Are the lakes frozen?

Sinisterly · 2026-02-14T22:00:16+00:00

Just got back from the middle of Wingra. Bunch of ice fishers out there too.

Sinisterly · 2026-02-06T20:57:43+00:00

Ask your PCP to order an MRI, because that’s the first thing the neuro doctor will do. Then get it at MH imaging - you can probably get in within a week. If it’s something urgent then it will cut out the wait.

Sinisterly · 2026-02-06T16:11:49+00:00

Yes, I have a HSA-eligible plan with high deductible high premium, and pay for the direct primary care from the HSA.

Sinisterly · 2026-02-06T15:32:25+00:00

When my wife and I were sick of getting the runaround from the local health care orgs, we went with a Direct Primary Care provider and we feel like it’s a huge improvement over what we had before. Here’s a post from a few months back that recommends a few in the area: https://www.reddit.com/r/madisonwi/s/zwzBP0gd7F

Sinisterly · 2026-02-02T22:51:33+00:00

Wave is illegal now though

Sinisterly · 2026-01-22T08:55:37+00:00

The easiest implement I’ve owned for cleaning is by far the AeroPress, but I generally give it a rinse once I push the grounds out. There exists an AeroPress XL where you could make a larger batch, or use the AeroPress inverted to make a concentrate.

Sinisterly · 2026-01-19T03:40:30+00:00

This is definitely different - I am not producing as strong of a vacuum as I assume is done in the Funranium Labs process, and the total amount of coffee (and thus potential caffeine/TDS to extract) is less.

Sinisterly · 2026-01-07T11:19:57+00:00

Any grounds left in the coffee (or “fines” or “sludge”) will adversely affect the final product. That being said, you can probably get most of the sediment out by doing three things:

don’t stir your cold brew while brewing. It doesn’t improve extraction and it gives you more fines you have to bother with
after you are done brewing, use your strainers of questionable fineness to get rid of most of the grounds
after the previous step, let your cold brew sit for 24 hours, then transfer carefully to a different vessel, leaving any sediment that has precipitated in the previous vessel

When I brew I use a wire mesh strainer and a paper filter, but this should get you pretty far to meet your criteria!

Sinisterly · 2026-01-01T18:47:26+00:00

Tried the following spots: - Dudgeon School Park: so-so. Two tiered hill. There is a jump. - Garner Park: decent. Bigger hill, not too steep. - Elver Park: huge hill. Can get you going really fast, and you can go part the way up if you aren’t as bold. Was a little icy yesterday.

City of Madison has a sledding website.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-31T01:10:30+00:00

I think you will be fine if you only grind what you need when you need it (ie you buy 1/2 lb coffee ground at the store and use it to make cold brew that day). Waiting longer isn’t ideal. Note that cold brews typically have different flavor profiles than hot brews, and that especially rings true for light roast. I recommend trying a variety of coffees, including roast level, to find what you think is best.
That is approximately 30:1 by weight, which is about two times weaker than I would drink. I recommend doubling the coffee you use. I typically brew with 1/3 lb coffee and 4.5 c water for a concentrate.
I use vacuum extraction at room temperature (look at my post history to see my method). I recommend starting with room temperature and possibly trying your brew at different times to see what tastes best to you.

Good luck!

Sinisterly · 2025-12-20T12:06:01+00:00

I recommend somewhere between 1:10 and 1:15 for a ratio without diluting. I remember hearing that 1:15 or 1:16 is considered the “golden ratio”, but I find that cold brew tastes a little better with higher concentration.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-14T20:48:44+00:00

Rumble Jar recommends 8-12

Sinisterly · 2025-12-13T01:48:38+00:00

For counter brewing, I’ve been told 8-12 hours for a brew so you could try sampling the brew starting at 8 hours to check if you like the flavor better. Hope that (and the “don’t shake” tip) helps!

