Friday, June 19, 2015

Removing the New Era Logo

New Era makes amazing hats.  However, since I first fell in love with their on-field 59fifty from the late 90’s, I decided that I only want to buy hats that resembled those glory days.  Back then hats were 100% wool, made in the USA, had grey under brims, and didn’t include the New Era logo.  So my reason for making this post isn’t so much to disrespect New Era by removing their logo, but rather it’s to customize my hat to look the way those older fitteds used to look.
In order to remove the logo, the first thing I recommend is to have lots of patience because this task takes lots of time, and concentration.  You want to begin by using a sharp knife that gets under each thread and individually cuts them (while I have seem other customizers use a seam cutter to remove the thread I don’t recommend one because it can warp the wool material).  As your cutting the threads, you also want to use tweezers to detach each thread.  And finally you want to use some tape (I use painters tape) to clean off any excessive threads, which will also leave the wool spotless.  Once you’re done your fitted should resemble a New Era fitted from the past.
New Era:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pJKiDLWijE

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Shaken Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade Recipe

I started drinking Starbuck’s shaken iced Passion Tango tea lemonade a few years ago.  From the very first time I became addicted to it and couldn’t get enough.  However I slowly became disappointed with it when certain Starbuck’s locations (most) used way too much ice to make it.  The result was a drink that I could literally finish in one gulp.  Of course you could also ask them to make it with little ice or no ice at all, but then the drink is simply too warm and won’t be as satisfying.
So rather than be disappointed over another ice packed Passion Tango lemonade I decided to make it at home instead.  The secret ingredient is the type of tea you use, which in this case is Passion Tango tea from Teavana.  Of course that tea is expensive, so I decided to substitute it with the version Tazo makes (this tea is also expensive and difficult to find in the 24 filter bags).  Regardless of the brand you use just make sure it has ingredients such as hibiscus, any form of citrus flavour, and cinnamon.  For the lemonade portion I like to use the version from Simply Lemonade with raspberry.
Ingredients and Recipe:
1) Tazo Passion Tea (add boiling water, let cool and then store it in the refrigerator)
2) Add sugar to taste
3) Add Simply Lemonade with raspberry
4) Add Ice, stir and enjoy
(optional: cinnamon stick, cloves, vanilla, and fruit such as strawberries or raspberries)

Tazo Tea:
Starbucks:
Simply Lemonade with Raspberry:
Teavana Passion Tango Herbal Tea:
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smi3odeXVCg