Calvin's Kahlua

Trying new things can be messy.

The mess in my kitchen that I have been cleaning (to the surprise of the roommates) is a testament to that fact as I have left quite the disaster behind creating my latest concoction- Calvin's homemade Kahlua.

For those unaware, Kahlua is a coffee-flavored liqueur from Mexico that is made with coffee, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean. It's also a blast to make, despite the eventual cleanup.

Beginning a new venture, whether experimenting in the kitchen or starting a business, starts with an idea. This idea can originate from anywhere: within yourself, inspired by others or simply lifted off of the internet.

Admittedly, the idea to make Kahlua was not my own but suggested by friend. Despite my first reaction of doubting its plausibility, as this particular person is prone to using hyperbole and tall tales, the idea to make my first liqueur based drink was planted.

Curiosity drove me to the next step- researching and judging the feasibility of the idea. After determining through research that it can be done reasonably in one's own kitchen, the major aspect I looked into was the cost. As a college student, it is a survival skill to learn how to cut down one's expenses.

The cost of 1 Liter of Kahlua at club price at BevMo is $21.99. The cost for all the ingredients to make Kahlua which includes water, instant coffee, sugar, vanilla bean and vodka came out to $28.50, but makes 2 quarts. It roughly equates to $14.00 per Liter to make at home, seven dollars less than buying it at a discount price at BevMo.

Once a plan is made to carry out an idea, there is little left to do but execute it. Fortunately for me, the various actions and steps that are needed to make Kahlua are not difficult at all. It took no more than 30 minutes to complete and was primarily adding new ingredients together at specific times to avoid burning off the alcohol.

However, not every plan is as trivial or as easy as making Kahlua in life. Nor goes as smoothly.

Trying to execute an idea can cause anxiety because external factors can effect your results. A four year plan to graduate college can turn into five due to budget cuts, a business entrepreneur effected negatively by the economy or attempting a new sports trick ending in injury area are examples of beneficial ideas being subject to change because reality does not always align itself with our plans.

The Kahlua tastes great and I had planned on bringing my new concoction to this weekend's Halloween party; I had not planned on mopping most of it up because it was accidentally spilled on the kitchen floor.

“Well that was sort of pointless,” commented my roommate.

No, it was not pointless.

While cleaning up the mess my thoughts turned to other plans and ideas of mine that involve more risk. Although I highly doubt every idea will pan out, or plan be successful, it should not deter the very attempt to do so. Success can not be accomplished by fearing failure to the point of inaction.

Despite the majority of the Kahlua being wasted, the little bit in my coffee this morning tastes great and I look forward to another successful-tasting batch in the future.

A New Experiment

You can't always drink beer. I know, it almost sounds like blasphemy but tell the jogger that runs past my window every morning right around 6:04am to hydrate herself with a Guinness and guaranteed, you're going to get a disdainful look.

I took a break this week from my handcrafted beer production and focused on two different homemade recipes for a sports drink. Sports drinks can often be more beneficial than plain water during extended physical activity because of the particular additives.

Most common sport drinks are based on what is called in the science community as oral rehydration therapy. It is a simple solution of salts and sugars for the primary use of treating dehydration by allowing the body to absorb and maintain more water.

Gatorade, the official sports drink of the NFL, is the most famous of sports drinks and uses these exact ingredients plus flavoring and dye. The sports fans out there would be interested in knowing that Gatorade derived its name from the University of Florida because it was developed to maintain hydration for their football team, the Florida Gators.

The two different recipes I tried both utilize sugar and salt to mimic the oral rehydration therapy benefits but differs from one another (and Gatorade styled drinks) by adding different flavoring ingredients.

The first recipe called for sugar, sea salt, water and one package of unsweetened Koolade. Oh, did I forget to mention how simple and easy this is? With four simple ingredients you have replicated a fairly comparable drink to commercial sports drinks.

The second recipe calls for the same ingredients, only replacing the Koolade with one half-cup of orange juice. Despite the obvious benefits of drinking vitamin pumped orange juice over the processed artificial flavoring of Koolade, the latter easily remains a better choice in regards to taste.

Perhaps it has been the years of drinking nothing but artificial flavored sodas, sweetened tea's and sugar pumped latte's as an adolescent, but there is an appreciable taste of processed flavoring that makes the homemade Koolade based concoction a bit more pleasing to the taste buds than the orange juiced based solution. I know the words 'processed' and 'Koolade' have bad stigmas, so you can begin throwing your judgments now.

However, unless you are constantly engaging in extended durations of physical activity, bored, or curious about making your own drinks, you may want to stick with buying a Powerade or Gatorade at your local Seven-Eleven.

There is a potential for savings by making it yourself but it would be nominal unless you made large quantities and bought ingredients in bulk. Unless your a football team or a soccer-mom, chances are you won't be needing that much.

My advice- give it a whirl and see if it works for you, but don't have huge expectations.

Homemade or not- sometimes its just necessary to put down the beer on a Sunday afternoon, namely because the 49ers are on a bi-week, get outdoors and give your body an excuse to enjoy a refreshing sports drink.

Lets Occupy! But for what?

Just as one would expect a legislator to know the contents of a bill before passing it, I would expect a protester to know what they want before protesting. Or am I asking too much?

Prior to the passing of Obamacare, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had infamously claimed that Congress must “pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Do the protestors occupying Wall Street know what they want, or has positively-intended actions without first exercising rationale thought become a trademark of those who fall left of center?

From New York City to Sacramento, hundreds of protestors are occupying public parks or places against what seems to be an underlying theme of corporate greed in a movement coined OccupyNow. It is clear what this leaderless, peaceful occupation is against; but it is downright confusing about what should be the main ingredient- what they stand for.

A younger cousin of mine, in eighth grade, has recently learned what it is to be a critic. Any movie, music, food, or object possible he can find a million problems with it. I asked him the other day what he likes.

 “I don't know,” he said.

It is much easier to voice harsh criticism than to take a stand for something. Understandably, times are tough, but if you insist on tearing down the current establishment, is too much to ask for a plan on how to rebuild it?

With no shortage of communicative mediums, or media coverage, there should be no excuse to have a lack of clear goals or specific reason articulated in either the media or by the protestors themselves- unless you don't have one. Rather than being a group that represents 99% of Americans that are not high income earners, OccupyNow is a byproduct of a harsh economic reality.

OccupyNow is made up mostly of an ad hoc group of unemployed college-graduates, laid off workers, labor unions, the homeless and poor. Unfortunately the percentage of this group has grown and although they believe they are acting in the interest of the commons, there are other groups such as the Tea Party that would vehemently disagree with the root of America's problem and on how to fix them.

Just because you genuinely believe you are acting in the best interests of the majority, does not mean you are nor does it mean that everyone feels the same way you do.

Occupy Wall-street are not the protests of the civil rights movement that they are being compared to. Corporations, nor the government, are restricting the individual rights or wrongly discriminating against any group of individuals that are a part of the movement.

It has been asserted by protestors that corporations unfairly disregards the interests of the American people, but rather act in selfishness to expand profits and answer only to their shareholders. I would ask, however, is it not unfair to ask corporations to act like what they are not?

If a corporation can make money better somewhere else- then it had better do it. It has to worry about making bottom lines, investing in the future for its survival and yes, answering to its owners. If we chain and limit corporations based in America by strict regulatory measures or high tax rates, then we slowly suffocate them by giving their competitors distinct advantages.

Instead of trying to change the nature of corporations to act contrary to its interests, why not promote an environment that gives corporations incentives to manufacture and keep jobs in America?