Formosa Scooter Saddlebags - Review

Recently, a scooter shop in Avon, MA had a clearance sale because it was about to close down. I took the opportunity to take a ride there to see what I could get for my scooter. In their sale announcement, they said that they had Formosa saddlebags for only $29. Online, they're currently $55 (as of Dec. 29, 2011) but sell for up to $99. In the picture, they don't look durable but they are actually made of very good and sturdy material. The seat cover part is neoprene and the bags are made of a strong synthetic material. The velcro strip is quite wide and more than enough to keep the bags rolled up when they're not in use. I sewed a long strip of reflective tape on each bag for safety because they covered up the reflective tape that I had put on the scooter before I bought the bags.

Video review of Formosa Saddlebags - May 11, 2012

There seems to be only one in-depth review of these saddlebags on Modern Buddy and I wanted to add to that review by showing you how much these bags can hold so that you can see how useful they can be when you want to buy a lot of groceries at one time. With these saddlebags, I have an extra two spaces to put my fruits and vegetables. If I carry my backpack, I have a total of 6 places to carry stuff - the hook in front, the helmet hook under the seat, the under-seat storage (aka "pet carrier"), the backpack, and two saddlebags. However, keep in mind that heat-sensitive things should not be transported in the pet carrier because it gets very warm as the scooter is running. It's perfect for transporting take-out food because it will keep your food warm as you're riding home but very bad for things like raw meat or delicate fruits.

Rather than repeating what has already been said on Modern Buddy, I took some pictures and made a video to quickly review the bags and then show you what you can carry in them.

In the smaller bag (over the exhaust)

I wanted to fill up the two bags but really didn't need any more food for the week. In just the larger bag, I managed to fit a large package of goat chunks, 2 lb bag of onions, bag of shredded collard greens, 5 plantains, a bunch of bananas, 2 packages of bacon, bunch of cilantro, and 6 bagels. The smaller bag had a 10 lb bag of potatoes and 2 mangos but could have fit more.

In the larger bag

These saddlebags are made especially for scooters and the seat part stretches to fit most popular models. The most I've carried in these bags is 3 full (and heavy) bags of groceries. I could have put even more stuff in my backpack, put a bag on the hook in front, a bag on the helmet hook, and another one under the seat! Basically, these saddlebags can almost double the amount of stuff you can carry on your scooter. And, as an added plus, they don't look expensive so the chances of theft are lower than if I had fancy leather saddlebags.

(May 13, 2012): I went to buy groceries and managed to carry all of this in the saddlebags:

Approximately 3 full grocery bags of stuff can fit in the saddlebags

Random Trader Joe's products (that are awesome)

If you're a poor student who wants a little gourmet but can't afford it, Trader Joe's is the answer. Originally a convenience store chain from California, it has expanded to many states in the U.S. I'm grateful that there are a few stores in the Boston area because they have some really cool products that won't break the bank. This post is about a few of my favorite recent products from there. Their product lines turnover quite often so it's possible that these are not available in your area any more by the time you read this. I happened to find these in January 2012.

The first one is the Mosaic of chocolates. It's only $1.99 for 8 pieces of chocolate (2 pieces * 4 flavors). It's probably biggest bang for the buck and the value is actually in the simplicity of just 8 squares of good chocolate. The white and milk chocolate pieces have cranberry and pistachio pieces mixed in. The dark pieces have almond pieces and are topped with sea salt. Those are probably my favorite. The salt also goes well with the other pieces, so if you can knock a bit of salt off the dark pieces, try putting it on the other squares. The most boring piece in the bunch is the milk chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. It's still good though.

Mosaic of Chocolates - only $1.99

 The next product is the Eggnog flavored almonds. They're on sale after Christmas for $1.99 a box. My room mate described the flavor as being "very nutmeg -y," which is not a bad thing, just an observation. The almonds are covered in white chocolate with eggnog spices. It's a simple product and definitely worth the $1.99 for an 11 oz box.

