Friday Favourites - Tassimo

Now when Mike told me he'd like a Tassimo for Christmas I automatically assumed he meant a hunky young man of, possibly, Mediterranean descent to be our "house man" You know somebody to do all this laundry, corral the dust bunnies, chisel the Arrowroot crust off Maya, rid our lower windows and mirrors of nose and tongue prints and so on. Boy was I way off.



This is a Tassimo. It is a hot beverage machine. We first saw it at Mike's cousin's house. She has been demonstrating them at the mall and had one on loan for a family party. Mike was instantly entranced. He We decided to ask for one for Christmas and what do you know, Santa came through.

Before Christmas I had been busting Mike's balls about having to waste one of my Christmas presents on yet another gift just for him (Hello iPod). You see, I'm not a real coffee drinker. I have maybe a cup or two a *year*. I really couldn't see myself using it all that much. Then it was actually on our counter and can I let you in on a little secret?

Shh. Come a little closer.

I use it more than he does. Only don't tell him that 'cause while he may not remember that he needs to pick his daughter up on the way home from work there is no doubt that he will remember my whining about the Tassimo. And I don't need that kind of gloating in my life, m'kay.

Now I still don't drink coffee, so what have I been using it for? Well in addition to coffee it also makes espresso, latte, cappuccino, tea and hot chocolate. Abby and I have been hitting the hot chocolate hard. The hot chocolate is so good it almost seems wasteful to let Abby drink it. I mean she's only 4, she can't truly appreciate the rich chocolaty flavour. She needs a few years of crummy powdered hot chocolate under her belt first. I've also been drinking tea like I'm part English other something. Tea was so much work before. All that boil the kettle, get out a tea bag, pour in the water, dip the bag, toss the bag. Phew I get tired just thinking about it. Now I just put in a disc and press one overly large black button.

Yes the Tassimo system works on T-disc technology. You place a little disc of your preferred beverage into the machine which is then scanned by a bar code reader to release the perfect amount of water at the exact right temperature. The drinks are brewed in each individual disc so there is no taste transfer from one product to another. It's genius really. For a family of such diverse hot beverage needs it's perfect for us.

Oh hell why not, let's make it a two for one Friday Favourites. You may or may not have heard me blather on before about my brother and how freaking talented he is. You haven't? Well he is. Trust me.

Just recently he posted, over at the winterbeard (where many people write amazing things), this insanely good short story intro. Go read it. Really, I'll wait. Then try and tell me you aren't dying to know how he's going to flesh that out.