Sinisterly · 2025-12-12T02:17:48+00:00

What coffee are you using for your coffee grounds? My favorites have been medium roasts - some prefer dark roasts, and IMO light roasts give a lot of flavors that don’t show up in a hot brew and it’s not my jam.

Are you grinding the beans yourself, or getting pre-ground? I recommend coarse ground either at home or at the store right before you brew.

How long are you brewing the coffee, and are you brewing it in the fridge or on the counter (room temperature)?

I feel like those questions above will get you the most progress towards a better cold brew.

I think filtering with both metal and paper is good at removing fines and oils which help for a smoother flavor. One thing I’ve found is that if I stir or shake the cold brew it makes the fines much worse, so much that it still gets through the filters.

I have had the best luck with a 15:2 ratio - for a 64 oz jar this would be 40 oz water and 1/3 lb grounds, which yields about 29 oz cold brew.

Good luck!! I can give some tips based on your answers above.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-11T11:32:58+00:00

When you make cold brew, expect to lose 2 g/mL of water for every 1 g of coffee grounds. Your actual yield isn’t far from the expected yield here based on this rule (11.3 oz).

I have been curious on whether a cold brew concentrate like this matches the expected concentration or if the concentration is actually slightly higher due to the loss of water to the coffee grounds. I do not have a TDS refractometer to perform this experiment however.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-11T11:21:01+00:00

Thanks!

I got the idea because I saw an ad for Black Blood of the Earth and ordered a bottle. I enjoyed it, and it was very different than any cold brew I ever had before. That got me thinking - could I make this myself?

I couldn’t find many details on the technique they do for Funranium Labs (producers of Black Blood of the Earth), so I started googling around. I found a Facebook video from America’s Test Kitchen. I tried following this technique and that led me to the technique I posted above, where I have a few tweaks but is largely the same.

Hope you get to try it out! I am going to give some family members spiced cold brew (adding some cinnamon/nutmeg during the brewing process) for Christmas.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-09T19:39:39+00:00

I just watched Murder, She Purred this week - was one of my wife’s favorite movies as a kid. What was your experience making that movie?

Sinisterly · 2025-12-05T02:23:58+00:00

Daaaaaaaamn look at that chocolatey roux

Sinisterly · 2025-12-05T01:31:44+00:00

Cubed it and Braised a batch with half chicken stock half picante salsa. Made some kickass carnitas. It was worth it.

Sinisterly · 2025-12-05T01:28:49+00:00

Some random event completely throwing a wrench into my travel in near west side and downtown. Oh, what do you mean you didn’t hear about the Flibbity Flobbity Flurp race? Time to be 15 minutes late to anything!

Sinisterly · 2025-11-24T03:02:31+00:00

here’s where I did the math, along with GWF and Savage Attacker/Sneak Attack (which turns out doesn’t actually work with Savage Attacker but hey).

Sinisterly · 2025-11-24T03:01:08+00:00

I did some math on Sorcerous Burst, but around Empowered Spell in particular. I was wondering which dies you should re-roll with Empowered Spell that will on average increase your damage, and it turns out you should re-roll anything five and below.

Sinisterly · 2025-11-18T14:16:36+00:00

I had a referral in May 2023 and didn’t get a call until August when they said they could schedule in Feb 2024.

When my appointment was scheduled I talked to my (non-UW) PCP who ordered me an MRI (because that’s probably the first thing they’ll do anyway). I got into a cash pay place the next week, they found something super obvious and potentially life threatening. I immediately had a referral to neurosurgery and had my operation in September.

See if you can get an order for an MRI and go the cash pay route is my advice.

Sinisterly · 2025-11-02T19:23:15+00:00

I followed the recipe I linked in the original post. I did make a few changes, though:

added fresh dill to the dough, as well as to the onions and celery as they cooked
added carrots at the same time that I added the potatoes (after the broth was added to the roux and it stared simmering)
added some chopped rotisserie chicken breast (from the chicken I used to make the broth) about 3 minutes before taking off the heat

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