Who likes soapstone masonry heaters? 

• Men
• Women
• Children 

       and even the cat!

Des glaçons ou des pierres ?

Posted on 23 avril 2012

Beaucoup de personne adorent prendre le temps de déguster et d’aprécier leur whisky ou autre alcool  sec ou avec un peu d’eau minérale. Il arrive parfois que nos alcools préférés soient à température ambiante ; on  y ajoute alors quelques glaçons. Les grands amateurs vous diront que c’est  un sacrilège  car bien sûr les glaçons vont diluer votre précieux nectar….

J’ai testé pour vous quelque chose de nouveau…..des petites pierres  ‘’ Stones on the rocks‘’! Qu’est ce que c’est que ça ? allez-vous me demander. Alors c’est tout simplement des petites pierres qui sont taillées dans de la stéatite, une roche très  tendre et principalement composée de talc.

En plus, il faut dire que leur utilisation est ultra simple…. En effet, les pierres, qui  viennent au nombre de 9 dans le kit, sont vendues dans un petit sac en mousseline que vous mettez dans votre congélateur au moins pendant 1h30. Vous n’avez qu’à les sortir du sac et les déposer dans votre verre et c’est tout !

Ces pierres refroidissent vos boissons sans en altérer leur goût et le point positif : leur utilisation est à l’infini … à la différence des glaçons qui  vont petit à petit se diluer jusqu’à disparaître !  Quand votre verre est  terminé, il suffit juste de laver les pierres à l’eau froide et de les replacer dans leur sac, direction le congélo !  L’idée est simple, efficace et pratique à la fois ! Perso, moi je suis fan de ces petites pierres que je trouve vraiment ingénieuses…

En plus je trouve ça  rigolo et original comme présentation. A la maison, dès que je les dépose dans les verres de mes invités ils sont très surpris et tombent sous leur charme !  Je suis certaine que si vous avez dans vos connaissances,  des amateurs de whiskys, scotch….. ils adoreront !

Alors si vous avez un cadeau à faire et que vous cherchez quelque chose d’original, vous ferez des heureux.

http://lenversdubar.com/tag/steatite/

Soapstone Carving

9 hours

Thursday, June 7, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Friday, June 8, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Lloyd Stonehouse will take you through the basic steps of carving soapstone. Using files and rifflers, you will create a soapstone polar bear, emphasizing features such as form and texture. All tools and materials will be provided.

Fee: $100.00

Since the 1990s, Lloyd Stonehouse has been conducting soapstone carving seminars from coast to coast in Canada as well as internationally. He spends his summers paddling a canoe and offering soapstone workshops throughout Ontario in our provincial parks. He also gives private lessons and does sessions for community groups and charity organizations.

All seminar net proceeds are donated to United Way.

Seating is Limited Please register early to avoid disappointment. To purchase tickets call: (519) 659-7981 Unless otherwise stated, previous experience is not required  to participate in seminars. Seminar tickets are not available online.  Beverages are provided at our seminars and a light sandwich lunch is provided at all-day events. Please discuss any special dietary needs with the staff at time of registration. In an effort to reduce waste, we encourage you to bring in your own coffee mug and/or refillable water bottle. We require that you wear closed shoes (e.g. running shoes) to all seminars. Prices are subject to HST. 48 hours notice required for cancellation refunds. We reserve the right to reschedule seminars. Lee Valley Tools Ltd. 2100 Oxford Street East London, ON (By Veterans Memorial Parkway)

Woodstock Soapstone Company

All good things must come to an end, and so must our Hybrid Breakthrough Sale. Call TODAY to secure your stove at these prices or reserve your stove online. CALL TODAY 1-800-866-4344 or Click here to reserve your stove today Tom Morrissey, President Woodstock Soapstone Company, Inc.

Click here for Sale Prices & Shipping Rates or CALL 1-800-866-4344

Cours d'introduction aux maisons saines et écologiques, avec André Fauteux, éditeur du magazine la Maison du 21e siècle
À Sainte-Adèle le samedi, 21 avril 2012, de 9h à 17h incluant la visite de la maison Fauteux/de Palma
AM : Causes et solutions des problèmes de pollution intérieure, matériaux sains et écologiques
PM : Enveloppe du bâtiment, chauffage, ventilation et autres systèmes écologiques

Coût : 120 $ ou 200 $ en couple, taxes et documentation incluses
Réservations : info@21esiecle.qc.ca 450 228-1555

--

André Fauteux, éditeur


Magazine La Maison du 21e siècle


Tél./Téléc. : 450 228-1555
info@21esiecle.qc.ca


Numéro d'essai gratuit :
www.21esiecle.qc.ca

Rocks Don’t Melt, Nor Do Their Fans

By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS

Published: April 10, 2012

WHEN whiskey stones first showed up on store shelves five years ago, they seemed destined to be another fleeting oddity, perhaps an upscale version of the Pet Rock fad of 1975.

Evan Sung for The New York Times

Whiskey stones, soapstone rocks stored in the freezer and used to chill drinks, still have a following.

