We went to Geek Market this weekend and it was a lot of fun. It’s an incredibly well run event with some of the nicest staff and volunteers. Sales were ok for us, but nowhere near what I’d expected. We still made our table and got to hang out with Renaissance Press and all the other awesome people who were there.
Two highlights of the weekend are the Blush Kickstarter making its first stretch goal and my awesome wife winning the Fantasy Short Story Scholarship contest. She worked really hard on both Blush and the story, and I couldn’t be more proud.
Between Geek Market and all the other things I’ve been working on, I was completely and utterly exhausted last night. I should have easily fallen asleep… My brain had other ideas.
As I lay awake until 1 or 2 in the morning (I stopped checking at 12:30), my brain kept running an idea for a Webcomic through my head. Over and over, I kept thinking of what it could be and the story and the tone. Sigh.
Suffice it to say, I was even more exhausted this morning. I still couldn’t get the idea out of my head. So I spent this morning writing it out. I’ll pitch it to a friend who’s interested in drawing more and we’ll see what happens. I mean I really don’t have enough to do.
I don’t want to spoil anything and the comic would be a collaboration so things will change, but I can give you the working title: “Joust a Windmill”.
What sort of things does your brain keep you up with?
I’m still swamped by deadlines but I have a few coffee things that must be said…
New Flavour
Our newest flavour is Black Cherry and is one of my favourites.
A Light Roast with Black Cherry Flavouring
Coffee isn’t difficult to make.
You may be scoffing at the moment, but I’m completely serious. Unless you’re looking at making an espresso, cappuccino, or other slightly fancier drinks that the little coffee place down the street makes, there are only 5 steps to coffee.
Boil Water
Grind Beans
Pour Water over grinds
Wait a few minutes
Pour coffee through filter
If you have a drip coffee machine, it’ll do 1, 3, 4, and 5 for you. You can buy pre-ground coffee everywhere. (Full beans stay fresh longer though.)
Coffee pods are one of the most ridiculous creations of the 21st century. We took one the most simple processes in the world (See Above), made it needlessly complex and ridiculously wasteful.
You get the idea. The pods aren’t environmentally friendly. They can’t be recycled easily and even the alternatives aren’t great yet.
This applies to all pods by the way, not just Keurig.
Pod Machines Aren’t Better
For you to be able to pop a pod into a machine and press go, there needs to be a bunch of tech behind it. Add on anti-competition bar codes, wi-fi, blue-tooth, etc., and you now have a machine that dedicates most of its power to electronics, NOT COFFEE.
Not only that, the average shelf life of a pod machine is significantly shorter than that of a regular coffee machine.
Cost
Pods
Pods are slightly cheaper than buying coffee at a coffee shop each day, but they are much more expensive than buying the beans. Per 8 ounce cup of coffee you’re paying around $1 for a pod, $1.25 for a coffee shop, 80 Cents for high end coffee beans, or 0.03 cents for standard coffee grinds. (Pre ground McDonalds, Tim Hortons, President’s Choice, etc.)
Even the standard coffee grinds make better coffee than the pods.
Machines
You’ll pay anywhere from 40+ for a pod machine and a regular brand name coffee maker will cost you about the same.
Let me tell you a secret. The best coffee makers are those with as little bells and whistles as possible. Heating water through a pump is the most power intensive part of a machine and the least draining is the heat plate under the pot.
You need to heat water to high temperature to release all the oils for flavour, but the more gizmos (Clocks, Alarms, Grinders, Wifi, etc) the less power the machine can use to heat the water, and a lot of companies will cheat and only heat the water a little and let the hot plate keep it warm.
That’s why the best coffee comes from cheap machines that have no bells and whistles or something like a French Press.
I personally love the President’s Choice brands of coffee maker from Loblaw’s. Mine is going on 8 years now and still making great coffee.
Taste
Disclaimer
Feel free to disregard my opinion since I roast and sell coffee and will NEVER sell pods.
I’ve been drinking coffee for nearly 2 decades. I’ve almost tried everything but Kopi Luwak. I could be seen as a coffee snob.
I’ve tasted all the major pod machines. They’ve ranged from $40 to $600 and they’ve all been worse than regular coffee. (Granted the $600 one wasn’t terrible.)
