Copied from ASL, so make sure to head over there. You will find the post event videos there as well.

Next week is going to be exciting! How exciting? Well, I’m stepping up to the plate to be the Rookie of the New Year by partnering with the great people at Uniiverse! I need to explain don’t I?

Alright, first off Uniiverse. Uniiverse is a website that allows everyone to meet people, connect, access the skills of others, learn and even make some money! It is essentially a market place for each other. Someone in your neighbourhood might have a parking spot they don’t use that you can rent by the month. Someone in your building might own an incredible vacuum cleaner you can rent for a day. Someone in your city might know how to lay flooring and can teach you and others in a day. YOU might have a skill you can teach, or something you can rent to people. I’m not even doing it justice in this explanation, so go check out Uniiverse.com!

So, Rookie of the New Year. Uniiverse has five events next week and I am going to be attending them all! AND I WOULD LOVE if any of you are interested in joining me, to sign up as well (especially for the flying yoga, cause I’m going to feel like such a goof). 2013 is all about learning something new, new experiences and trying things!

Monday, January 14: Intro to Flying Yoga class - $28
I am truly terrified for how embarrassing this is going to be! I am so out of shape, and have never done yoga before! I believe this is the only flying yoga supplier in Toronto right now! So if you’re done with that bikram silliness, come give this a shot.

Tuesday, January 15: 3D Printing for Beginners Class - $49
3D printing has to be one of the most fascinating developments in some time. Basically, you can build anything with these printers! I can’t wait to see these in action!

Wednesday, January 16: An Intro to DSLRs, DSLR Basics - $40
Now, I know everyone has a DSLR these days… except me! I’m intending to borrow one for this workshop to learn some basics of how they work. Maybe then I can actually get one of my own! If you received one for Christmas, this is a perfect opportunity to get some info.

Thursday, January 17: An Intro to Silkscreening - $49
I know some of the basics on silkscreen printing, but not exactly how it’s done. So, looking forward to learning all about it here!

Friday, January 18: Molecular Cuisine - $70
Lastly, on Friday I’m soooooo excited for this! An evening of Molecular Dining. Now, if you don’t know what that is… you are in for an awesome, awesome surprise! Check out this video! Honestly, cannot wait to do this class and eat all the creations!

Anyway, I will be shooting some video from all of the events, so if you can’t attend there is something to look forward to! But if you can attend, definitely do as it should be a fun time (yes even the flying yoga!)

Head over to THIS POST to comment about what event you would be most interested in attending or use the hashtag #Rookie2013 and message me on Twitter!

I love the holidays. From December 1 to December 31… it literally is my favourite time of the year. My birthday, Christmas, New Years, time off. It’s basically everything awesome tied up into a single month! It’s also one of the more dangerous times of the year – a little too much egg nog, Christmas cheer or celebration can turn the most wonderful times of the year, into something dreadful.

I’m, of course, talking about the elephant in the room of drinking too much and driving. I remember back in highschool, 4 of my peers died in a drinking and driving accident (hmm accident doesn’t even seem like the right word because if they had used a bit of common sense, they would still be around). But, it is certainly one of the most horrific things you can do. Even if you do manage to get home safely, you’ve just played a ridiculous and silly game of Russian roulette with your life and the lives of others…. So just don’t do it k?

Okay, lecture over, but here’s a tip… In Toronto, on Saturday the 22nd + 29th between the hours of 9PM to 2AM there’s going to be a bunch of cabs with lit up elephant signs on the roof. If you jump into one of those cabs, guess what… you just saved $10 on your ride! Seems that the LCBO and Co-op Cabs/@CoopCabs decided to partner up on the LCBO Deflate the Elephant campaign this year.  You could even win gift baskets just by tweeting a picture with the hashtag #TOElephantSighting.

I’ve even got a gift basket to give away to one of you fine folks! What do you have to do? You comment below with your favourite Christmas/Hanukkah/Qwanza/Festivus MOCKTAIL. You could also follow @CoopCabs on Twitter to maybe be tipped off on where their Elephant cabs are… who knows.

Mine? Candy Cane Hot Chocolate with a marshmellow on a candy cane!

I’ll draw by Saturday the 22nd, so the gift basket should be delivered by the 24th.

Yesterday, I was treated to the opportunity to do some winery tours and learn more about wine in the Niagara area with the iYellow Wine Club. This is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time. I know I’m starting to appreciate wine a little bit more, but know very little about it. At 10AM, everyone heading down met up in Liberty Village where we were warmly greeted by the founder of the iYellow Wine Club Angela Aiello (and then understood the why the name was iYellow). I brought my friend Anna along with me, and she’s quite the good photographer – so you get to enjoy some seriously great photos in this post! We were touring three wineries that day (but later, added on a fourth because time permitted it) and were treated to taste 30 wines!