After all, it’s tough to persuade drinkers they need soapstone rocks — stored in the freezer — to chill their whiskey instead of ice, which eventually dilutes it. Purists think single malts should be savored neat or with a splash of water. The stones have never caught on in bars, either. “It’s idiotic,” said Dale DeGroff, a noted mixologist who is partial to Glenlivet 12 with big square ice. “You won’t see them at the bar unless they are making fun of them.”

Even so, the fad is proving remarkably resilient, and even expanding, with more than a dozen competitors promoting their unique artisanal twist. There are Sipping Stones and Chilling Rocks, and different sizes of cubes and disks, and one-upmanship over whose stones are the best.

“I have no idea what the counterfeiters would be saying to you, if they are being honest, other than ‘we copied that guy,’ ” Andrew Hellman wrote in an e-mail. His Teroforma Whisky Stones are cut and tumbled in Vermont by a bearded craftsman named Glenn Bowman, and are now sold by more than 1,100 retailers nationwide.

Some makers of soapstone countertops even turned to fashioning cubes for imbibers when their home-remodeling businesses slowed. In 2010, Barry Dresen of Brookings, Ore., started shaping scraps from kitchen countertops that his business installs into what he called Italian Ice. He sold imported soapstone for $16.95 for two bags of nine cubes on Amazon. Soon, his leftovers weren’t enough to keep up with demand, and he bought full slabs.

Last year, he started sourcing his soapstone from a quarry in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, changed the name to Ice Breaker, and increased the price by a dollar. “I sell a lot to military bases,” said Mr. Dresen, who dreams of giving up countertops in favor of making stones exclusively.

Jesse Billin of Chocorua, N.H., has already reached that goal. “I wish I had done this 20 years ago, and saved myself 20 years of chiseling stone on my knees,” he said. After decades as a high-end masonry contractor for multimillion-dollar homes, Mr. Billin began selling Hammerstone’s Whiskey Disks two years ago. He started making the disks, which resemble elegant hockey pucks, only for relatives. “It was a family thing,” he said. “No one thought we could sell these things.”

That was before Mr. Billin attracted more than 7,000 followers by tweeting bon mots like “Let your pour of whiskey be bigger than your fear” and posting ads to their Facebook pages that said, “Ice is the enemy. Defend yourself.”

Last December, Maker’s Mark even started selling hundreds of disks emblazoned with its brand in its bourbon distillery in Loretto, Ky., and online. Craft distilleries have shown interest in branded disks, too, including Chattanooga Whiskey, which plans to give them away at its debut party on Friday.

Joe Ledbetter, a co-founder of Chattanooga Whiskey, said the disks are a bet on the future. “There’s a huge younger generation who don’t see whiskey as an old man’s drink; they see it as the new craft beer, and that’s the group just on the edge of buying whiskey disks really consistently,” he said.

But John Hansell, the editor of Whisky Advocate, a magazine for whiskey enthusiasts, said he had never heard anyone — not even his fishing buddies, who drink bourbon and ginger ale — complain, “Oh geez, there’s too much water in my whiskey.” And for experts, drinking Scotch at room temperature with a bit of water “is still the gold standard — that hasn’t jumped the shark,” Mr. Hansell added.

That said, plenty of well-meaning gift-givers are convinced that whiskey rocks are right for every hard-to-buy-for man like fathers-in-law, bosses or Mom’s new rebound beau who is coming for Christmas. Mr. Hellman often fills large orders for retirement communities, wedding parties, hedge funds and law firms, some of whom get specially monogrammed muslin bags.

“The phrase we’ve always used is, ‘Ice melts. Whisky rocks,’ ” Mr. Hellman said, adding that for custom orders, he replaces the word “whisky” with a company name.

Sparq Home even markets its soapstone for use in any liquor: “Anything you drink straight at low volume, since at higher volume, the cube will lose its ability to chill,” said Justin English, a founder of Sparq Home. Soapstone can also help keep liquids warm, he added. His site recommends microwaving the rocks, popping them in coffee to keep it warm for an hour.

It may be a stretch, given that a cup of coffee is a lot of liquid for stones to keep hot. Nevertheless, on Nov. 30, Woot, a daily deal site, sold nearly 50,000 sets of nine stones for $5.99 plus $5 shipping.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/dining/soapstone-rocks-to-chill-whiskey-endure-despite-criticism.html?_r=1

Les Pierres Stéatites inc. vous souhaite une belle fin de semaine de Pâques !! 


Les Pierres Stéatites inc. wishes you a happy Easter weekend !

Votre poêle semble fatigué ???  

 Préparez déjà votre poêle pour l'an prochain. 

Utilisez nos briques en stéatite pour augmenter la performance de votre poêle. 

Nous avons des briques 9''x4 1/2''x1 1/4'' et 9''x4 1/2''x2 1/2''. Nous pouvons également tailler les pierres sur mesure.

Demandez une soumission: info@soapstonesupply.com