A Mug Should Not Take This Much Practice

 My husband and I decided we were going to start bringing our coffee to work because buying it at Starbucks everyday was getting way too expensive.  So we needed travel mugs in which to carry it.

We browsed around and ended up going with the Contigo Stainless Steel Travel Mug, 20oz., in gunmetal.

Let's start with what I like about it.  I like the look of it.  I like the size of it - it fits well in your hand and in the car cupholder.  I like the non slip rubber grip.  I like the pop button opening.  (I don't like the sliding ones.  I always feel there is stuff between the layers I can never really clean out of there.)  And it keeps my coffee hot for a long time.  (I have never tried it with cold beverages but the principle is the same so I'm sure it keeps things cold too.)

But it leaked.  And the little rubber gasket in the cover fell out a lot.  And trying to get that thing back in was a twenty minute project.  But...

Now I have to give the credit to my husband because he is the one who makes the coffee in the morning.  The cups don't leak any more.  He had to practice putting the covers on and then holding them upside down over the sink to see if they would leak for a while but he figured it out.  You have to be gentle with them.  Turn the cover slowly until you just get resistance and then one small little turn to make it just snug.  Because if you turn the cover to fast and too hard the rubber seal twists and the cup will leak.

Now I like the cups.  But I don't think a mug should take so much practice to use correctly.  I read some other reviews and other people also had leaking problems so it isn't just me.  

Now they work great.  The rubber on the button to open the cup is starting to come off but that does not interfere with the function at all.  (The cups are now a year and a half old and we use them every day.)  And if you do buy them open the cover before you take it off the cup.  It is very hard to open it after.

I will continue to use them until they fall apart on me.  I might even buy more now that I know the secret.  But new customers might be frustrated with these.

Want to make your own gin?

It is well known to my friends and family that I like a good cocktail.  So for Christmas my sister gave me a Do Your Gin kit.  It turns out you can make your own gin at home.  All you need is a neutral alcohol and juniper berries.

The kit comes with two 350 ml bottles, a funnel, two filters, a collection of botanicals including juniper berries, instructions, a few recipes and a description of the botanicals.  The bottles have a label on them where you can check off the ingredients you have added but I reused the bottles for several gins so that wouldn't have made sense for me.

They suggest vodka as the neutral alcohol I used Skyy because it is decent vodka at a decent price.  And it is the one I could money back for from my Ibotta app. 

The instructions are kind of vague so some of it was a bit of guessing.  I filled the bottle right up to the bottom of the neck.  Which worked fine for the first two gins but on my third (in which I added bits of fresh ginger) I realized that I should have taken into account the displacement the ingredients would create.  I had to pour a little vodka out to fit my flavorings in.

first gin

I didn't follow any of the recipes.  For my first gin I used one test tube of juniper berries.  The instructions say that if you crush the berries they will release more flavor.  Since it was my first try I didn't know how much flavor they would release anyway so I hedged my bets and crushed half of them.  I let it sit on the shelf for 24 hours then I added about a teaspoon of the pink pepper.  I crushed half of that too.  Then it sat on the shelf for another 24 hours.  The instructions say you can drink it after the 48 hours but suggests that you leave it in the fridge for another 12.  So I put it in the fridge for the last 12 hours.  Then I used funnel and the filter to pour it into the other bottle.  It was not clean like gin usually is because the natural colors of the herbals remain in the gin.  There was a strong juniper flavor but not enough to overpower the pepper.  I liked it.  The pepper added a nice spice that went well with
the juniper.

third gin

I have made two more gins since.  Using the same timings on all three.  The second I used the same amount of juniper but didn't crush any and then added about half of the hibiscus flower.  I liked the juniper better this way.  The hibiscus made it a beautiful red color and gave it a lovely floral (but not perfumey) flavor.  It was something I would sip on.  The third was the same juniper as the second and then I went completely off script and added about a tablespoon of fresh ginger bits and about half a teaspoon of orange peel.  Once again you could taste all the flavors added and I ended up with a gin I was happy to sip on.

The only ingredient that didn't come from the kit was the ginger.  You get three test tubes of juniper berries so I have to buy more now if I want to make more gin.  (I looked and it is available on Amazon.) It only comes with two filters so for my third gin I got little coffee filters and they worked just fine.  And I still have a lot of different flavors to try.

I would not have thought of doing it on my own but now that I have gotten the idea from the kit I think I will continue to experiment with it.  It is a lot of fun trying new flavors.

The kit cost $59.90.  It was a really nice and well appreciated gift.  But.  There are a lot of botanicals that I don't know I will ever use.  And you can use any resealable bottle (well, pair of bottles) and get a funnel anywhere.  I think it makes a good gift but if you are interested in trying out your own gin making you can probably get all the things you need for less than the $60 asking price of this kit.