Shaving notes of the MaineYooper

Happy Anniversary!

Thanks Tim!

Happy Anniversary Eric!

Happy Anniversary Eric!

Thanks Mike!

What I neglected to mention in my earlier post was an explanation of the photos! Both cats love to "soccer" the springs around the floor. And the springs then can appear just about anywhere! Sylvester loves to carry them around, bat them across the room, and carry them back to some predetermined starting point, and do it all over!

Continuing the last days of Vintage April, today was the c. 1965 GEN Contour. This had the push button in plastic and the metal strip in the handle, opposite the side shown. The side shown contains raised letters, GEM, and some ribbing for grip.


The Contour is a mild GEM, smooth shaving, easy to figure out angles, and that makes it a great introduction razor to the GEM format. Interestingly, GEM Cutlery had the Damaskeene razor from c. 1916 and it is both mild and very efficient. Dave introduced me to that gem of a razor (pun fully intended!), Thanks Dave! My point, 50 years prior to the Contour, GEM had a razor that was fantastic for a starting GEM-style, but wasn't "modern" looking! 


And the Damaskeene has a very short handle. In any event, I am happy to have both and use them for nice, relaxing shaves!

On another front, Tim has jumped into the pour over method of brewing coffee (I think he has anyway! Maybe I misread his post and he was simply stating he bought a Bodum pour over, and I extrapolated that pour over was new to him! If so, sorry Tim!). I prefer pour over for days off. Like shaving, it can be a little reflection time as you go through the steps of preparing the mug. This was this morning's first "slug from the mug" (a favorite phrase I heard Bing Crosby say to Fred Astaire in Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn. This movie begins and ends at Christmas, but it hits all the holidays throughout the year. For a while it was hard to find, as PC mindset was concerned over a black face number by Crosby. Now it can be found again, typically with a warning about that number. Honestly, I enjoy the film, yet I can still recognize the stereotypes employed to portray the black actors. Heck, one of the best characters is Mamie, played by the talented Louise Beavers. She did an outstanding job with a very sterotypical portrayal of Black house help. My point is, there is no warning regarding Mamie's character and position, just the black face routine. Okay, off the soap box, Yoop!)


That is a Bee House ceramic pour over dripper. Super easy, two holes in the bottom, and it uses standard #1 filters for easy cleanup. I have a mesh one, and it does give a body fullness similar to a French press, but cleaning up is a bit more than I want on a typical day!

Let's have a good weekend!

You are correct, that was my first pour over this morning. Good stuff!

Love the pour over coffee. I use a Hario V60 - I think I’m using the wrong filter in the picture below. I also use a scale- 24gms coffee to 350 gms water. I use 500gms of water for my wife’s coffee as she likes it a little milder.  I think the difference with the Hario is it has one big hole at the bottom and the filters come to a point at the bottom and fit into that hole. I’ve never tried other pour over systems so I have no idea how they compare.  The pour over is the pinnacle of coffee brewing for me. 

Love the pour over coffee. I use a Hario V60 - I think I’m using the wrong filter in the picture below. I also use a scale- 24gms coffee to 350 gms water. I use 500gms of water for my wife’s coffee as she likes it a little milder.  I think the difference with the Hario is it has one big hole at the bottom and the filters come to a point at the bottom and fit into that hole. I’ve never tried other pour over systems so I have no idea how they compare.  The pour over is the pinnacle of coffee brewing for me. 

That looks delicious! I've had my coffee for the day but now I want more!!

Pour over is the best process for home coffee brewing from fresh ground beans..., with the exception of the $11000 Clover Machine (Starbucks uses these).  This is according to most experts, including Starbucks.  Not talking about espresso machines, since that is a different ballgame.  I have been using Melitta Cone pour over for decades and have tried everything else (looking for the holy grail of morning coffee), and IMHO pour over is second to none.  I own 4 ceramic cones and 4 plastic cones.  Starbucks is selling their ceramic cones again, in some of their stores, which use Melitta filters.  Starbucks used to source from Melitta, and brand with Starbucks name.  I have tried Chemex and Hario, and they are good, but the Melitta filters are available in most grocery stores and Chemex and Hario filters are not.

Another happy Hario V60 user here.

I went down the coffee maker rabbit hole years back and the V60 was my winner.

The Aeropress was a cool device, but more work, time, clean-up, moving parts. The simplicity and results of the V60 are pretty tough to beat.