None of them can compete with a French Press or a cheap drip coffee maker.
Why?
The answer is two-fold:
The more electronics there are, the less power there is to the water heating mechanism. This causes inconstant heat or low heat and that means you’re not getting the best oil extraction from the bean.
Pods aren’t able to breath. Ever notice the little vents on bags of coffee? Those are essential for the grinds to breath out the gas they exude as they age. If the gases aren’t vented they make the coffee go stale faster. Combine this with the amount of time it takes to package and you have stale coffee.
Challenge
If you think I’m being mean to your pod machine and completely disagree with me that it makes sub-par coffee for way too much money, feel free to challenge me to a coffee duel.
I’ll put my $15 Loblaw’s’ machine with JenEric GourmetMuggle Coffee against any pod machine and pod coffee you want. (We’ll of course film it, because that kind of drama is AWESOME!)
When I win you’ll buy at least 1 bag of coffee.
In the unlikely chance that you win, I’ll publicly admit I was wrong about which tastes better and buy you a box of your favourite pod coffee. (I will not admit I was wrong about the environmental impact, that’s fact.)
Heading to South Korea? After seeing all these awesome little cafes, I just might go soon! Here are a few that I found that looked interesting to me!
Harry Potter
The newest is Hogsmeade; a Harry Potter themed bar. It’s in North Gyeongsang Province, on the East coast of South Korea.
Hogsmeade Cafe in South Korea, image from unitedkpop.com.
They have all sorts of Harry Potter-themed treats, including butterbeer and chocolate frogs, and if you haven’t gotten your house robes yet, you can buy them here, no matter which house you’re in. (As a Hufflepuff, I always find it difficult to get merch with my house, although stores are getting better!) The interior is stunningly decorated, and you might forget that you’re not actually in Hogsmeade!
Sherlock
221B is a very classy and elegant cafe in Seoul, with great attention to detail in the decor – check out the picture of the bathroom wallpaper! They have Sherlockian coffee and food items, including eggs Benedict. 😉 There’s a TV screen that shows the episodes on constant repeat. I wonder if they had a viewing party when the new episodes came out this year?
Monster Movies
Monster Cupcakes in Seoul has sweet treats based on classic monsters. They haven’t posted any pictures on their Facebook page since 2012, but hopefully they’re still around!
Doctor Who
Although not a cafe, the Doctor Who Pub & Grill in Anyang is a cute little place with subtle (and some not-so-subtle) nods to the British TV show, mostly through the decor. The food is not themed, or at least it wasn’t at the time of the article that I linked you to (April 2015). We can only hope they’ve added Whovian related foods to their menu now that it’s been around for a while.
Charlie Brown
There’s a cute little cafe called the Charlie Brown Cafe in Oebalsan-dong, Incheon Airport. The food, especially the pastries, is absolutely adorable, with images of the characters included in the edibles. You can also buy merchandise. The decor is mainly why I want to go here.
The interior of the Charlie Brown Cafe. Image from blogspot.com.
Hello Kitty
Of course there is a Hello Kitty Cafe. Actually, there are several throughout South Korea. The decor is adorable, the food is themed, and you can buy merchandise.
I hope you enjoyed this quick run-through of the themed cafes in South Korea! There are more that I didn’t talk about here.
If you’d like help booking a trip to South Korea.Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
Today we have all kinds of news, exciting little news like tidbits. Yum, bitesize news!
Serial Story
After a tied vote and some soul searching, I have decided that this year’s serial story will be Wargrave Island. It’s a Murder Mystery Homage to And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
Next week, if all goes well, I’ll have a list of characters on Tuesday and the second part on Thursday.
Stories
Speaking of stories… I have created a page with a listing of all the stories that have run on this blog. It’s an easy and convenient way to find new stuff to read. Each story or part of a story is between 500-1500 words, which is perfect for a washroom break or bus ride.
My publisher sent me edits to the first draft and now I get to work through them. I’m mildly intimidated by the 600 or so comments but I was expecting it. I should start today or tomorrow depending on work and other projects.
Events
JenEric Designs will be participating in three to five events this year. The times and dates have been updated on our Events page.
