2 March 2024

This changes my mind

I have never been a big rum drinker. Maybe the occasional mojito or so but never took to it. I had a big surprise today.

Visited the Case del Ron (House of Ron – for Ron Zacapa Rum) in Antigua to try out their aged rums. Some of the rums have been aged for 23+ years! Their claim to fame is that the ageing is done at altitudes higher than anybody else (mile and a half above sea level) – I am not sure how much effect that has.

But sipping 23+ years aged rum was very different than having your standard rums (like Bacardi that I use to make cocktails). It has a much better and longer nose (oaky) to it and bit more sweeter.

Got myself a bottle to have it neat at home. We might have a convert at hand.

29 February 2024

This is unreal!

Ever since I gifted the coffee maker to Sharmila (admittedly, she has not used it even once other than demand that her Americano be ready by the time she walks down to the main floor every morning), I have been fascinated by learning the art of making cappuccino. That foam making and making art forms with it has been a steep learning curve.

As an aside, why do we call it a steep learning curve? A steep curve means I would learn very quickly, right? It is a slow and long learning curve for me.

The inevitable result is that whenever I order a cappuccino in a coffee shop, I watch the barista make it and ask him/her a lot of questions about their style.

Nobody, but nobody – has beaten this one. I was working from Roam Lenox when one of the staff members – Stacy – made a cup of cappuccino for me. Like every Roam member, Stacy is incredibly friendly. But her talent in making foam art form? I will let you be the judge!!

Someday, when I grow up, I want to be like her!

11 February 2024

Puzzle: Numismatism – of a slightly different ilk

After putting all those currency notes under the table glass top, I had thought of sitting down and trying to learn all the modern currencies of the world. This has turned out to be much easier than remembering capital names and much much easier than flags (which I am still working on at a slow pace).

See how many of these you can answer. Since the definition of “country” can be a bit subjective, the scope of these questions are the 195 countries in the UN (193 members, 2 observers).

1. What is the currency used by the most number of countries? (US and Canada both use dollars – but they are different currencies with different paper bills – US Dollars and Canadian dollars)

2. If you found the above easy – try this: which is the second one?

3. A surprising number of countries have “dollars” in their currency names (e.g. Canadian dollars). Can you take a rough guess how many of them have it?

4. What would be your guess as the next common word in currency name? How many countries would you guess? I am talking of same currency name but differentiated by its region or country name. e.g. “rupee” is used by both Pakistan (Pakistani rupee) and India (Indian rupee)

5. Speaking of the rupee, and this surprised me – how many countries have the word “rupee” (or its close derivative) in its name?

6. There are many countries which have its own currency – but also use US Dollars (e.g. the Bahamas). But there are other countries than the US that use US Dollars as the only currency. Take a guess how many and who are they?

7. What would be your guess as the shortest currency name (without attaching the country name in it)? How many letters? How many of them would you guess are there?

8. This might be a hint to the previous question. How many countries have currencies that are only 4 letters?

You can find the answers here.