Ever since the demise of my Camelbak Better Bottle, I’ve been waiting expectantly for the release of Nalgene’s entry into the straw-bottle market. The prototype began appearing online on gear blogs at the end of last year and trade shows at the beginning of the year, with the production model supposedly hitting the shelves by mid-year. For a long time they were vaporware and didn’t even appear as line items on order sheets. Only now are they starting to trickle into retailers. The bottle itself doesn’t even appear on Nalgene’s site at the time of this post! McBike just got their first shipment in, so here’s a brief rundown from a cursory inspection. The bottle itself is 600ml (20-ounce), and is about the same height as the standard 1-liter bottle, but has a reduced diameter. The mouth is the standard Nalgene “wide mouthâ€. The BPA-free plastic bottle is made in The USA. Continue reading ‘Nalgene Outdoor Multi Drink Bottle’
Archive for the 'Review' Category
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Whoa! What do I see here?
On one of the several weekly stops I made to Lion Coffee’s ‘Iwilei cafe and factory, I spotted something different in the premium rack. The apparently managed to get their hands on some rare Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, and peaberries (single bean per berry) no less! The vast majority of this production goes straight to the Japanese market, so it is rare to see it outside of Jamaica or Japan. I’ve had Blue Mountain blends in Japan before, but being blends, they were unremarkable and indistinct. Here was some 100% stuff, so now was the chance to taste what the fuss was all about.
Grinding a serving and brewing up a cup, the flavor was fantastically smooth but still richly full-bodied with a clean finish that left a hint of a chocolatey taste from the abundant oils. Even simply handling the beans leaves a lingering dark chocolate aroma on your fingers.  The medium roast that was selected was perfect, bringing out the best flavor without any hint of bitterness or burnt taste. Wow. I’ll have to do a side-by-side with some Kona peaberry, but if my flavor memory serves me correctly, the Blue Mountain brings more flavor to the table while carrying less bitter baggage. They’re both good, but they are different. Now to find some Kopi Luwak… Continue reading ‘Lion Coffee 100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Peaberry’
Chikusho! Kuso! WTF?! This is the worst Napoleon’s Apple Napple I’ve ever had! POS! MF-er! There is no apple filling, but there is this sweet, white, grainy stuff inside that tastes suspiciously like coconut… Darned part-timers!
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Picked up the Sam Adams harvest variety pack and this Dunkelweissen was the special edition one that caught my eye. Pours a cloudy brown with a moderate head, persistent carbonation. My sinuses are still suffering congestion, but the aroma has smokyness expected of the darkness, yet its not as strong as might be expected. There’s a citrusy tang and a touch of spice with a bit of bitter taking over, and then a pretty clean finish. I like this, I definitely could get into this beer. I’d almost call it a Hoegarten dark. I give this a solid 3, maybe even 3.5 out of 4 unfiltered monkeys. The only thing holding me back is I can’t trust my lack of nasal capacity.
As a bonus for working on a bike for one of Chris’ friends, I scored 6 German domestic market Heineken pilsener beers. Although carrying the same pils appellation as the green-bottle Heineken sold on the USDM, this brown-bottle Heineken is noticeably different. Instead of the flowery sweet hopping that I expected, there is more of a bitter initial flavor with just a hint of honey before the flavor of malt takes over. The malty middle fades seamlessly into a very clean finish. The color is a clear amber. The carbonation is light, forming a 1cm head on decanting that dissipates quickly. This is much more drinkable! This definitely is different than the brown-bottle Heineken Special Dark Lager sold on the USDM – it is quite obviously a pils. It is less bitter than Wernesgruener, but similarly refreshingly easy to drink. I’m sold. Now I understand why they go through the trouble of bringing it back from Europe! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – GDM Heineken Pilsener’
These popped up on Amazon since I got the 2008 iteration of the M-pact glove there a couple years back. My old ones were getting old, and these were available in somewhat subdued tacti-geek coyote brown instead of NASCAR neon, so into my shopping cart they went. The build quality appears as good as my old pair. The molded-on vinyl armor is slightly more minimalist, but looks cool and still does the job about as well. Grip, breathability, and comfort are all about the same. The sizing seems to be a bit loose compared to my older set, which probably is why the armor strip for the pointer doesn’t quite line up with the first knuckle and centerline of the finger properly. These don’t really shrink, so the fit will remain the same for their lifetime. The brown color doesn’t show dirt stains and crud, which is great for MTB use, but they tend to blend in with the background, so avoid dropping or misplacing them in the woods. It would be nice if they were made of a flame-retardant material for actual motorized vehicle wrenching or tactical use, but for MTB riding, they are fine – plunging one’s hands into flames is an exceedingly rare occurrence while cycling. They’d work pretty well for airsoft too (another generally flame-less activity). Like their predecessors, they lack any kind of absorbent sweat/snot wiping material. Although they were not expressedly designed for sports use, it’s not like the need to wipe the sweat from one’s brow is unheard of when working on a car or patrolling the streets of Iraq.