Eggnog flavored almonds - on sale for $1.99

Finally, the Gummy Tummies were just something I decided to try because the thing I enjoy most about going to Trader Joe's is trying something new and thinking, "wow, that was kinda cool!" and this seemed to be something that might fit the bill. As you can see in the picture below, the penguins look more like Barba Papas (some of you might be too young to know what those are) with liquid filled bellies. The liquid is actually quite viscous so it's not like they squirt water when you bite into them. Unfortunately, they are not suitable for vegetarians (in case you are one) because they contain animal gelatin (one of the top ingredients). However, for everyone else, these are really cool.

Gummy tummies penguins - surprisingly good!

Poor Man's Blend - from Coffee Bean Direct - review

5 lb bag of Poor Man's Blend green coffee beans

In late December, I was running out of coffee beans and Coffee Bean Direct (CBD) was having a holiday sale ($5 off). That meant that it was time to get some new green coffee beans. I decided to go with a bag of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and a bag of Poor Man's Blend. This review is about the latter, which is named as such because it is the cheapest blend that CBD sells. They recommend that people use this blend for art projects because it's cheap but on the other hand, it's supposed to taste good too. Being a poor student, I just had to try this coffee and find out if it really tastes good. If not, I can still enjoy the Ethiopian beans (which are great, by the way).

First roast - medium-dark
The first time I roasted a batch of Poor Man's Blend, I used my newest Popcorn Pumper (from the Goodwill store) because it's the one that roasts the fastest. Before getting this shipment of beans, I had been roasting Guatemalan and Costa Rican beans. The Poor Man's Blend smelled a little different and the chaff seemed to be less uniform looking and get darker a little quicker. Because this is a blend, the beans themselves are not uniform-looking. With single origin beans, the beans look uniform and the chaff that flies out is light at first and gradually gets darker as the roasting process progresses. This was the first time I had ever roasted a blend so I decided to do a medium-dark roast because that's my usual roast and I could compare that to what I'm used to drinking.

After a day, I decided to brew a cup using my espresso machine and then brew a small pot of regular coffee with these roasted beans. When I open a jar of freshly roasted guatemalan beans, there is an aroma that's similar to chocolate. With the Poor Man's blend, it smelled just a little better than a jar of any coffee you'd find in the supermarket. It smelled like fresh coffee but wasn't very fragrant in a pleasantly interesting way, as you would experience with the single origin beans.

The espresso was not very impressive and even though there was crema, it didn't stay thick for very long. The regular coffee also did not have a lot of flavor but it tasted like fresh generic coffee, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I added some chocolate soy milk and it didn't curdle, which means that the acidity is not very high. Sometimes light coffees like Dunkin' Donuts coffee will be acidic enough to curdle milk or soy milk. The fact that the crema dissolved so quickly might have been due to the fact that the beans did not have enough time to rest or de-gas.

After a few days, I tried this coffee again and the espresso had a better layer of crema that didn't dissolve as quickly.  The crema got better as time passed. The flavor was a little better but still generic tasting (not bad, just nothing special). There were no floral or chocolatey aromas or anything like that. I also brewed some coffee in a french press. The coffee actually tasted better than the espresso. Perhaps these beans just need to be brewed a little slower in the french press and have time to really soak. Having said that, I think I still prefer the single origin beans such as Guatemalan or Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

Light roast
To really test out the range of this blend, I did a light roast a week later. Perhaps the first batches were just roasted too dark and I need to taste the bean a bit more. The single espresso that I made with the light roast was actually quite good. It was kinda like the Dunkin' Donuts blend but less acidic. I still prefer the single origin beans. However, if you're on a tight budget and just want something reasonably good to get you going in the morning, this coffee is fine.

So, I think I'll save these beans for the summer when I tend to make iced coffee drinks and guzzle them without savoring them. The Poor Man's Blend tastes like generic coffee - it tastes pretty good but it's nothing special. I suppose you could compare this blend to an excellent background singer in a band. In a fancy coffee drink, it will do its job but not stand out or upstage the other ingredients. If you want a coffee that will taste good and unique either as a hot coffee or in a hot coffee drink, try a single origin bean such as Guatemalan or Ethiopian beans. Those have some nice flavors that you can really savor.