If there’s an event you’d like to see us at feel free to contact us.
FADDS
I’ve been working really hard on FADDS the past few weeks and I had a breakthrough. I’ve tweaked some rules and I think it’s finally close to ready, mechanically speaking. I’d say it’s at 80% done writing.
The next step after the rules are written and tested, is to go through the entire 60 page rulebook and standardize language, add explanation, rearrange rules into a more logical order, and finally submit it to a publisher.
It’s still a ways away but I’m hoping the rules will be finalized by end of summer and rewrites by Christmas.
Everdome
Gah. This story is taking me forever. My issue is sitting down and writing it. I have the rest plotted out and I know how it ends. I just need to sit down and do it but I’m always distracted by something else…
The first and an automatic addition to our Core Flavours is Muggle Coffee. It’s actually not a flavoured coffee. It’s the first, and probably only, unflavoured coffee that we’ll hold. It’s delicious.
As you can see I’ve been slacking off a little lately *sarcasm*. Between the stuff above, work, layout work, family, and friends ; I’ve been happily busy this year. Let’s hope I can keep up the pace.
Any questions about the stuff that JenEric Designs does? Anything we don’t do that you’d like to see?
My wife and I, sat down and calculated how well we were doing with coffee.
We’ve sold a lot of coffee but until we sat and calculated cost vs profit there was no way of knowing if we were losing money.
After a little over a year and eight conventions we’re making more money then we’re spending on coffee. It’s not a lot more but enough to justify continuing.
So we will have coffee beans available for Ottawa Comic Con, Creative Ottawa Nerds Craft Fair, and possible Geek Market.
What’s Next?
There were two choices for the future. Either we continue the way we have or we expand production and try to streamline our process. We’ll be going with option two and expanding our production.
It’s a risk but hopefully, with your help, it’ll pay off.
What does that Mean?
It means selling more coffee and being smart about it.
Buying in bulk
This year we’ve been buying what we need for each convention and nothing more. However the more you buy of something the cheaper it becomes. This year has proven that there’s a demand for good flavoured coffee and I can stop worrying about ending up with useless supplies. (I hope)
Roaster
Currently it takes me, depending on the roast, 7-12 minutes per 100g bag of coffee. If you consider that on average we make roughly 25 bags that size and 40 smaller bags. That means it takes me roughly 5+ hours for a moderately sized con.
My hopes are to buy a roaster on Boxing Day. The roaster I want can roast 900g per batch and will take around 15-20 minutes per batch. It should also allow for a more even roast and a darker dark roast.
Core Flavours
I need your help.
I want to have a core amount of flavours that will always be available at a convention. I was thinking one of each kind of roast (Light, Medium, or Dark.
Please vote below on your favourite of each category and between that and demand I’ll decide on the core flavours.
Light
A Light Roast with Banana Cream Flavouring
A Blond (Light) Roast with Butter Rum Flavouring
A light Roast with coconut Flavouring
Favourite Ligth Roast
Coconut - Jack Coco'Oneill (44%, 7 Votes)
Butter Rum - Spiked Coffee (38%, 6 Votes)
Banana - Minion Coffee (19%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 16
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Medium
Medium Roast with Chocolate Flavouring
A Medium Roast with Peanut Butter Flavouring
A Medium Roast with Raspberry Flavouring
Favourite Medium Roast
Chocolate - Davroast (44%, 7 Votes)
Peanut Butter - Jabba the Peanut (38%, 6 Votes)
Raspberry - Red Pill (19%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 16
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Dark
A Dark Roast with Key Lime Flavouring
A Dark Roast with Cinnamon Flavouring
Favourite Dark Roast
Cinnamon - Raktajino (100%, 15 Votes)
Key Line - Key Lime PI (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 15
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Future Ideas
Below are a series of options for possible future coffee products. Please vote.
Decaf
Would you buy decaf versions of our coffee?
No (60%, 9 Votes)
Maybe (27%, 4 Votes)
Yes even if a little more expensive (13%, 2 Votes)
It’s a great weekend for anyone who is a fan or writer of genre books.
