Shopping in the Time of the Coronavirus

[Ceetar]

i keep thinking that the surest way for me to kick the seltzer habit (which is fairly new for me, and is basically serving to keep me from otherwise snacking and/or chugging gatorade) would be to buy a sodastream.

probably it'll either kill or accentuate it. My wife has given up on it, and we're just drinking Wegman's seltzer even though we have the thing. It's a mild pain, every other time you want a seltzer you have to fill a bottle up with water, carbonate it, add flavoring, shake..

you can make literally any flavor you want though. go crazy.


NOW THOUGH..plenty of homebrewers carbonate their beer themselves, with CO2, into a keg, and can therefore simply carbonate a jug of water too. Hell, you could carbonate a handful of bottles like it was beer and then just cap 'em and reuse. I don't bottle/keg my beer this way, but it's tempting.

[batmagadanleadoff]

So I went shopping today, mainly to stock up on sodas after my Amazon idea flopped. And I couldn't find a single bottle of diet soda, two liter. Coke or Pepsi products. So maybe there is a diet soda shortage. Because I just googled this and Coca-cola is having difficulties obtaining their artificial sweetener ingredients because of the pandemic. And I don't drink sugary sodas. So I ended up buying two-liter bottles of seltzer. Which I don't mind, but the only flavors that were available were the jump-the-shark flavors, which I didn't even bother to read on the labels. All I know is that my seltzer bottles are color-coded for flavor in pink and purple and blue. What the hell is blue? Blueberry seltzer? Good grief!

[Lefty Specialist]

Will be venturing out for provisions Friday morning. Crockwork Orange has decreed that all meat plants must remain open so I'm expecting plenty of Corona-laced pork on the shelves.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's an idea someone told me about today --- whaddayouse think?

Pour your own water from your own home/faucet-- boil it to kill any bacteria -- then refrigerate it. And save yourself the trouble of bulking up on store-bought water with all of the schlepping, etc.

Worth the effort?

[kcmets]

I use a Brita filtered pitcher for some of my water intake. I drink on
average 1 gallon of water per day both tap and store bought. Don't think
boiling the tap water in my town is necessary. We have some of the best
tap water in the world in the tri-state area. This ain't Michigan! haha

[Ceetar]

Here's an idea someone told me about today --- whaddayouse think?

Pour your own water from your own home/faucet-- boil it to kill any bacteria -- then refrigerate it. And save yourself the trouble of bulking up on store-bought water with all of the schlepping, etc.

Worth the effort?

I mean, you shouldn't be drinking store bought water in your house, not bottles at least. so much plastic waste. house filter, fridge filter, brita filter even. Or at least poland spring 5 gallon jugs, etc? they deliver/retrieve those don't they?

but sure, I guess you could boil it. with some malted barley. add some hops near the end. toss it in a big barrel with some yeast and then bottle it.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Big tap water fan here, never buy the shit at a store unless you're out and thirsty. We like the Camelback pitcher, fits into the fridge well (Britas too bulbous) and seems to be sturdier than the Brita we used to have, plus you can refill under the tap much faster. https://relay.camelbak.com/

[nymr83]

Big tap water fan here, never buy the shit at a store unless you're out and thirsty. We like the Camelback pitcher, fits into the fridge well (Britas too bulbous) and seems to be sturdier than the Brita we used to have, plus you can refill under the tap much faster. https://relay.camelbak.com/

When i lived in Staten Island and Queens I had no issue with tap water. It doesnt taste right in NJ.

[cal sharpie]

I always forget that tap water isn't the same delicious NY water elsewhere. I was in Minnesota right before the lockdown and was reminded once again of the extreme differences in taste throughout the US.

[LWFS]

It bears noting that if the issue with the tap water is partly or mostly bacterial, at-home filtration systems-- a la Brita or Camelbak-- aren't doing shit for you in terms of safety.

[kcmets]

Little bacteria is good for you and makes the water taste better. Day-old lasagna too.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Amazon sales soar as coronavirus-worried consumers shop from home, but costs rise
The online retail giant warns of massive spending to address the challenges and business opportunities presented by the coronavirus.

Excerpt:

SEATTLE — The massive shopping surge fueled by the coronavirus pandemic caught Amazon unprepared, even as it drove a 26 percent jump in first-quarter revenue, the company said Thursday.

Now, Amazon plans to spend at least $4 billion in the current quarter to add warehouse and delivery workers, test its staff and provide them with personal protective gear so it can unclog its network that still struggles to meet customer demand for household staples such as toilet paper and bleach.

“If you’re a shareowner in Amazon, you may want to take a seat, because we’re not thinking small,” Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... ronavirus/

[LWFS]

Little bacteria is good for you and makes the water taste better. Day-old lasagna too.

