans The dominant nose on the beans is acidic, which was not what I was actually expecting, there is a bit of sweetness coming through as well, but very very little and I had to really concentrate on detecting it. Brewing

coffee chronicles

Coffee Chronicles 006

"Official" tasting notes and background information. The Beans Like yesterday, I get a whiff of sweetness with some chocolate off of the open bag. Brewing Method AeroPress I am following James Hoffman's "The Ultimate AeroPress Technique". 11 grams of coffee and 200 grams of

coffee chronicles

Coffee Chronicles 005

"Official" tasting notes and background information. The Beans The smell of the beans is very sweet, with a strong coffee smell (compared to the last few days), almost reminiscent of a dark roast. Brewing Method AeroPress I am following James Hoffman's "The Ultimate AeroPress Technique&

coffee chronicles

Coffee Chronicles 004

"Official" tasting notes and background information. The Beans Opening the pouch the first aroma that hits me is of dark chocolate. This gets even more pronounced after I grind the beans. It is a pleasant aroma and a surprise to how "smell free" the last two

coffee

Coffee Chronicles 003

"Official" tasting notes and background information. Brewing Method AeroPress I am following James Hoffman's "The Ultimate AeroPress Technique". 11 grams of coffee and 200 grams of water. Steep 2 minutes, then swirl and let settle for 30 seconds before fully pressing it through. A

Coffee Chronicles 002

"Official" tasting notes and background information. Brewing Method AeroPress I am following James Hoffman's "The Ultimate AeroPress Technique". 11 grams of coffee and 200 grams of water. Steep 2 minutes, then swirl and let settle for 30 seconds before fully pressing it through. I

coffee

Coffee Chronicles 001

"Official" tasting notes and background information. Brewing Method AeroPress I am following James Hoffman's "The Ultimate AeroPress Technique". 11 grams of coffee and 200 grams of water. Steep 2 minutes, then swirl and let settle for 30 seconds before fully pressing it through. Tasting

Spring Time on 7th

canada goose

Wildlife's Wild

The last few weeks I had a bit of a "Battle of Britain" situation outside my window with multipe pairs of Canadian Geese fighting over a nesting spot. Tonight, they got a bit saucy.... I think.....

music

Chillhop Spring Essentials 2021

Chillhop Essentials Spring 2021 by Various Artists Spring is coming, enjoy it with some music.

books

Books of January 2021

The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976 by Frank Dikötter I did not know a whole lot about the cultural revolution. I was aware of broad strokes, as well as some high level ideas about Mao, this book def. did fill in a lot of the gaps. It

music

Quiet Places - Volume 1 (Harry Yeoman)

A wonderful musical and visual journey on this wintry Sunday in January.

Star Trek

Star Trek: Acid Party

Well done, very well done.

video

Sharpest Crab Kitchen Knife in the World

Sometime last year I became aware of Kiwami Japan's YouTube channel, where he creates knives out of unusual materials, like in this one out of a crab shell. It is a wonderful way of visual story telling as well as there is no narrator. Very Japanese, very intersting

Singing Ice - 2 Hours of Ice Sounds

Bye, Trump

With Biden being inaugurated today Jonathan Pie is giving Trump a sendoff: And Godspeed USA. You'll need it. What Trump has exposed isn't gone, as much as many seem to think things will go back to "normal".

2020

2020 - A (media) review

Well, thank god this is over, even though it’s merely symbolic. Most of the things that dogged us this year will be with us in 2021 as well, at least for a good chunk of it. So without further ado, here is a selection of media recommendation and warnings

technology

The Robots are dancing

I am impressed on how natural the movements are. This is a great mechanical engineering achievement. Not sure though how this is going to work / show up in the real world.

music

Das Kraftfuttermischwerk: Es macht auch wirklich keiner mit!

Es macht auch wirklich keiner mit! by Kraftfuttermischwerk

music

Nils Frahm: XMAS Mix 2020

Just before Christmas, Nils Frahm gives us another nice mix. Let 2020 end a bit more quiet than it was for most of the year: hohoho, again and again and again. if you might have thought that we are running out of cheesy, crackly, and lovely down tempo tunes from

music

Chillhop Winter Essentials 2020

One month to go until 2020 ends, and lots of people will be happy to see the back of it. So the timing is good for Chillhop to release their winter selection. Enjoy! Chillhop Essentials Winter 2020 by Various Artists

Little Ships

Morning light, interesting clouds and an armada of ships anchored in the bay.

society

Thoughts on Societal Collapse

Yesterday I saw an article being shared about America’s collapse, or rather, an example of what collapse looks really like: “I Lived Through Collapse. America Is Already There.” The article makes a really good at pointing out just how the collapse of a society is not this “cut-off point”

outdoors

What to expect if you encounter a wolf

I have been fascinated by wolves (and dogs) for quite a while. I think wolves are probably some of the most misunderstood animals out there. They're not dogs, but they are also not, normally, the vicious killers they are described as in our folklore and vivid movie imagination.