Sharp's new microwave offers flatbed design and inverter tech

Source: SHARP. The sleek, minimalist R-26SIF-BS is the first solo microwave oven in Singapore to feature a flatbed design combined with inverter technology.

The new R-26SIF-BS microwave oven reflects SHARP's commitment to enhancing daily living through intelligent design and reliable performance. 

The 26 l R-26SIF-BS is the first solo microwave oven in Singapore to feature a flatbed design combined with inverter technology, offering enhanced cooking efficiency and uniform heat distribution. This ensures that meals are evenly cooked, retaining their nutrients and flavours. 

Unlike traditional microwaves with a turntable, the flatbed design provides more usable space. The design also ensures hassle-free cleaning, as there are no grooves or turntables to scrub. This feature is perfect for offices which value convenience and easy maintenance. 

With over 60 years of innovation and as the No.1 Microwave brand in ASEAN, SHARP has been at the forefront of microwave innovation since launching Japan's first microwave oven, the R-10, in 1961. As the first company to mass-produce microwave ovens, SHARP made this cooking method accessible worldwide. 

Details

 The R-26SIF-BS is now available in Singapore at Best Denki, Courts, Harvey Norman, Audiohouse, Gaincity, Mega Discount, dealers islandwide and online at SHARP CocoroLife estore, Shopee, and Lazada at S$212.

De’Longhi launches La Specialista Prestigio premium pump espresso coffee machine

Source: De’Longhi. De’Longhi has launched the Perfetto international campaign directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Brad Pitt in conjunction with the arrival of its new La Specialista Prestigio espresso coffee machine. The campaign offers viewers to a glimpse of 'a day-in-the-life' of Pitt, featuring a 'perfetto' world where pressing a button yields the ultimate bean-to-cup experience. View the campaign on YouTube.

De’Longhi's latest premium pump espresso coffee machine, La Specialista Prestigio, provides consumers with more luxury, craft coffee machine options, along with new and enhanced features. It is aimed at the segment of the manual coffee drinking market that enjoys the hands-on experience of making a coffee and want a machine that can support them throughout that process.

Collaborating with coffee scientists, De'Longhi's research and development teams invested thousands of hours finetuning La Specialista Prestigio to produce a machine that combines the science of coffee-making with a barista's craftsmanship.

“With innovative technology that is unique to De’Longhi, including the Sensor Grinding Technology and Smart Tamping Station, making the perfect brew has become simpler, without removing the hands-on experience coffee connoisseurs appreciate with a manual machine,” said Poh Hwee Hian, MD, De’Longhi Singapore & Malaysia.

La Specialista Prestigio features include:

Sensor Grinding Technology that calibrates coffee beans with engineered precision, while the Smart Tamping Station delivers optimal pressure.

Eight grinding levels to provide precision control and grinding variability. Level 1 provides the finest grind setting, and level 8 the coarsest. Because of each blend of coffee beans' uniqueness, grind settings have been created to maximise the aroma of the coffee beans chosen.

There are three infusion temperature settings, between 90° and 96°C, to accommodate different coffee bean varieties. Throughout the brewing process, the water temperature is precisely controlled, ensuring temperature stability and extraction consistency. The temperature profiles are engineered to bring out the full flavour of the beans.

With an innovative tamping lever, the Smart Tamping Station offers consistent tamping pressure and avoids the mess of coffee grounds on the kitchen bench. The lever tamps the dose with the right pressure inside the machine.

Dynamic Pre-Infusion improves coffee extraction by adapting the pre-infusion length to the density of the coffee dose. This process ensures an evenly-distributed cover of water across the surface area of the coffee grounds. This contributes to the perfect extraction.

La Specialista Prestigio's My LatteArt steam wand provides a creative outlet for coffee lovers. Users can create micro foam and craft their own latte art.

A dedicated heating system for milk preparation also ensures great steam performances.

For those who are looking for simplicity, La Specialista Prestigio comes with three one-touch coffee recipes: espresso, coffee and Americano/long black.

Explore:

La Specialista Prestigio is available at the De’Longhi Online Store and in major consumer and electronics stores in Singapore at a recommended retail price of S$1,599.

Dimensions (W x D x H) with bean container	380 mm x 370 mm x 445 mm
Dimensions (W x D x H) with packaging	445 mm x 460 mm x 540 mm
Weight	13.5 kg
Weight with packaging	18 kg
Power	1,450 W
Rated voltage/Frequency (V~Hz)	220/240~50-60
Pump pressure	19 bar
Max cup height	82–120 mm

 

Choosing the right tea for the office pantry

Everyone has tea in their office pantries, often the three-in-one premixed powdered sachets, or plain teabags. While these are convenient to store and easy to use, with much variety available at the supermarket, Teabox, a startup that sells premium teas from India online, says that there can be a downside to powdered teas or those in teabags.

Source: Teabox website.

"Tea dust is the remnants after the production of tea. It is the lowest quality of tea, lacks all the rich flavours, tastes and aroma of the tea. This is what goes into tea bags," explains Kaushal Dugar, CEO of Teabox.

He added that such teas would have negligible nutrition quotient. Asked what teas he would recommend from Teabox, he suggested considering Teabox's Afternoon Collection or Lunchtime Collection. 

"These have moderate caffeine levels, just right to push through the slow afternoons. They also go well with food," he said. 

The Afternoon Collection consists of 22 tea samples, including 

Avongrove (Summer) Darjeeling Organic Black Tea, 2014 Gopaldhara Wonder (Spring) Darjeeling White Tea, and 2014 Upper Namring Exotic (Spring) Darjeeling Green Tea. The Lunchtime Collection consists of nine samples, including Darjeeling Special (Autumn) Blend Green Tea, 2014 Okayti Marvel Organic (Spring) Darjeeling Black Tea and 2014 Darjeeling Imperial Blend (Spring) Oolong Tea.

The way tea is stored can matter, too. Dugar shared that tea can lose its essential flavours and aroma if stored improperly. "Storage for teabags does not really matter, since the tea dust doesn't produce such a flavourful cup anyway. But loose leaf tea needs to be properly stored, since exposure to air is the biggest threat to freshness. The tea needs to be in an airtight container, in a dark, cool and dry place," Dugar said. 

Read the Teabox story here.