Wiser Web Wednesday – a weekly link to posts of interest from around the web:

The Brooks Review
In his own typical style, Ben Brooks takes the reviewing by numbers system apart, using an article from The Verge as an example. There are many reasons reviews can be questionable, this being yet another:
Why Reviewing by Numbers is a Bullshit Practice and Needs to Stop

Pentorium
I’ve yet to try out Tomoe River paper, and what better way to do just that than with a great looking notebook. As stated in the review, this is exclusive to online store JustWrite and currently available in A5 or A6 with blank pages only (dot grid would be lovely):
Tomoe River Handcrafted Notebooks from JustWrite

Pen Paper Ink Letter
Heath from PPIL outlines a fountain pen and paper starter set with quite a few goodies for $100. I always enjoy these types of posts not only to see if there are any products out there for me to try, but also whether I would recommend the same or similar items if asked:
The PPIL Fountain Pen and Paper Starter Set

The Pen Addict
This is one from the dim, dark past, posted by Brad back in June 2012, outlining a reader submitted Hi-Tec C refill hack into a Retro 51. Why am I poking around in the archives? Well, next up in my Field Notes rotation is the Expedition Edition and as many of you know, to deal with the Yupo synthetic paper, a decent ballpoint is required. Rather than open my wallet, I opened my drawer and found a couple of unused 0.7mm Uni Jetstreams, the refills of which are now snugly hacked into my Retro 51 and Kaweco Classic Sport pens, and performing very well indeed. Now all I need is an actual expedition, upon which to take my new carry:
Hacking a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Refill into a Retro 51

The Gentleman Stationer
No doubt I will try the Kon-Peki myself at some point in my journey through Blue-Black to Blue ink spectrum, however to date have not done so. My most recent purchase being the Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, which is on the darker end, though indeed a beautiful ink. Until then, I will happily read about others experiences, and keep asking, is that too light for me?:
Ink Review: Iroshizuku Kon-Peki

Inktronics
Of course there is no need to limit things to blue, black or somewhere in between, as I love a good red ink as much as the next penperson. From the image at the beginning of this post, it’s now clear to me that Darth’s light saber is indeed derived of Diamine Ink:
Inktronics Reviews Diamine Red Dragon Fountain Pen Ink

Modern Stationer
Why else do we read reviews, other than for thoughtful, objective views and perhaps some guidance on where to look for our next purchase. When things don’t always go to plan, with enough information (in contrast to The Brooks Review link above) we can all still decide for ourselves. Doug’s review of the Kaweco AL Sport ticks all of these boxes and more. The pen community delivers yet again:
Kaweco AL Sport Review

The Atlantic
Certainly not a short read this one. Here The Atlantic profiles Blue Bottle Coffee and its efforts in scaling production of a specialty iced coffee of sorts. Living in Australia I have obviously not tasted this product, however post this link as I find such endeavours quite interesting. Larger scale production of something like specialty coffee always carries the dangers of a proportional shift away from the original beverage as the magnitude of the scale increases. Perhaps things will be different this time:
The Future of Iced Coffee

Coffee Contrarian
A response to the above article, from Kevin Knox, who describes himself as a “semi-retired veteran of the coffee and tea trade”. The closing paragraph of which probably sums up his thoughts:

At the very least, I shouldn’t be the only one with an industry background pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes – or rather, that there’s (almost) no coffee in this “coffee.”

Probably worth reading both articles, and perhaps a few more before making up your own mind. In the end, it will no doubt be the consumer who decides. In the context of sales figures, whether it actually is “specialty coffee” or not (whilst important to some) will most likely end up irrelevant:
“The Future of Iced Coffee” leaves me cold