Brett on Stuff

Without revealing my sources… lets just say I had some dehydrated wine appear at my home one day last week. Sold in Europe and not FDA-approved in the USA this may be tricky to obtain – but - is it worth the effort?

Lets do the taste-test…

First the goods – comes nicely packaged in a foil pouch. Weighing in a 2.1 oz – considerably less than your average 1 liter bottle, it’s looking good so far…

Emptying the powder into a bowl, it has a distinctive musty smell – kind of like old cork. Can’t be bad, right? Perhaps it’s a vintage year?

The directions call for mixing with 6 oz of cold water, and letting stand for 5 minutes.

I was rather hoping it would make more than this… but I’m still hopeful… maybe the powder/liquid ratio helps the alcohol content, and the taste will be more divine this way…

After about 6-7 minutes of stirring – trying to get the powder to dissolve and get rid of the lumps, I finally give up and reach for the strainer.

Strained into a wine glass, the wine now has a delightful white scum layer floating on top… ok… I’m starting to get nervous…

I try and overlook the rotting beetroot smell as I bring the glass to my lips for the taste test… mind over matter, I really really want this to work out. It’s dehydrated wine for heavens sake – cut it some slack.

“A nice fruity bouquet, wonderful legs, earthy structure, revealing layers of ripe berries, currants and vanilla oak.”

These aren’t the words I would use. I tried really hard – but the following is the BEST I could come up with.

“Clumpy, musty odor, like drinking beetroot juice spiked with cheap vodka that has spoiled at the bottom of the ocean for three hundred  years. “

Needless to say… this sucker won’t be going in my pack on a trip anytime soon.

I wonder if I can sell the other two packets on ebay to recover my losses…

Chia Seeds. Yes, this is indeed what Chia Pets are made of. Not having grown up in America, I can’t verify this first-hand, but those are the rumours.

“…and its relevance to ultralight backpacking” I hear you ask? Patience grasshopper, we’ll get there…

First let me tell you the story of how I learned about Chia Seeds… In search of a better dried milk product for my breakfasts (with more fat content), I heard of a Nestle product called Nido that is common in Spain/Mexico. Unlike typical non-fat dried milk found in the likes of Whole Foods in the US, Nido is whole-milk. My search led me to a Latin Grocery shop in Pike Place Market.

Sadly they were out of stock of Nido, but while there I got chatting with the nice lady that owns the shop and quickly onto the topic of backpacking. Her eyes opened wide with excitement as I told her about traveling light weight. “Oh my”, she said “You have to try Chia Seeds. They are a miracle and are perfect for what you talk of.” … “Aztec warriors used to march for an entire day on just a handful of seeds.”. (Now probably wasn’t the time to mention that my recollection of Aztec history is that they died out due to hunger and Spaniards). She went on to tell me how long distance runners and STP cyclists come to her shop to buy these precious seeds. 

I was admittedly quite intrigued. So what are the proclaimed benefits of Chia Seeds? According to thechiaseed.com:

1. Nutritious. Full of omega-3, antioxidants, calcium, protein, fiber, and many other vitamins & minerals.

2. Energizing. Gives an energy that lasts, providing stamina and endurance.

3. Reduce Cravings.  Because Chia Seeds absorb so much water and have high soluble fiber levels, they help release natural, unrefined carbohydrate energy slowly into the bloodstream.

So how do I prepare them? At breakfast - I simply fill a 2-cup pot with water… add a Tbsp or so of dried coconut milk (for flavor and fat-boost) and then dump in about 1-2 Tbsp of seeds. Wait 5-10 minutes and drink. Waiting is important - over time the seeds absorb the water and puff up into small balls almost like mini tapioca balls in Bubble Tea.

I’ve used them with much success on the West Coast Trail and also in our recent Pasayten hike. Both Nigel and I used them two out of three mornings on the Pasayten trip. We both experienced feeling a lot more hydrated in the mornings and also in need of less mid-morning food. Our breakfast sustained up well beyond lunch time with strenuous hiking.

Thankfully Germany is more evolved in some ways than America. Not least of which is with their more relaxed attitudes towards alcohol.

Katadyn makes dehydrated red wine powder for backpacking. Sounds too good to be true… take a a little glacier melt water, warm up to room temperature, stir and mix with the powder… and presto! You have a glass of red wine with 8.2% alcohol content.

No more lugging those heavy bottles in, Jeanne.

I’m bet it’s no Leonetti, but I sure want to give it a try to see how bad it tastes.

Thanks to the FDA… only available for shipment in the EU.

Looking to spice up your no-cook trail breakfast?

Instead of boring old dried milk - which is usually non-fat (unless you use Nido), give this is try on your Granola. It vastly improves the flavor of the granola and packs a whopping thirteen extra grams of fat.

I suspect this will be a new staple for me at breakfast time.

Credit for this brilliant idea goes to Freezer Bag Cooking, where I read the tip.

I bought my Coconut Cream Powder from Import Food online.

In the world of software development The Mythical Man Month proposes the notion of a project triangle. Where the three points of the triangle are Quality, Time to Market and Features. You can pick (at most) any two you want and do them really well, but the other one suffers. Want lots of features, with high-quality - it’s going to take a long time. Want something quick with lots of features? It’s going to be buggy.

I think a similar triangle exists for backpacking food. The three points are - Lightweight, Tasty and Fast to Prepare.

Freezer Bag Cooking in an excellent site that appears to deliver on at least two of the key points: Fast to prepare and Tasty. However they don’t appear to be lighter than store bought de-hydrated cardboard tasting goop.

Still, I really dig the site - the idea of home-made backpacking meals that very easy to prepare in the field and taste really good probably has it’s place on shorter trips. I have not tried any of their recipes yet - but I intend to.

If only they would invent a Thai Curry freezer-bag recipe, then I would be in heaven.

Q: What food do you pack for 6 days on the west coast trail?

A: Good food.

Read on for my full menu.

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 Tim got me started on this… I don’t normally drink coffee on the trail, and to be honest, I have never really missed it. I do drink it daily at work, and Tim wants coffee on the West Coast Trail trip. I’m always up for a new “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder” mission to squeeze into a spare hour here and there.

So what, are the options?

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Tomorrow night I’m hiking up Mt. Si. with Tim from work. It’s a late evening sunset hike with descent in the dark for Mid Summers Eve. I’m planning on taking Moose Goo with me, and it reminded me to post the recipe.

I’ve dug all over the Internet for sample backpacking menus that provide enough calories but don’t cost a lot of weight. I have had little success finding good suggestions, so if you have any post-away.

Here’s what we typically take on a 3-day trip to feed two of us. We love food, so splurge on a few luxury items on day 1 like apples that are heavy but consumed quickly.

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