Boy Toys for Our Favorite Beverage

Here's my recent purchase all stripped down to components. Just for the fun of it, guess what it is before  you continue to read.

If you guess coffee mill, you're half right! I've just gotten a Hario French Press and to take advantage of the proliferation of micro roasters in Singapore, it's only right that I get a coffee mill. Say hello to my squeaky Hario Mini Mill Slim MSS-1. This little guy right here is a portable manual coffee mill that can grind coffee ground enough for 2 standard cups of coffee. Its conical ceramic burrs crushes the coffee beans that's loaded into the coffee chamber. Adjust the nut to the right clearance between the top and bottom burrs, then sweat it out by rotating the handle and fragrant coffee ground will be produced in no time (depending on how fast you rotate the handle). This coffee mill is affordable, portable and can be stripped down easily for maintenance. Now I can buy freshly roasted coffee beans and then grind them as and when I want my fresh coffee. 

Here's the 250g bag of Guatemala El Tambor beans that I got from Toby's Estate to try out my new toy. As I opened the resealable bag I was thrilled by the fragrance.

Grabbed a handful and start dropping them into the coffee mill ....

... Here's the coffee ground the was caught in the dosing chamber. Hmm .... smelling coffee beans and coffee ground during the grinding process is half the enjoyment. Drinking the Guatemala is the other half. The Guatemala beans brewed with the French press was smooth and fragrant. Like what the bag says, it taste creamy, chocolatey and orangey. With abundant choices in Toby's Estate, Papa Palheta, Smitten and Loysel's Toy (just to name a few), I guess I'll have plenty of places to replenish fresh coffee beans.

If you guess milk bottle, you're also half correct. The components in the first photo can be assembled to get you a Hario Mini Mill Slim and a Playtex Ventaire Milk Bottle (as you see in this photo). The Hario manual coffee mill is for my favorite beverage and this Playtex Ventaire is for me to feed little Julien his "milk milk". The angled bottle promotes semi upright feeding position to prevent ear infection. The micro channels in the silicone vent disk and the screw on bottom vent allow air to escape rather than venting through the milk like in conventional milk bottles. There's no vents in the base of the silicone nipple that allows air to mix with the milk. All these features help reduce gas, colic and spit-up. Ask me how is it? I think the Playtex Ventaire is as effective as the more conventional Philips Avent milk bottles but the Playtex Ventaire angled bottle really helped in the ergonomics category. Whichever you use, remember to burp your baby. Cheers happy feeding!