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Off-Topic Links

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Cigars
Coffee
Hookahs
Reading
Tea

Cigars

Baranow's is an Australian cigar retailer. For those outside the US, this is a good source for Cuban cigars.
http://www.cigar1.com.au/

C.Gars Ltd. is an English cigar retailer, and a premier source for Cuban cigars. (As with Baranow's, this link is for non-US residents.)
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/

Holt's Cigar Co. is a large retailer from Philly. They offer singles, and custom samplers.
http://www.holts.com/

The Internet Cigar Group is one of the online hubs of the cigar world. This site also includes the ASC FAQ, which is a definitive source of information for cigar newbies.
http://www.cigargroup.com/

JR Cigars is the largest cigar retailer on the net. Great selection, and the lowest prices around.
http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?page=cigars

Rafael Bernardo's Home Page is probably the first place to look for anyone trying to gain some in-depth knowledge of Cuban cigars.
http://www.mycigarsite.com/

The Warf: “As we enter our 26th year of business, we strive to continue our commitment to our customers and guests by providing the best selection of cigars, pipes, and other smoking accessories.”
http://www.thewharf.com/

Coffee

Casteel Coffee, out of Evanston, Illinois, offers a good selection of roasted coffees, either whole bean, or ground to specification. All their coffees are certified kosher.
http://www.coffeebeansroasted.com/illret.html

Coffee Bean Corral is the original home roasting online store, offering green coffee beans at great prices, as well as roasters and other accessories.
http://www.coffeebeancorral.com/

The Coffee FAQ has been called the unofficial FAQ of alt.coffee. Full of information for the budding aficionado.
http://coffeefaq.com/coffaq.htm. There is an alternative, most active version over http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/.

Coffee Geek is the place to go for articles, reviews, and discussion. No one should buy a coffee maker without consulting this site.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/

JL Hufford features high end espresso machines from Jura-Capresso, Rancilio, and Saeco, as well as whole bean coffee and chai tea.
http://www.jlhufford.com/

Coffee Wholesalers offers green and fresh-roasted coffee beans and accessories, with some of the best prices in the business.
http://www.coffeewholesalers.com/index.htm

The Home Espresso FAQ is one of the better espresso FAQ's out there. Originally posted to alt.coffee.
http://gawlowski.com/matt/html/espresso_faq.html

Peet's Coffee and Tea is a California coffee shop that has a nice selection of fresh-roasted coffees.
http://www.peets.com/stor/1.0_index.asp

Pumphrey's of Newcastle is a good place to buy coffee if you live in the UK. They offer tea as well, but it's their coffee selections that are truly excellent.
http://www.pumphreys.co.uk/

Riley's Coffee and Fudge is a great place to get roasted coffee. A good source for Jamaica Blue Mountain.
http://www.rileys-coffee.com/Store.htm

Sweet Maria's is the hub of the home roasting community. A large selection of green coffee beans, roasters, some brewing equipment, lots of accessories, and informational pieces.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/

Terra Café et Thé Lteé is a Canadian importer and roaster. Website in english and french.
http://www.terracaf.ca/en/index.html

Whole Latte Love is a great place to buy espresso machines and accessories. Features reviews as well.
http://www.wholelattelove.com/

Hookahs

Custom Hookas offers flavored hookah tobacco and custom hookah pipes in all styles and colors.
http://www.customhookahs.com/

Hookah and Shisha Central carries a full line of products, at very good prices. Their "discounted items" section looks especially good.
http://www.hookah-shisha.com/

The Hookah Lovers Yahoo group is the hub of the online hookah community. Runs about 200 posts a month, with good participation from online vendors.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hookahlovers/

The Hookah is another good online source, with a full selection. Makes the claim that they offer the best quality hookahs on the 'Net.
http://www.thehookah.com/index.htm

Social Smoke, out of Dallas, Texas, sells high quality hookah pipes,shisha, coals, and accessories. You can customize your Hookah order by choosing the color and style of accessories.
http://www.socialsmokehookah.com/

Hookah Company carries a large selection of Hookah, charcoal, shisha and hookah accesories.
http://www.hookahcompany.com/

Hookah-Tobacco.net offers a large selection of hookah tobacco brands and flavors.
http://www.hookah-tobacco.net/

Reading

221B Online is one of the many sites for fans of Sherlock Holmes. Goes into great detail, but does not provide online texts.
http://calibercomics.com/SHERLOCK/SH221B-online.htm

Bookstacks is a free online books site, that also features free Microsoft Reader books.
http://www.bookstacks.org/

The Camden House Sherlock Holmes site provides beautiful online versions of every Sherlock Holmes book, with all original illustrations.
http://www.bakerstreet221b.de/canon/index.html

The Cold Mountain site contains a few selections of the poetry of Han Shan, a Chinese Hermit who was writing modern poetry a thousand years ago.
http://hjem.get2net.dk/civet-cat/poetry-stories/cold-mountain.htm

Cthuugle is a search engine devoted to horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. A cute parody, and also a great resource for fans.
http://www.cthuugle.com/

The E.A. Poe Society of Baltimore boasts a wealth of information on Poe, including online texts of all his works, both fiction and non-fiction.
http://www.eapoe.org/index.htm

The H.P. Lovecraft Archive is a great resource for fans of this pulp writer. It includes extensive links to online texts.
http://www.hplovecraft.com/

The Life of J.R.R. Tolkien is a short biography from the Tolkien Society home page.
http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biog_frame.html

Tea

Devotea sells loose-leaf tea, as well as an impressive selection of accessories, including tons of high-quality cozies, teapots, service, etc.
http://devotea.com/

Harney & Sons has an excellent selection of teas, especially single plantations, with accessories, and informational sections.
http://www.harney.com/

Imperial Tea Court is an online vendor that offers a good selection, and lots of informational material. This is also a great place to find quality teapots, including Yixing.
http://www.imperialtea.com/

Mark T. Wendell Tea Company sells many good blends, as well as single varietals. Their speciality is their Hu-Kwa tea, which is a type of Lapsang Souchong.
http://www.marktwendell.com/index.html

Peet's Coffee and Tea is a California coffee shop that offers some excellent loose-leaf tea.
http://www.peets.com/stor/1.0_index.asp

The rec.food.drink.tea FAQ is posted weekly on Usenet, but can be found at this site. This is a wonderful introduction to the world of tea.
http://pages.ripco.net/~c4ha2na9/tea/faq.html

SpecialTeas offers as wide a selection as Upton, with equally low prices. A good source for blends.
http://www.specialteas.com/

Tea Health is, predictably, a site dedicated to information relating to tea's health benefits. Includes the latest research, and offers a chance to get email updates.
http://www.teahealth.co.uk/

The Tea Series is an ongoing project written by our own Bear Graves. It's a good primer on the finer points of tea drinking. This link will take you to the first article. Navigation is on the left.
http://www.aspipes.org/tea/tea.html

Upton Tea Imports is probably the most popular online tea vendor, offering a large selection and good prices. They feature many informational pieces and FAQ's on their site. This is also the place to find Chatsford Teapots.
http://www.uptontea.com/