Summer’s the time for fun in the sun, but days at the beach, backyard barbecues, and endless outdoor events can start to get spendy. We’re not about to let dollar signs put a damper on summer celebrations, so we picked a few of our favorite warm-weather finds that cost less than $50.
Coffee is good. Hot coffee when it’s still hot out is not so good. Will the Cold Brew Coffee Maker save me?
I am one of about 2/3 of adult Americans who will have a cup of coffee today at work. But in the dog days of summer, hot drinks aren’t really what I’m thirsting for. Unfortunately, every time I’ve tried to make iced coffee it came out bitter. It usually just sits in my fridge as a testament to my failure for a few days before I toss it.
Maybe I’ve just found 1,000 ways not to make iced coffee.
With that in mind, I set off with the Cold Brew Coffee Maker to try one more time.
Before I picked up this coffee maker I had no idea what “cold brew” meant. As I learned from the instructions, it’s a method of brewing where cold water is slowly percolated over ground coffee. The cold water prevents the bitterness of the beans from flowing into the retaining jar, and the slow pace allows plenty of flavor to end up in the final product. It takes a while, and the longer you allow it to take, the more flavor will end up in your cup.
My null hypothesis: I can’t make a decent cup of iced coffee.
My alternative hypothesis: I can (if I use the right tools).
photo credit: peasandcrayons.com
Summer is coming to a close. We’ve had some good times, we’ve had some sunburns. What better way to commemorate the end of long days and good weather than with one epic last hurrah: an end of summer barbecue blow-out.
For the vegetarians among us, barbecues can be tricky. There aren’t always enough non-meat options. That’s why UncommonGoods has called upon its community of creators, bakers, and bloggers. We asked: “What’s your favorite vegetarian barbecue recipe?” This is what you all came up with.
The next Instagram Challenge theme is GARDENING. We’re one month away from the official start of summer, which means your plants are ripe to be as bright and sunny as the weather. Whether it’s re-potting your succulents, or growing your own backyard veggies, we want to see your beautiful gardens!
The next Instagram Challenge theme is SO LONG, SUMMER! Fall officially starts September 23, which means we have about one week to soak up the last bits of the most carefree season. Though we were ready to trade in the sticky heat by the time Labor Day rolled around, we know that we’ll be longing for ripe tomatoes and sun-kissed skin by the first snowfall. Join us in giving summer a proper goodbye by sharing your favorite moments of the season! While sharing your sunny shots, be sure to use the hashtag #UGInstaFun to be in the running for a $50 gift card. Visit here to see the entries we’ve received so far.
Have a great rest of the summer!
Congratulations to @alexpaulettedesign for winning our Back to School Instagram Challenge with this beautiful portrait of her art supplies for grad school.
I love summer, not just because it’s travel season or light and bright into the evening, but also because it’s iced tea season! There’s nothing more enjoyable to me than grabbing my favorite iced tea blend and walking around to explore a new city on a warm summer day.
When I founded Tea Drops, I wanted to make the ritual and preparation of tea easy for others without sacrificing the loose leaf tea experience. Sure, you could use a tea bag, but tea connoisseurs the world over agree that loose leaf preparation is more flavorful – some go so far as to condemn the tea bag as one of the worst inventions of the 20th century! The aim is to make loose leaf teatime easy to prepare whether at the office, on a camping trip, or simply relaxing at home. Simply drop a Tea Drop, stir, and sip a delicious cup of tea anytime, anywhere.
But – you can also make a delicious brew served over ice! It’s incredibly easy and fun to make an iced tea blend just for yourself or to serve at your next summer bash… or infused into your favorite summer cocktail!
Reach up to iced tea heaven by following these simple steps:
1. Add a Tea Drop of your choice and 3 tbsp boiling water in a cup until the drop dissolves. Stir.
2. Add a half cup of ice to a 8-10 ounce glass. Pour the mixture over ice.
3. Fill the remainder of the glass with cold water. Enjoy!
Makes 1 serving.
Another deliciously fun idea is to mix different varieties of tea together. Blend a Citrus Ginger Tea Drop with a Sweet Peppermint Tea Drop to create the ultimate refresher, or a Sweet Peppermint with Rose Earl Grey to create a unique, delicious twist. You can put your culinary imagination to the test and create a range of creative iced tea blends.