Yeah, it's a real staph-saver.

[kcmets]

I'm sorry, and obviously goofing around. I watch entirely too much news and
this is the only place I've read of bacteria in tap water concerns. A quick google
pops up a couple of things from years ago mostly in places like Michigan.

[Ceetar]

like bridges and tunnels, the water infrastructure isn't exactly sparkling. Though Congress did manage to get something done in 2018 and pass a bill for improvements. Only Mike Lee of Utah voted against clean water for America.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I'm sorry, and obviously goofing around. I watch entirely too much news and
this is the only place I've read of bacteria in tap water concerns. A quick google
pops up a couple of things from years ago mostly in places like Michigan.

If by Michigan, you mean Flint, boiling water won't get the lead out as lead is neither bacteria nor virus. And because boiling evaporates some of the water, it would actually increase the concentration of lead in the water because boiling eliminates some of the water but none of the lead. Plus there was some Legionnaire's Disease going around in the Michigan water, among other stuff. That water needed to be purified, not simply boiled. Actually, that water needed to be thrown out. With the bath-baby.

[kcmets]

I wasn't speaking of lead, I know that's whole 'nother ball of wax.

Do you know the origin of throwing out the baby with the bath water? It's actually
quite amusing, and remarkable that it's still an expression used to this day.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Amazon sales soar as coronavirus-worried consumers shop from home, but costs rise
The online retail giant warns of massive spending to address the challenges and business opportunities presented by the coronavirus.

SEATTLE — The massive shopping surge fueled by the coronavirus pandemic caught Amazon unprepared, even as it drove a 26 percent jump in first-quarter revenue, the company said Thursday.

Delivery demand for groceries essentially flattened its own curve thanks to covid-19 -- in a matter of weeks volume matured like 5 years

[Lefty Specialist]

Ventured to the local Acme this morning. Surprisingly not crowded and fairly well stocked. They even had Charmin toilet paper and Bounty towels (with a limit of course). The only thing they were truly out of was wipes and fresh chicken. They even had pork chops and steak, despite dire warnings in the news to the contrary. We've extended our survivability for 3-4 weeks comfortably although we may have indulged a little too much on the Oreo and Dorito end of the nutrition spectrum.

[Chad ochoseis]

i keep thinking that the surest way for me to kick the seltzer habit (which is fairly new for me, and is basically serving to keep me from otherwise snacking and/or chugging gatorade) would be to buy a sodastream.

NOW THOUGH..plenty of homebrewers carbonate their beer themselves, with CO2, into a keg, and can therefore simply carbonate a jug of water too. Hell, you could carbonate a handful of bottles like it was beer and then just cap 'em and reuse. I don't bottle/keg my beer this way, but it's tempting.

I do this to make seltzer, using a CO2 tank, a regulator, a connecting hose, and a connector that is compatible with a standard plastic soda bottle. I've only seen the connector on Amazon.

The initial cost for the parts is about $150, which is about twice what a sodastream costs, but you get more control over carbonation and the refills are much less frequent and much cheaper. A 5 lb CO2 tank costs $20 to refill in my area and is good for about 800-1000 liters of extra fizzy seltzer.

[Ceetar]

does it work the same as a soda stream? in that you have the 2 liter bottle your carbonating, or do you have a water line going to a tap and it mixing?

[LWFS]

I wasn't speaking of lead, I know that's whole 'nother ball of wax.

Do you know the origin of throwing out the baby with the bath water? It's actually
quite amusing, and remarkable that it's still an expression used to this day.

Just Googled. Gross! But, yeah, funny.

[Chad ochoseis]

does it work the same as a soda stream? in that you have the 2 liter bottle your carbonating, or do you have a water line going to a tap and it mixing?

I have the 2 liter bottle filled with water.

Main drawback is that to carbonate the water, I have to shake the bottle for about a minute. I think the sodastream automates that part.

[Ceetar]

does it work the same as a soda stream? in that you have the 2 liter bottle your carbonating, or do you have a water line going to a tap and it mixing?

I have the 2 liter bottle filled with water.

Main drawback is that to carbonate the water, I have to shake the bottle for about a minute. I think the sodastream automates that part.

nah, you gotta shake the soda stream too. err, for the syrup that is. the carbonation happens by force, yeah. There's gotta be an attachment/wand for that right? rather than a screw on attachment or whatever?

[Chad ochoseis]

I haven't seen one, tho I imagine if the attachment included a tube that extended into the water, you wouldn't have to shake the bottle.

Link to the bottle attachment: https://www.amazon.com/ProMaker-Stainle ... le+&sr=8-4