First stop, the Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery, where we sampled many wines including a Cabernet Rose (which is smooth enough to drink for breakfast) – I also purchased a bottle of it I enjoyed it so much. Oh, one thing we learned quickly on… Wineries SOUND like they are in the middle of a war with artillery shells being fired a few times a minute. These are called bird bangers, and are essentially blank shells fired when motion activated to scare away the birds from eating the grapes. Not going to lie, I thought it was the coolest thing haha. Boys and war right?

Next up was the Southbrook Vineyards – an organic and bio-dynamic winery where we tasted three wines, and then went right out to the barrels and were treated to taste two wines that were still aging. (I also learned that while it may smell like Welchs grape juice, wine that isn’t ready doesn’t taste great. To me anyway, others seemed to enjoy the bitter, burnt wood, scratchy taste).

Next we stopped at Reif Estate Winery where we tried two red wines and an ice wine (which was delicious!) And finally we wrapped up at the Vineland Estates Winery, where they store their wine in what I’m convinced is a cold war bunker that they repurposed after deciding nuclear war wasn’t going to happen. There I go again back with the war stuff… Heh.

Bunker. A Moment of Zach: The blonde in this picture was incredibly cute. Did I talk to her? OF COURSE I didn’t. Why? Cause I’m just not that confident, plus she was with her mom. But the thought was there! Ha.

It was a really great day to be honest. Lots of wine, a nice lunch and learned quite a bit about wine and how to smell/taste properly. Did you know that people hated Chardonnay so much they founded clubs called ABC – Anything But Chardonnay… the reason behind it is people didn’t like drinking 2×4 wood. You see traditional Chardonnay is aged in oak barrels and so it takes on the oak flavour strongly… so now, when you’re in the LCBO you see ‘Unoaked Chardonnay’, which as the name suggests is not aged in oak!

Anyway, you should definitely experience a wine tour with iYellow if you have the opportunity. And they hinted that they might be doing Ice Wine tours this winter, so there’s that to look forward to! And now to finish off the post with a bunch more pictures to enjoy!

If last week could have titled it would have been called “Week 39: Taxis in Toronto,” with Hailo launching their platform and Uber responding to the launch with their own ‘free’ program to steal attention away from Hailo. It certainly dominated my Twitter feed and made for some interesting conversations with friends. The conversation naturally shifted to which platform we were most interested in in the majority of the conversations I’ve had… and while I wanted to try both before I made a decision on which I preferred, a negative experience with Uber has already converted me to Hailo.

Let’s cover the basics for those unfamiliar with the taxi battle… Uber is a taxi hailing service that allows you to get a cab for about 30-40% more than you would pay for a standard cab.  Last week, anticipating the Hailo launch, Uber Toronto dug deep into their financial war chest to offer ‘free’ rides ($20 limit). Free is an adored word in the social media world, so I shared the news via Twitter. I was looking forward to trying out Uber for myself (after a bad first experience – where the driver accused us all of being wrong and not using the app properly) and then comparing it to the experience with Hailo.

Here’s the simple run down on Hailo – They are a licensed company with the city. They charge the same prices you would pay in any cab but give you the convenience of the app – which tells you when the cab will be there, who the driver is, and other relevant information. At the end, you’re able to rate the driver – which is then passed on to other riders should they ever get that driver! It’s a similar service to Uber, but much less expensive.

Image from Betakit, who cover Hailo in great detail! Highly recommended reading.

BOTH apps are simple. But Hailo wins overall due to being priced right, licensed and has all the features you could want in hailing a cab. Oh and they operate all over Toronto, not just in the core… well… I guess I should get into that story now huh?

So, last Tuesday I had to run an errand downtown and then had to go do my weekly live podcast at Shoeless Joes. As mentioned, Uber had their free rides.. so I used Uber’s app (which I had previously set up, including a credit card) to hail a cab. Fails. I try again. Fails. I tweet Uber asking what’s up… short answer – Unless you live DOWNTOWN TORONTO, you’re fucked. Cabs don’t operate anywhere outside of the core normally (which quite frankly is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. Your more expensive cab rides are going to be the ones from outside of the core no?) I take the TTC downtown. King and Yonge. Do my errand and then decide to hail a cab, first I add a new prepaid credit card to my account just to be on the safe side. Then hail the free cab annnnndddddd fails – this time banning my account in the process. Oh joy.

