Now Reading Redux 6.1 Released

Oct 022011
 

I’ve just released Now Reading Redux 6.1 to the general public. NRR is a WordPress plugin for those who read and like to keep their libraries organized. The plugin tracks each book’s status as read, currently reading or yet to read. Books may be put on hold to be returned to later. Books may be reviewed and rated.

For those who don’t like sharing all their books with everyone, books may be private only and not public. Private books don’t show on the public pages and only show when the reader is logged in.

In this release a new graph is displayed in the Library page to show the books read by month for the past year. For a working example please see my library.

Get it from here. For issues and feature requests please go here.

The Perfect Coffee

Mar 292009
 

I love coffee. I want my coffee to smell and taste perfect! Nothing less than perfect. If it’s not, don’t want it. So how do you go about making one?

A photo of a cup of coffee.

Image via Wikipedia

  1. Fresh Coffee!
    Nothing will kill the taste of good coffee faster than age (pun intended) and humidity. Make sure the coffee you use is fresh, stored in a dry place. If you prefer to grind them yourself, buy fresh ones and make sure they were stored properly.
  2. Oily Coffee!
    Coffee gets its smell and taste from the oily elements in it. Look for oil “stains” floating in your cup when you make one. The more there are, the richer the coffee!
  3. No boiling water!
    Coffee changes its taste if over-cooked. When hot water is added to coffee it cooks. However, boiling water over-cooks coffee. So no boiling water. Instead, boil the water, then leave it to cool down for a bit. 90C or 194F is about the right temperature.
  4. Keep it warm!
    Coffee tastes best when it’s hot. Not burning hot, but not cold either. The taste changes with the temperature and people have different preference as to how they like their coffee to taste. Granted, some even like it rather cold, but most don’t. Make sure the coffee stays warm for the longest time by first warming up the cup. After boiling the water, pour some into the cup, and leave it for a few seconds. This will keep the coffee warm for the longest time, and it won’t get cold faster as you drink it.
  5. How much Coffee?
    Too little coffee and it will taste like dirty hot water, too much and it will be too thick to drink. As a rule of thumb, try 2 tea spoons per 200ml cup. Some go 2 spoons per 250ml (standard mug), others need more caffeine-per-sip do 2 spoons per 150ml.
  6. How much Sugar?
    Again, it depends. But as a good guide, try to use less sugar than coffee. You don’t want your coffee to taste like jam!
So there you have, perfect coffee in 6 easy steps. Did I forget something? Got it all wrong? Drop a line or two in the comments.
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