What’s Awesome about Can-Con
This convention is special for its sense of community. Some of the attendees will be hopeful authors, others will be publishers, and there will be multiple award winning giants of science-fiction and fantasy. All with an atmosphere of love for speculative fiction.
It feels like a family reunion. I feel welcomed and accepted.
I unfortunately also invariably say something stupid. Mostly its small things like when I told Matt Moore (One of Ottawa’s master horror writers) I liked his reading when he’d only been the MC.
Then there was the time I told Tanya Huff (The legendary Fantasy author) and Linda Poitevin (The amazing Urban Noir and Romance author) that I preferred writing female protagonists because women are simpler to write. *Facepalm* *Blush* *Dies of embarrassment* What I meant was that I tend to understand women better than I understand men which makes it easier for me… sigh
Hopefully everyone I say something stupid to will forgive me after getting a hearty laugh from my crimson painted face.
Pitches
Speaking of the possibility for embarrassment… One of my new year’s resolutions was to submit Parasomnia to 3 agents and 3 publishing companies. I’m getting the 3 publishing companies taken care of at Can-Con. Effectively I’ll have 5-15 minutes to sell them on the concept of my book. If they’re interested they’ll take either the whole book for review or the first few chapters.
My like of what I’ve written goes up and down. Mid way through Parasomnia I hated it. When I was done I knew it was the best thing I’d ever written. When I edited it I was convinced it was crap.
I just looked over all the comments from my amazing (Seriously you guys rock) beta-readers to make sure I’m not delusional to think this book should be published. They all seemed to enjoy it. They used words like “Enjoyed” and phrases like, “kept me interested” YAY!
I’m pitching to two publishers I respect a lot and one I’ve only vaguely heard of and I’m sitting here trying not to panic.
Dealers Room
Last but not least the Dealers Room will be filled with amazing authors, publishers, and bookstores. JenEric Designs will be there, with a brand new button and more coffee than even I could drink in a weekend.
This will be your last chance to get the Great Pumpkin (Pumpkin Flavoured) coffee at a convention until next fall.
Did you know that not getting enough sleep can decrease your ability to think and reason? It can worsen depression, increase the chance of heart disease or diabetes, and it can even cause you to gain weight.
I get an average of 4ish hours of sleep on weeknights and maybe 8 on weekends if I’m lucky. This isn’t uninterrupted sleep. I get up for multiple reasons. If my wife didn’t swear I don’t snore much and I never wake up fighting for breath, I’d think I have sleep-apnea. For a more sound sleep some people use sleep headphones.
So why am I having so much trouble? I made a mistake a little over nine years ago. I bought a mattress that was too soft. This might not seem like a bad thing, everyone likes softness. It wasn’t bad at the beginning but over time it’s gotten much worse.
I noticed the second year we had the mattress that I had trouble sleeping more than 9 hours. (I vaguely remember when I wasn’t busy and 9 hours was a short sleep on weekends) I’d wake up with aches and pains and still feeling tired.
I assumed it was all due to allergies, being overweight, or those wonderful bodily changes you experience in your mid-twenties. I kept assuming it was these issues. When I’d go on vacation I’d assume I slept well because I was exhausted from the day and not think twice about it. It took my wife complaining about aches and pains and having trouble sleeping for me to realize it was the bed.
So why did it take me years to figure out? One reason, the platform bed is freaking comfortable. When you climb into it, it hugs you and life is amazing. It takes at least a few hours before you start to feel like you’re being contorted by maniacal fluffy-cloud demons.
My wife and I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy a new bed when one of our favourite stores had a sale. We decided on a mattress that was right in the middle between firm and soft and we bought one that was half off but higher quality than our old one. To choose mattress, I mean a good one, is very important. The old mattress is also sagging in odd and uncomfortable ways so I don’t feel bad replacing it.
It’ll be delivered in 2-3 weeks and I hope it helps me feel better rested. If not, I’ll speak with my doctor.
I know you’re anxious to get back to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Funeral, but I wanted to let everyone know about a new Online Store and what coffee will be available for CON Craft Fair and Cap-Con.
Gilove2dance Designs
JenEric Designs has been sharing a table with Gilove2dance Designs for just over a year now and it has been great.
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