So now I’m running late for my show and have to hail my own – non-free cab. BITTER. So then it gets even better…. Later that evening Uber email me to let me know that they’ve decided I’m likely to commit fraud. “Uber Fraud Squad” flagged my account because I added the prepaid credit card to my account. Oh really? Yes, if I want to use their service I need a ‘true credit card’. Oh right, because while I can use my prepaid credit card FOR ANYTHING ELSE I’VE EVER WANTED TO BUY including flights, other cabs and subscriptions to services… for a cab ride, sorry that’s fraud.

No. You know what. Uber is right! I WAS going to defraud them out of that FREE TAXI RIDE. Such a scam artist I am. You know who my next target is? The government! I’m going to set up a Tax Free Savings Account and not pay taxes on the money in there! MUAHAHAHA. Evil genius I am. Maybe I’ll start stealing mints from restaurants after I eat there.

So from there I start to explore Uber a little more. I’m a curious person and like to know things… and what do I find all over the web? Well, lots of stories of cities calling them a rogue business and threats to deem them illegal/block them from operating. Boston, Cambridge, New York and others…. Then there’s the issue that Uber isn’t a licensed taxi company in Toronto (and may be going to court with the city over it) – which, from my understanding means if your driver gets into an accident, you’re SOL in terms of holding anyone accountable – the drivers basic insurance is all you’ve got to stand on.  But I could be wrong on that – legal people, let me know so I can be sure.

And finally, there’s the scammers convincing people they are Uber and getting you to sign up with their referral codes. Don’t believe me? Google “UberTorontoDeal” or try “UberFreeRideTO“, or about 50 other “Uber” related signup codes. Or hell, go for broke and game the system to get $200(blog) by again pretending to be Uber. Granted that’s (hopefully) not Uber doing it, but they certainly are doing nothing to stop it.

If we’re all allowed to pretend to be Uber in our signup codes how about a “Uberest Promo Ever: Hot 18 Year Old Russian Daughters Will Blow You if you use this Code “UberBJpromo” on Signup and $10 credit on your first ride!” promotion to run? Because if you give me the ‘OK’ I will do this! I have the image all ready to go. Surely it will get you signups and me a bunch of $10 referral fees.

I understand the ridiculousness of this… but the point is real. And it extends beyond Uber. All these promo code businesses need to be proactive about what they allow for signup codes – and it should be monitored by the businesses that allow it! Otherwise, it’s going to be abused.

—–

Got off on a rant as usual….  but the points are all valid. When your business is based on the user experience Uber, not providing service coverage, banning my account and then calling me a fraud… all for a dumb FREE cab ride is not only ridiculous, but it has ruined your chances of ever getting my money in the future. If you ruin the experience when its free, why the hell would I ever pay for it? I’d be a total moron if I did.

Hailo, I’ve signed up for the service and anticipating my first ride on Tuesday!

But for readers in Toronto… who are you leaning towards?

Bright and early this morning, I was able to join Starbucks Canada and get the first look/taste of the new Starbucks Single Serve coffee brewer, cleverly called “Verismo” which means realism or truth (Italian). Promising the previously impossible, literally, the new launch is coming with the tagline “Impossible Until Now: Verismo,” which allows owners of the machines to make Starbucks Caffe Lattes, espresso and regular brewed coffee from the comfort of their homes.

Apparently the market for single serve coffee machines was up 168% this year, to just over $8 billion. So it was really only a matter of time before Starbucks got into the mix. Well, maybe not a matter of time but rather a matter of waiting for the right time. And the right time is now (considering on September 16th, the patent on the Keurig K-Cup expired).

Which leads us the the product. We had the opportunity to test the espresso pods as well as the milk pods in various combinations to create espressos and lattes. The Verismo we got to use was thin in comparison to the Tassimo and Keurig machines I have used in the past, and wasn’t some weird shape – instead a space efficient rectangle. There are three buttons to control how the drink is made (more on that later). The Verismo’s ‘Pods’ as they call them are pretty similiar to the K-Cups in terms of the construction and how they are pierced by the machine (however are significantly smaller). The espresso/coffee pods contain the ground beans and there are also milk pods, which contain powdered milk. Not going to lie, powdered milk scares me. Granted I don’t like the milk pods on Tassimo either…

So we start the process of making the latte… there are three buttons… One for espresso, one for brewed coffee (or long espresso) and one for milk. You should always do the milk first, because you don’t want to leave milky residue on the exit spout. So, first you open the bar, put in the milk pod, close the bar and press the button. Then pull the bar up, put your coffee pod in, close the bar, press the button (wait for it to warm) then press the button again. Done. Latte. The used pods get popped out and dropped into a reservoir in the bottom of the machine – holds 10-12 used pods.

So what’s the verdict? Well, it tastes good. I didn’t taste the powdered milk taste I was afraid of tasting. So clearly they have worked on developing the powdered milk to make it better. It brewed fast. It’s very easy to do. Overall… it works. I don’t think it is going to change the world or doing anything revolutionary. But it works, and for Starbucks fans it will satisfy if you can’t make it to the store. It makes a good cup of espresso or coffee.

