The Apartment Groove
[kml_flashembed movie="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=5996454248768061014=en" width="350" height="290"/]
Stole this idea from Sal. Nothing fancy. Just thrown together with Quicktime Pro.
Archive for February, 2007
Enviga Review
This Sunday, I forwent my morning breakfast and brewed tea to review Enviga. I originally heard about this drink in Business 2.0, and I found it at my grocery store on an introductory sale. It comes in 3 flavors: Green Tea, Peach, and Berry. For this review, I tried the green tea.
The can describes itself as a delicious and refreshing sparkling green tea that invigorates your metabolism to gently increase calorie burning. By giving your body a little extra boost, Enviga is a simple and positive step you can take toward a healthy balanced lifestyle.
Concentrated natural green tea extracts provide 90 mg/serving of natural Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG, one of nature’s most powerful antioxidant)
Caffeine (100mg/serving, the same level found in an average cup of coffee)
Calcium (200mg/serving) enviga is a good source of calcium
Three cans per day of enviga have been shown to increase calorie burning by 60-100 calories in healthy normal weight 18-35 year olds. Individual results may vary.
Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Calcium Lactate, Concentrated Green Tea from Tea Leaves, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Benzoate (to protect taste), Natural Flavors, Aspartame, Caffeine, Acesulfame Potassium. Contains phenylalanine
My first reaction to the color and pour were assuring. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a ’sparkling’ tea. I used a wine glass to observe the full color and aroma. The color had a light murky greenness. In this case, I dont consider murky to be a bad thing. It just means that I couldn’t see through the glass, and most loose leaf teas have the same characteristic.
Enviga wasn’t as ’sparking’ as I thought it would be. I expected it to be incredibly fizzy and resemble a sparkling white wine, where bubbles were constantly being released. Instead there were only minuscule bubbles along the top sides of the glass. Swirling did release some fizz on the sides. Occasionally, a few bubbles formed at the bottom. When I held the glass up to my ear, the bubbles tinged like wind chimes.
My first taste caught the flavor of green tea and the ‘natural flavors’. The green tea-ness reminded me of a ‘grassy’ tea such as sencha overture. It wasn’t overwhelming but kind of mild. I couldn’t pinpoint the natural flavors, but if I were to guess, I’d say grapefruit or mango. It was an odd blend of flavor, not really overwhelming or sweet like real fruit.
Once Enviga hit the tongue I noticed the carbonation. I felt the bubbles all over my mouth. Swishing it around created a foamy fizz similar to most carbonated sodas. Which brings me to another characteristic of soda, the burping. I only drink soda on occasion and I always notice the carbonation in my stomach. At the start, I dont recall being hungry, but my stomach began to feel gassy and full after half way through. When I was done, I really didn’t feel the need or want to eat.
Half way through, the green tea flavor began to disappear. The odd fruity-ness took over and I couldn’t distinguish the ‘grassy’ tea anymore. There was no lingering aftertaste, except when I burped. Afterwards and as I’m writing this, I do feel the caffeine. It’s not a rush, but it’s a calm awaking.
Overall, Enviga was a passionate ‘meh’ for me. I would never buy it based solely on it’s taste. I think flavored water like Propel tastes better and you dont get that carbonated drink experience. It comes in an energy drink can, which I think will be misleading to most. It’s not a Red Bull or a Cocaine. If you want a healthy drink you should probably just have regular green tea, which costs less per cup. Enviga is being marketed as the calorie burner, but in fact you can burn 70 Calories a day by drinking your eight 8-ounce glasses of ice water a day. To get the same results, you’d have to drink 3 Envigas a day. It’s up to you.
Final Word: After trying all the flavors, I enjoyed the Mixed Berry the best and Green Tea the least. It’s still not something I would buy regularly, but that’s just me. It might be better for you than going to Starbucks everyday or drinking “energy” drinks to wake you up. So, it’s good in that respect.
The Podcasts We Love
Since, I’ve been commuting to and fro, stop and go, everyday to work, I’ve been getting my moneys worth out of my iPod. I listen to it from the moment I step out of the apartment to the point which I get to my desk in the office. The commute can take anywhere between 25-40 minutes. It really depends on whether the ‘L’ leaves right before I get to the platform or if there are any delays.
