Seek to Misconstrue + a
Failure: The Blog 
February 2012
January 2012
- Offensive Advertising, Increased Sales?
- I Sold Out For Millions, Then Worked At McDonald's
- Steve Jobs on Failure
- The Famous Western Failure
- Thank Goodness for Drug Addicts
December 2011
- It's a Wonderful Failure
- Stadium Destroyed, Reborn
- Failure to Trust the Astronauts
- Failure and the Baggy Pants Tradition
- Failure at The Happiest Place on Earth
- Saving What Was Lost
- FailureBank: A Social Learning Utility
November 2011
- A Thanksgiving Failure
- Harriet Tubman's Clever Lie
- The Failures of Lemieux
- Failed to Return a Text
- Admitting Failure
- A Leaders Job: Support Failure
October 2011
- [VIDEO] Mistakes with Tasty Dum Dums
- Failure and the Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Failure Goes Digital
- Using AIDS to Fight Cancer
- Victory Despite Obstacles
September 2011
Watered Down, Adding Flavor
We all know how to make expensive liquids more affordable. Just add water, right? A story in the New York Times, however, explains that adding H2O to wine often makes it more flavorful.
Here’s a few words from Harold McGee’s article:
A few months ago, the London bartender Tony Conigliaro told me that weak cocktails can be more aromatic than stronger drinks. That observation provoked me to play with the proportions of alcohol and water in spirits and wines. Then this month, a barista showed me that I could make tastier coffee by brewing it with less ground coffee and more water.
It’s true, as it turned out: Water is indeed a useful flavor enhancer, exactly because it dilutes other ingredients and can change their balance for the better.
At first glance, this doesn’t make sense. Water is practically tasteless and so inexpensive in most of our lives that we usually think of it as being free. Isn’t it always bad to “water down” other liquids?
But if you think about it, fine wines and hard liquors have extremely pungent flavors. Coffee, too, is often brewed too strong to easily enjoy its complex tastes. (Although many coffee enthusiasts would insist that this is missing the point.)
Beverages aren’t the only liquid that can be improved by adding water. We usually think that the gasoline in our cars must be free of water, since “oil and water don’t mix.” Indeed, modern fuel delivery mechanisms work to remove water from your gas to prevent contamination.
However, the inclusion of ethanol in the fuel mix changes the equation. Usually, this additive only takes up 10% of the space in your tank. But a group of researchers have announced that they may be able to adjust the ethanol ratio and safely store more water in the fuel.
“Watering it down” may actually make it better. Failure is the secret to success!
