Useless or maybe not so useless gadgets...

by **Gouezeri** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:41 pm

Ok, in one of those silly moods today... Having already introduced the stand-alone doser, much to the shock and horror (as well as my delight) of TMC members at large... I thought it would be an idea to have a thread for all those weird, wonderful and darn right useless gadgets that exist in our wonderful world of coffee...
just to get the ball rolling.... how about this... a cup warmer.... sounds like a good idea...?
http://www.garraways.co.uk/index.php?pr ... rod_detail
Would you pay 400 quid for one? If you ask me, if your machine isn't capable of warming your cup, do you really want to be drinking the coffee its making...
judge for yourselves... oh and if anyone finds something that might actually be useful, please post it as well! Who knows, something good might actually come out of my warped sense of humour ;-)

D

by **Joey** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:08 pm

I have something in my store - but I have no picture now.... It's an original HUMMER travel tumbler for 3/4 liter coffee and it has a plug for the cigarette lighter in the car. It's stainless steel + rubber with the HUMMER letters on it. On the lid you have an additional "off-road-adjustment" which leaves a hole with a double bottom, so that you can drink your coffee without spilling it when rocking over those bumps ;-)

Cool tool!

I'll post a pic asap.

Joey

by **jumper** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:55 pm

how about this http://www.mrcappuccino.com/foamer1.htm i have a few costumers who have these and it is remarkeble how i only drinks cappucino's there :roll:

by **Gouezeri** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:05 pm

Excellent! Good find Jumper! This is just what you wanted Joey, look it can keep your milk at 73 degrees, for... well, who knows, weeks maybe! Just think, you'll never have to reheat your milk! Ok, so it looks like an ice cream machine, you can't have everything... maybe Les could add some wooden bits for us though! Now, if KingSeven could just teach us how to pour latte art with it, it could be a winner!
Second thoughts.... Oh my giddy grinder!!!... I just saw the price! Aerolatte wonder whisk come back, all is forgiven!
D

by **Joey** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:18 pm

D, what did you drink today?
Special blend with herbs in it? ;-D
(which reminds me on the movie "Saving Grace" - where the old ladies find the marihuana and think it's tea...>lol<) Sorry, mind flip.

Ok, here is something else....
http://www.alltvstuff.com/mcm1.html

joey

by **Gouezeri** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:29 pm

joey wrote:D, what did you drink today?
Special blend with herbs in it? ;-D

Yup, my special blend number 2 ;-)

nah, too much time reading dubious philosophy books... highlight of the day, seeing Val Kilmer on my high st. with a bicycle too... actually, I'm not that sure it was that much of a highlight :roll:

Anyway, back to the gadgets.... "café bouillu... café foutu" I actually know people that would probably use one!!! :roll:

Still, I do like their punch line:
"Just fill with water, add your favorite coffee, pop into the microwave and presto! You’ll never drink [instant] coffee again." They've got a point! ;-)

D

by **Joey** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:23 pm

gouezeri wrote:... highlight of the day, seeing Val Kilmer on my high st. with a bicycle too...

what is high st.??

as long as I don't know... the actor? Really? For real?? In real?

(or in a movie?)

by **Gouezeri** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:45 pm

Joey,
If babelfish is feeling competent today, it should be "Hautpstraße", as in the main commercial road where I live. He's currently in a play in the west end of london and I saw him coming out of the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) rehearsal rooms. So yup, the actor, really, for real... unless it was his doppelganger (don't need to translate that do I? ;-)

) talking in a strong american accent coming out of a theatrical building. I'm afraid I didn't think to ask him whether he was really real, sorry... maybe next time ;-)

D

by **moccafaux** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:43 pm

joey, so you drive a hummer, do you?

by **Gouezeri** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:38 am

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... table.html
Hmmm, self heating coffee, using quick lime... nice!
and if you want to know what it looks like on the inside...
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... .html#more
D

by **Gouezeri** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 6:24 pm

Found another one... Tesco petrol station outskirts of Ipswich (speaks volumes ;-)

) stumbled across these on the counter:
http://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/brit ... ?id=DC0063
Not been able to find out much about them from anywhere else though.... sold as a "self heating espresso with guarana"... looked more like a pot noodle to me

I was in two minds as to whether to buy one... on the one hand I really didn't want to embarass myself, but on the other hand it would have been fun, in a perverse way, to see just how bad it was... :twisted:

maybe next time... though to be honest, a litre of unleaded would probably be cheaper and taste better, but there are laws against that kinda thing ;-)

D

by **Gouezeri** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:39 pm

Here we go again... The all in one stove top cappuccino maker... from bialetti as well (oh dear)!
"Place the water in the bottom section, coffee in the middle and fill the top section with milk. Then place on the stove-top and as the water boils to make the coffee, the resulting steam is passed through the milk to froth it":
http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/MUKEXP_LIFE.htm

Let me get this right... to get the steam, it boils the water... which would mean you are also boiling your coffee... then again if you use charcoal anyway, it probably doesn't effect the flavour much ;-)

D

by **tisri** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:43 pm

Why would I want to pollute my charcoal with milk?

by **Sammy** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:36 pm

Keep this thread going! I love these kind of nonsensical inventions.

But imagine the sheer economic effort that goes into these useless items: hard thinking, sleepless nights, team meetings, business plans, inventions, pre-production models, patents, bank loans, trademarks, lawyers, distributors, design - 200 odd Chinese workers, cargo ships, Teleshopping shows etc, etc. Only for those poor items to end up being ridiculed by some coffee snobs on TMC....

Come on guys, fill up Dom's museum!

Sam.

by **Gouezeri** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:55 pm

Sammy,
There are those here who would rather that I not be encouraged ;-)

But google really is your friend, so here are my two latest finds... considering my recent toxic experiences in northern france, these actually seem kind of tempting, but then maybe I'm just a geek with a penchant for useless gadgets ;-)

In order of usefulness, cost and likelihood to disappoint, we have the rei travel coffee grinder:
http://www.rei.com/product/2042.htm
The spec helpfully tells you its size and weight; obviously the only features considered important. Personally, I think it could do with a doser

Next up we have a "Cup.pour.ri One-Cup Coffee Steeper" Is the name trying to tell us something (pourri)? ;-)

:
http://www.rei.com/product/203977.htm
The thing which bothers me most here, is it looks too much like something a tea drinker might use :twisted:

I would like to draw you attention to the attention to detail involved... it can be used in both a microwave and is dishwasher safe, both very useful when "hiking" :lol:

Right, that'll do for now, don't want to spoil you all ;-)

D

Useless or maybe not so useless gadgets...

Useless or maybe not so useless gadgets...

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