Model # MMP-72
Made in The PRC
About $35 USD MSRP/$25 USD street price
Recommended with reservations (specifically, that PRC part)
Three-and-a-half out of four grinning gear monkeys
It’s been months since I last went to a Taco Bell, but I found myself in need of a quick lunch and decided to visit the Kapahulu one. The featured specialty items caught my interest, what they are calling “Cantina” style tacos. Soft corn tortilla tacos in either chicken, steak, or carnita fillings with chopped onions and cilantro. Each is roughly $2, and thats about all you get, a double soft corn tortilla with those ingredients, wrapped in foil, and a lime wedge. I have to give them credit for actually offering something that is more than just a rehash and recombination of their existing ingredients. I got a two pack of chicken and carnita. The chicken was quite dry, flavor alright. The carnita, being pork, was less dry, however the overwhelming flavor/spice seemed to be salt. Squeezing the lime into them helps, but after taking a few bites to sample the flavor, ended up putting on hot sauce.
That drink is also some new thing, “Sparkling Limeade” or something to that effect. Pretty much lemon lime soda with some syrup that is the limeade component, and a lemon wedge. Not bad, but you don’t get much for the money.
So the verdict? It’s something different to try than the usual whatever supreme, but ends up rather unexciting. And not filling. The more real mexican places have nothing to worry about. 2 out of 4 mexi monkeys.
Similar to Clif Shot Bloks, these gummy energy blocks from the makers of GU gel are a convenient medium between energy gels and full-blown energy bars. The size and consistency are similar to the Clif Shot Bloks, but they seem to be a little less sweet. I’ve seen three flavors – blueberry/pomegranate, strawberry, and cranberry/apple. The strawberry and cranberry/apple have caffeine, but the blueberry/pomegranate does not (boo!). The packaging is like the original Clif packaging, where once opened, there is no built-in way to reclose the bag or otherwise keep the unused portion from escaping. If you don’t eat the whole 60-gram package at once, stash a rubber band to hold the package shut, or tear a hole just small enough to force a single block through and hope for the best. The caloric value is listed as 180 calories for the entire 8-block package, with 100mg of sodium total: The similar Clif product is 200 calories for 6-blocks with 140mg of sodium (for the non-sodium enriched flavors). It’s pretty clear that the GU product was designed to be a direct competitor to the Clif one. On a recent trail ride, I passed around a package of the blueberry/pomegranate flavor, and everyone in the ride group was positive about them. Last year, Root did a review on these also – click here for his review.
Made in The USA
About $2.00 USD retail
Recommended
Three out of four carbo-monkeys
The third Coedo beer available here is this Kyara. Pours a medium light amber with a small head and moderate carbonation that lasts. My nose is still messed up, but some smell is returning. There’s an aroma I have a hard time placing, I think if I had to say, I’d say grainy. Initially there’s a bit of that malt liquory taste and tongue feel, but it fades quickly away. There’s some of that sweetness too, but its nicely moderated and balanced by the bitter. A nice beer, I just wish it didn’t command such a premium price.I’d give it a solid 3 out 4 monkeys.
Chris finds interesting stuff while browsing in unexpected places. He alerted me that he found some Purell in foliage green bottles at the Downtown Fisher Hawaii. I stopped by the Kaka’ako location and found some on a mid-aisle end cap after wandering the aisles of office supplies for a couple of minutes. The 89ml (3 fl. oz.) extra durable foliage green MDPE bottle has finger-grooved sides and is marked NSN 6508-01-535-5409. They were priced at $2.69, so after local sales tax, it was $2.82 – much less than the MSRP! The bottle is about the same size as a 20-round 5.56 NATO magazine (12cm tall x 6cm wide x 3cm thick), so it will fit in a strobe/compass pouch (empirically tested in the Blackhawk STRIKE version of this size pouch) or other similarly sized pouches. Good to have on the trail to clean the grubby hands before digging into the snacks or performing first aid.
Highly recommended
Four out of four alcohol-vapor-buzzed gear monkeys