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Self-Heating Coffee Cans Recalled
Old Man Kensey writes "Apparently those nifty Wolfgang Puck self-heating latte cans, introduced with such fanfare last year, have proven to be buggy -- cans have been reported failing to heat adequately or, more disturbingly, exploding and melting through the packaging. A recall has been announced -- here's hoping the flaws can be 'patched' soon."
I've just had a look at the official How It Works (wmv, bleh) video on Wolfgang Puck's site - and there's no mention in the (surprisingly good) explanation that the cans may explode (funny that).
Also, check out this guy's dissection of a used can.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
I remember having a sample of one of these in Target around hurricane season. They were trying to pass them off as a good way to get a hot cup of coffee when and if the power went out. I probabbly would have bought a few, but then they proceeded to give me a sample. This is, by far, the most disgusting "coffee" drink I've ever had, and this come from someone who's been known to suck on plugs of grounds like chewing tobacco when there's no hot water around...
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
I did try a few of Puck's self-heating latte beverages when they first came to satisfy my curiosity. One of the pack of four failed to heat, but luckily for me, none of them exploded or meltied their packaging.
It's spiffy to be able to heat your own coffee in such a small package, but when you seal up pre-mixed coffee in a can or a more complicated contraption like this one, you lose one of coffee's primary advantages as a beverage --- it is an excellent platform for customization.
I'd rather go without than drink a coffee beverage brewed or mixed to appeal to some marketeer's average consumer taste buds. If I wanted a sweet, pre-mixed beverage, I'd drink a soda.
Who wants a self heating can when you can get a self cooling beer!
(although I'll wait for the non-miller version, as I prefer my beer with flavour thank-you-very-much).
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Why? The first time I saw one of these, I thought it was pretty cool. Then I saw how much of the can is comprised of chemicals used to heat the coffee. It looks like half the volume of the can is contained in the chemical pouch, which seems a little excessive. This is not good technology. Until they can find a way to be a little less wasteful to do the same job, I hope they don't patch the problem.