Technology has come a long way in helping us live our lives more productively – but technological advances aren’t just for work and business. Sometimes, a new technology can enhance your life by making a seemingly mundane activity – brewing a cup of tea, for instance – safer, more convenient or more enjoyable.
In this article, we’re going to talk about the latest technologies that can enhance some of the most enjoyable of life’s mundane activities – the daily indulgences that you’ve begun to take for granted because they seemingly haven’t changed in forever. As it turns out, the latest technologies can help you enjoy those things in some surprising new ways. Here are just a few examples.
E-Cigarettes
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Vaping is the technology that the smokers of the world have wished for almost as long as tobacco has existed. You’d be hard-pressed to find a smoker anywhere who didn’t know instinctively – from the very first puff – that inhaling the smoke of burning leaves several times a day was a very, very bad idea. The problem is that once you start, it’s just about impossible to stop; cigarettes are some of the most addictive products in the world.
Vaping is the first form of nicotine replacement that actually makes quitting smoking a relative walk in the park compared to the smoking cessation products of the past, and it all comes down to the fact that you can inhale your nicotine instead of waiting for it to absorb through your skin or mouth. Many experts agree that vaping appears to be significantly less risky than smoking, and new devices like the Nord 4 are incredibly beginner friendly to boot.
Instant Iced Coffee Cups
If you’re the type of person who prefers to drink your caffeine cold, you know firsthand how difficult it can be to make a perfect cup of iced coffee. There are two common methods of making iced coffee, and neither method produces an ideal result. You can add standard water ice to hot coffee – but when you do that, the ice immediately begins to melt and dilute the brew. Alternatively, you can make coffee ice cubes – but who has the time to essentially brew two cups of coffee for every cup they want to drink?
The instant iced coffee cup is an invention that’ll transform your caffeine consumption forever. It’s an insulated cup surrounded by a ring of material that freezes solid and can remain cold for hours. Simply store the cup in your freezer overnight. In the morning, drop a filter on the cup and make yourself some pour-over coffee. In just a few minutes, the ice-cold cup transforms your hot coffee into iced coffee without diluting the flavor. Making a proper cup of iced coffee has never been so easy.
Automatic Tea Brewers
If coffee isn’t your morning beverage of choice, perhaps you’re a tea drinker. After all, who doesn’t need a little pick-me-up at the start of the day? The problem with tea, however, is that it’s perhaps even more unforgiving than coffee if you care about flavor quality. Sure, you can pour boiling water over a bag of powdered tea and enjoy a delightfully bitter brew, but who actually does that in the 21st century? Today’s tea drinkers are educated. They buy single-origin teas from exotic locales, and obscure terms like “tippy golden flowery orange pekoe” actually mean something to them.
The problem with buying great tea, though, is that you’re wasting your money if your brewing method involves simply throwing boiling water on the leaves and waiting a few minutes. Every tea type has an ideal brewing temperature and time, and some teas – particularly high-end green teas – produce horribly bitter flavors if they’re brewed at excessively high temperatures. Manual tea brewing is actually surprisingly difficult if you’re a connoisseur, and that’s why you need an automatic tea brewer.
Today’s fully automatic brewers will heat your water to any temperature you select – but what’s even more impressive is that they’ll actually brew the leaves for you as well. After the water reaches the correct temperature for the type of tea you’re brewing, the brewer automatically lowers the tea into the water and lifts it out after a predetermined amount of time. With nothing left to chance, you’re guaranteed a perfect cup every morning. You can even program an automatic tea brewer to have your tea ready for you when you wake up.
Smart Refrigerators
Eating a gourmet meal is certainly a favorite indulgence for just about everyone. Figuring out what to cook, however, isn’t always easy – especially if you’re stopping at the supermarket after work and aren’t sure what you have at home. A smart refrigerator is an AI-powered appliance that promises to end those unproductive shopping trips for good.
The feature that makes a smart refrigerator special is an internal camera that can see and automatically identify your foods and beverages. Are you running low on milk? A smart refrigerator can tell you. What’s even more fun is that a smart refrigerator can actually provide meal suggestions based on what you have. Do you have everything that you need to cook a great meal except for one key ingredient? A smart refrigerator can help you pull the meal off without a hitch by telling you what you need to buy.
Automatic Cocktail Makers
Some people are coffee snobs who grind their own beans every morning and can execute a perfect pour-over brew at the drop of a hat. Others, though, prefer the convenience of instant coffee capsules – and if that sounds like you, you’re going to love the fact that automatic cocktail makers have finally brought that same level of convenience to the world of alcoholic beverages.
Here’s how an automatic cocktail maker works. You start by connecting a few bottles of your favorite spirits to the device. A typical cocktail maker has connections for the five most popular spirits – vodka, tequila, bourbon, gin and rum – plus a sixth connection for plain water. Next, you’ll insert a capsule for the cocktail of your choice. Capsules are available for just every popular cocktail from whiskey sours to margaritas, and every capsule includes the necessary juices, flavor extracts and bitters. Finally, you press a button – and out comes the finished cocktail. Enjoying an adult beverage has never been so easy or fun.
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