It’s the afternoon, and you deserve a break. Sit back, pour yourself a glass, and enjoy these food stories from around the Internet.
The Links
Beer nerds, assemble! Here's a long article on the "Wonderbrewer of Nowheresville," a guy named Shaun Hill in Greensboro, Vermont, who's making some very good beer in a very intense, small-scale way. [Narratively]
If your nerdery leans more toward stimulants than depressants, Serious Eats has a good look at the economics of coffee importing. [Serious Eats]
In California, farmers have figured out how to cut costs, be more eco-friendly, and make their vegetables taste better: just water them less. [NPR]
And in Ireland, researchers at the University of Limerick have figured out a way to use radio waves to make water "wetter." The Independent claims that the "biscuit-tin-sized technology," called the Vi-Aqua, makes plants grow 30 percent larger and become almost entirely disease-resistant. This has the ring of a scam about it, and hasn't been picked up by any other outlets, but if it is true, and a tiny little device you attach to a hose nozzle can increase crop output by that much, this could be a big deal! [Independent]
You might have noticed this sign on the milk crates you're using as furniture in your apartment: "Unauthorized use of milk cases illegal." But why? And is anyone enforcing this? Modern Farmer investigates. [Modern Farmer]
The Drinks
You know what tastes great after possibly revolutionizing agriculture as we know it? A drink. So have an Irish Manhattan (radio wave-energized whiskey optional).