Hasta La Ideas

Four small-batch food sellers dish up delicious spiced flavors

No matter what the weather, chai remains a perennial favorite for its mix of sharp spices and pleasant sweetness, balanced out by a milky base. Coming away from the 2012 Fancy Food Show, we found four small businesses who are channeling the classic blend in various forms of food and drink.

The Chai Cart

Paawan Kothari left her Silicon Valley career to take advantage of the food truck movement in San Francisco, dealing out childhood flavors to curbside pedestrians. The business quickly took off, and now Kothari offers her goods in concentrate form. This is our favorite of the bunch with good reason; Kothari personally sources her ingredients and no sugar is added to the final product. The Chai Cart offers masala, rose and chai latte concentrates in addition to a line of loose teas.

Bhakti Chai

Founded in 2008, the goods from Bhakti Chai have stayed mostly in the Rocky Mountain region. Serving up Original, Unsweetened, Decaf and Coffee Blend chai concentrates, the flavors are also available in massive 64oz. growlers for the serious chai fiend. Ginger overtones are balanced by the sweet anise notes from fennel. The organic, fair trade tea is given its punch from evaporated cane juice and a series of fresh spices. Bhakti Chai also dedicates a portion of their proceeds to charitable organizations, including the Global Fund for Women and Girls Education International.

Third St. Chai

Another Colorado brand, Third St. offers six flavors of concentrated chai that is prepared simply by adding milk. The microbrewed beverage can be served hot, iced or blended, and is only slightly sweetened. Showing responsibility at every turn, the Third St. facility is fully wind-powered, and the ingredients they use are composted for local farmers.

Hippie Chow

Complement your hot cup of chai with a similarly flavored handful of Hippie Chow granola. While they make a number of mixes, the aggressively spiced chai version is definitely the standout. The all-natural ingredients list includes organic oats, almonds, honey, canola oil, spices, sugar, vanilla extract and salt—exactly the kind of wholesome goodness you would expect from a brand called “Hippie Chow”.

The next floating, more efficient step in wind turbine technology

by Gregory Stefano

Wind energy in itself isn’t a novel concept, but the MARS Turbine (Maggen Air Rotor System) puts a new spin on conventional wind turbines with its Goodyear Blimp otherworldliness and innovative operating system.

Designer Fred Ferguson created MARS as an energy source in remote areas—like scientific expeditions to the Arctic—that need consistent power but lack resources to build a 200-foot tall wind turbine. Essentially a blimp covered in fins, Ferguson’s turbine flies 1,000 feet high, connecting to the ground with a tether that doubles as an energy conductor.

Like conventional wind turbines, MARS uses magnetic induction to produce energy, but the difference comes with increased altitude. Catching wind 800 feet higher than its traditional counterparts, there’s much less resistance and greater wind speed, ultimately allowing the MARS access to a superior crop of wind. Another advantage, the turbine can produce energy in winds as low as seven mph and as high as 63 mph whereas contemporary turbines shut down around 35 mph and with little or no wind, they become useless.

This innovative solution solves a lot of the existing problems with mining wind energy, avoiding the hazardous carbon footprint standard turbines leave behind when built initially, producing more energy and universally being more versatile. The MARS Turbine will be commercially available early 2011, and they are also currently working on a backpack-sized version for charging your iPad on your next Yosemite backcountry adventure.

via Stuff You Should Know