Some concerns… I’m not a fan of the internal storage of the used pods. I like to get rid of them immediately. I also hope they expand the roster of pods… currently they only do Espresso/Latte, Pike Place, Verona and a Blonde blend. No Pumpkin Spice, no Mocha, no Salted Caramel, Peppermint or any other options we come to love about the drinks at Starbucks. Other brewers like Tassimo and Keurig have options like French Vanilla, Egg Nog, Peppermint, Irish Cream etc. So to not have the flavours we know in store, I think hurt the desirability.

Overall, I think it’s a solid product and for someone who doesn’t have a single serve machine, it is a viable option. I think it is a relatively low risk move by Starbucks, it’s not going to change the market and it’s not doing anything different than other machines (besides focusing on their products). It’s kind of like their VIA line – providing their customers with options.

Now some important questions answered…

1. Will they be ending their contract with Keurig?
From what I’ve been told, no they will not be. The Starbucks K-Cups will continue – mostly because it seems the deal works more in Starbucks’ favour than it does in Green Mountains.

2. Will they offer Milk Pods for Lactose Free or Soy?
Not currently. But they will have a ‘frother’ tool coming out soon for those.

3. Can you earn Rewards Stars at StarbucksStore.ca?
Doesn’t look that way – however their PR people are going to look into it and let me know if there is any plan to do that.

4. How much are they and where can you buy them?
The basic unit (580) is $199 and there is a more feature rich version (585) for $399.  Both will be available at their online store, at Williams-Sonoma and Home Outfitters. The 580 will also be available in all retail stores but the 585 will not. Pods sell for $11.95 to $12.95.

5. The difference between the 580 and 585?
The differences between the 580 and the 585 are a larger water tank, built-in filtration system, temperature control and LED display.

I will be getting a short term loan with the machine in October, and will put have it go head to head with my Tassimo machine and my mom’s Keurig machine, and will work on a full out features/benefits/disadvantages post which may help you decide what to purchase for Christmas this year! So stay tuned for that.

Oh, and feel free to ask any questions – I’ll answer if I know or get the answers for you ASAP!

Last night I had dinner with @ValTorontoGal compliments of @Buytopia and their latest deal – $55 for a 4 Course Dinner for 2 at Mirto and it was one of the best Italian meals I’ve had in a long time. I’d never been to Mirto before, but my grandfather (who’s deck I cleaned up yesterday, a throwback to my highschool days when I ran a power washing business) said it was a really great place for food. So, I had high hopes going in… the problem with high hopes is it’s rare to live up to them. Well, I’m thrilled to report that Mirto delivered on the high hopes (with top scores on two of the 5 dishes I tried.) So everyone take note right now… go buy that Buytopia deal and then when you walk in hand them this handy card to get the best meal of your life.

This is like a cheat code for what to order there. The Caesar salad is one of the best I have ever had. Clearly the dressing was house made,  the lettuce was crisp and in perfect bite sizes (I can’t tell you the number of times you get salad pieces too large and I end up getting dressing on my face… not a pretty sight). I think I should have asked for a little parmesan cheese, but that would have just been another nice layer. Incredible. Top marks for this!

Val had ordered the Caprese salad which was fresh… however, no where near as good as the Caesar… I promise you this.

Next up, Val and I had the Rigatone Gorgonzola… oh man it was the second perfect dish. Again, the right amount of the delicious sauce, nice pieces of asparagus and big bites of prosciutto! It was incredible. Actually considering heading off to the grocery store and getting the ingredients to try and recreate it. So good. Quite frankly, had the meal ended there I would have been a happy man!

The main came next… Val had the Salmon and I opted for Steak (as you all should too!) It was nicely done with a nice chunk of herbed butter on top. The vegetables it came with (Brocolli, Carrot, Green Beans and Potatoes) were also nicely done. I suspect the manager gave us a slightly large piece of steak/salmon than usual (quite frankly, than was necessary… I finished half the steak and couldn’t pack anything else into my stomach haha). But it made for a nice breakfast this morning.

Lastly, a desert of Tartufo… both Val and I agreed on sharing one rather than one each. Definitely the right move! Tartufo is pretty traditional in how it’s made/served and this was no stray from what is to be expected when ordering tartufo.

Overall, great meal! Nice non-pretentious place. Very kind people and a relaxed vibe. Definitely one to check out… and highly recommend the 4 course for $55 from Buytopia! Thanks greatly to them for the hookup, to Val for the invite and to Mirto for the incredible meal!

PS. Also check out Val’s pictures/review.