It was inevitable that I would get tired of my old song archive. So I started searching for new podcasts. Here’s what I found:
- Craft Beer Radio – A show with 2 individuals drinking and reviewing beer. A video of the show would help to visualize the beers and put a review to specific label.
- Detroit JazzStage – I’ve come to love this one. Jazz is the theme music of Mers walking through the streets of downtown Chicago.
- Discovery Channel Featues – each episode is about 25 min long detailing documentaries from the Discovery Channel. Real nice since I dont have cable.
- Net@Night – Leo and Amber talk about tech news and social apps for use on the web. Recorded live before an internet audience.
- Nightly Business Report – I like the PBS half hour show. I’m not sure the podcast works as well without visuals. You also need to listen to it after each day or it becomes obsolete.
- NPR: All Song Considered – great for finding new artists to love and hate. I’m looking into other NPR podcasts.
- Solid Steel – I’m not a huge fan of hip hop and DJs. I need to be in the mood for this. It’s produced by the same label who signed Bonobo. They released his session as an album
- WordPress Podcast – Wordpress is the blogging software I use. You’re seeing it now. The show talks about new plugins/themes and updates.
Listening to many of these podcasts is situational. I usually listen to music when riding the train, because I have a hard time hearing people talking on podcasts. The background noise of the ‘L’ drowns out everything and I dont want to blast the volume. The other times I might listen to podcasts before I go to bed or when I’m at the computer.
I’ve considered buying some new headphones that I can insert into my ear. I’ve read that Shure makes some decent sound isolating earbuds. They report that if you buy them from the website and aren’t satisfied, you can return them. That might be worth checking out.
A Down Comforter
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a frugal person. Going out and paying $4 for a drink is a bit much, so is paying more than 10ยข for ramen noodles. However, there are certain things that I will gladly hand over my plastic for purchase. My computer, my bike, and my ipod are items which I didn’t have to put much thought into. When making these buys, I try to weigh the functionality, the necessity, and the longetevity of the item. Right now, I’m wondering whether I should buy a down comforter.
Last Christmas, I asked Mom for an LLBean comforter. I wanted the heaviest, the most dense, the warmest, and most expensive comforter they have to offer. But at some point, I changed my mind. I, currently, sleep with a sheet, a fuzzy Blues blanket, and an unzipped sleeping bag in an ice-box of a room. It’s cold at night, but once I fall asleep and my body temp rises, the blankets do their job. Then, in the morning I dont want to get out of bed.
There is a department store which is going out of business and everything must go. I wandered around every floor and the only thing that stood out was the down comforter. It was $600, but it was marked 60% off. I called Mom to get her opinion and thoughts. I also talked with my roommate. The comforter has a thread count of 370, and he said “Go for it. Ladies love the high thread count and the softness.” Right now, this isn’t much of a concern since I have no ladies in my bed, but it could fall under the longetivity category. Mom added many concerns like getting it washed, taking it to the dry cleaners or the return policy.
I stood in line ready to throw down the plastic for my new comforter, and I saw a sign. “All sales are final. No returns.” Ok, fine. I moved closer in the line and I kept thinking about it. Eventually, I was next in line. Then, a little Pooh bear whispered in my ear, “Dont do it Kimmers, sleep it over, and compare prices.” Doh. I stepped out of line, put the comforter back (behind some other stuff), and walked out.
Right now, I’m 50/50, and at a stand still. I think I should have at least got a price check to have seen how much it would have actually been. Maybe there was an additional discount to sweeten the pot. If I go back on Monday and it’s still there, I might just buy it. However, the notion that I’m weighing this much thought into the comforter tells me that I dont need it.
I’ve only had one experience sleeping with a down comforter. I had to crash on a friends couch and he threw me the comforter. It was so soft and comfy. In the middle of the night, I woke up in an icy sweat. The room was so cold from the air conditioner, but I was on fire underneath the blanket. It was odd feeling to have sweat on my forehead and it was ice cold. That’s the power of the down.
The comforter was from Pacific Coast and called the Lunesse. Yeah, the prices from the department store and website dont add up. But 60% off at the store would be like $240 + tax. Any thoughts are welcome.