The bottom line is that this blend is perfectly fine and it's the cheapest bag of green coffee you can get from CBD. It's nothing to write home about but it's not meant to be that either. For poor students who don't care what their caffeine tastes like, this one's for you! If you roast it dark, it's great for iced coffee because you can't really taste the coffee fully when it's iced and diluted with milk anyway. The light roast makes an okay espresso. Just make sure you give it time (at least 3 or 4 days) to rest after roasting it. If you drink it right away, it'll taste flat.

Chinbull "glassware" - Review (and drop test)

Chinbull rice bowl

Microwave, dishwasher, and break resistant.

According to the bottom of the bowl, these are supposed to be microwave safe, dishwasher safe, and break resistant. I put these in the microwave and they seem to be fine. Since I don't have a dishwasher, I can't test the second claim. However, they're probably dishwasher safe. The only way to test the last claim is to try and break them by dropping them on the floor. So I did.

Regular price: only $1.99 a bowl!

Here's the video of the drop test:

Bottom line:
These dishes would be idea for households with clumsy room mates and/or kids. However, dropping them from heights over 5 feet is not recommended. However, how often does that happen? They're probably not ideal for Greek weddings, where you're supposed to break the dishes. A lot of in-laws might get kinda annoyed there but if they're tall and strong enough, these dishes are definitely breakable. For the sale price of only $4 for 3, these bowls are a very good deal. Please don't let the video deter you from buying them. They're probably more break-resistant than regular glass or porcelain.

Poor Student's Sandwich

The "Farmer's lunch" is a meatless sandwich that's served at City Feed in Jamaica Plain. There have been several rave reviews of this sandwich and I'm sure it's really as awesome as the reviewers say it is. However, it's quite expensive at around $7.50! I'm not sure what kind of farmers can afford to eat this sort of thing but as a poor student, I cannot justify paying that much for a sandwich that has no meat in it. The mayo and mustard probably makes it extra tasty and juicy but still, where are these bourgeois farmers coming from? Even if you try and make this sandwich at home, all those organic ingredients will cost you almost as much as getting it made at the store. A small jar of the pickled green tomatoes are $5.99.

So, I decided to make my own version of this sandwich and call it the "Poor Student's sandwich". It's inspired by the farmer's lunch but probably a little spicier and contains no mayo or mustard. It's also a lot less expensive so you can this everyday if you like. I also don't have any pickled green tomatoes lying around, so dill pickle will have to do.

The Poor Student's sandwich
2 slices of bread
1 slice cheese (e.g. pepperjack or something flavorful)
4-6 thin apple slices (use a sweet or sour apple, depending on what you like)
dill pickle slices
Chacarero sauce (if you don't have time to make this, use whatever hot sauce you have)

Chacarero sauce (made in a blender)

Put the Chacarero sauce on one slice of bread and the cheese on the other. Toast both slices in a toaster oven. While the bread is heating up, cut the apple into 4 to 6 thin slices and let the dill pickle slices drain a bit. When the bread is ready, put the sandwich together and serve.

Ingredients: bread, cheese, sauce, apple, and pickle

Putting it together

If you get the bread for about $3.50 a loaf, a block of cheese for about $3, 6 small apples for $2, jar of pickles for $4, cilantro for $1.39, a couple of onions, lime & garlic should be about a buck. Cost: about $2.50 per sandwich.

Side view
The combination of the apple and the onion in the Chacarero sauce might sound weird but it's actually quite good! The apple adds a pleasant crunch and doesn't really stand out as its own flavor. It's the combination of the sweetness from the apple, the salty from the pickle, the creaminess from the cheese, and the spiciness from the sauce that makes this sandwich really amazing. If you use a flavorful bread, that could make the sandwich even tastier. To make this into a panini-style sandwich, you might need to add another slice of cheese so it all sticks together.