Right photo by Diego Jimenez/@dejota3
We’ve been playing around with some delicious & refreshing mashups. Here are some of our favorite iced tea blends, all of which can be made with the teas in our Tea Drops Sampler Box.
I’m excited to see what Iced Tea creations you’ll come up with next – there’s just so many! Make sure to share your iced tea creation on social with #TeaDrops so that I can try your recipe too.
Product: Coffee Cold Brew Gift Set
Hypothesis:
Iced coffee is one of my favorite morning treats, so I was super excited to try out the Cold Brew Coffee Gift Set (and drink the coffee in the morning at work). I hypothesized that this set would be a great alternative to spending money at coffee shops.
Research:
The set includes instructions, which I followed to the best of my ability. I am rather impatient, so there were parts that I was tempted to skip, but I stayed faithful to the directions throughout.
Experiment:
I began by boiling the filter (the instructions say to boil the filter before its first use, to pre-shrink it) in water for 10 minutes. The instructions say that filters “will continue to shrink slightly for the next few uses and will produce the best quality brew from then on.” I don’t have any proof of this yet, but I look forward to tasting all the future cold brew coffee batches to see if taste improves over time.
The provided recipe says to use 2 cups of freshly ground coffee of your choice (the kit comes with two cups ready to go for your first batch).
I added the coffee to the fabric filter and “bloomed” the grounds, as per the directions. In this case, to bloom the grounds means to wet them thoroughly and let them stand for 60 seconds.
I twisted the neck of the filter, as tightly as I could, and wrapped the tie string around the neck a few times, then slipped the neck of the filter through the glass ring (which is attached to/hanging from the filter bag).
Then I inserted the filter into the jar and filled the jar with cold water.
Luckily I did this at the end of the day in the office, because it takes 12-16 hours to cold brew in the fridge till it’s ready. The next morning, I would get to sample my first batch of cold brew!
Conclusion:
Ta da! I opened the fridge to find some actual cold brewed coffee. It looked pretty good, smelled delightful, and was also tasty. I did feel that it was a little weak, though. I removed the filter, dumped the grounds into the compost bin, washed the filter out, and set it out to dry until I made my next batch.
The kit comes with a pouring device that fits inside the lid, which works quite nicely for pouring the coffee once its done.
People don’t naturally look at a camera when they are drinking coffee, but I wanted to show you that I was trying the coffee I just made, and allow you to fully see the expression on my face while I first tasted it. I look pretty strange, but I assure you, the coffee tasted good and I was excited to be trying it out.
Here I am, showing off the final product, in my favorite glass, complete with almond/coconut milk. So yummy!
In case you are wondering (and you really might be curious about this), I do not add sugar to my coffee, unless it tastes completely awful. I did not even consider adding sugar to this batch. I found it very yummy (though, like I said, I would have liked it to be a bit more concentrated).
During my next trial, I filled the filter as much as possible (this was probably almost 3 cups of coffee grounds). It was delicious but quite strong. I think two and half cups is probably the ideal amount of coffee grounds that should be used for this cold brew coffee (at least for it to be just right for me). I’m excited to use the Coffee Cold Brew Set this summer to beat the heat in a very delicious way!
The next Instagram Challenge theme is PLACES! As you may have read in our latest guest blog post by Daniela De Marco, we’re very excited Carolyn Gavin‘s exclusive City Prints. Not only do these colorful illustrations trigger our summer wanderlust, but they also support ecojot, a fellow B Corp that was founded by Carolyn and her brother in 2007. To celebrate this partnership, we decided to host a very special Instagram Challenge! We want to see photos of your favorite places. In addition to our usual $50 gift card prize, we’re also awarding a free City Print and a $20 gift card to ecojot’s online store (courtesy of ecojot) to the Instagrammer with the best photo. Be sure to use the hashtag #UGInstafun to enter! Visit here to see the entries we’ve received so far.
Carolyn Gavin’s City Prints
Congratulations to @pearlmsqueaks for winning our Spring Dreaming Instagram Challenge with this beautiful blossom shot!
