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Drink

Estelle’s Colored Glass


Stephanie Summerson Hall named her collection of handblown glasses and cake stands after her grandmother Estelle, who frequented antique shops near her small town in South Carolina, collecting treasured pieces that she used at her Sunday dinners. Today, Estelle’s Colored Glass is having a moment both on and off of Instagram, thanks to Hall’s vintage-inspired stemware, which comes in a heady mix of pastels and jewel tones. I recommend a set of six in a rainbow of colors, but they are equally lovely in a matching single shade. ($175, estellecoloredglass.com) —Ashley Baker

Drink

Brooklyn Tea


A nutritionist friend suggested that we nix our afternoon Diet Coke habit (spare us your disdain) in favor of a fancy brew from the obsessive (in a good way) purveyor Brooklyn Tea. Fine. After tasting their Well-kanda blend, made of butterfly-pea flower and lemongrass, we’re converted—and not only because the beverage turns a pleasing shade of blue when you add a bit of lemon. It’s full of anthocyanins—the antioxidant compound also found in blueberries—tastes delicious, and delivers general feel-good vibes. And we’ll take all of those we can get. ($17 for a two-ounce pouch, brooklyntea.com) —Ashley Baker

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the keyboard.
Play

Flowkey and Melodics


I endured piano lessons as a child, and abandoned playing as an adult. But with little else to do these days, I figured it might be time to revisit the keyboard. No music teacher in their right mind would enter my home at the moment. But, luckily, there’s an app—two, actually—for that. I experimented with Melodics and found that it made practicing piano more like a video game than a chore. The one drawback: it’s computer-based, so it requires both an electric keyboard and a MIDI cable to connect. But Flowkey can work on your phone by picking up notes from any piano, analog or electronic, via the built-in microphone. Both improved my skills and made practicing scales, a task I once found laborious, a fun pastime. These apps won’t turn you into Mozart overnight, but they’ll get you started. (flowkey.com, melodics.com) —Gasper Tringale-White

Listen

Bookclub


Books lend themselves well to podcasting. Conversations about books, listening to books, interviews with authors about their books—it all just fits. On BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub, which has more than 200 archival episodes and new recordings, host James Naughtie speaks to the world’s best-known authors—Don DeLillo, Jay McInerney, Muriel Spark, Jonathan Franzen, Naomi Alderman, and Donna Tartt, to name a few—earning the show its reputation as the ultimate podcast for bibliophiles. (bbc.co.uk) —Bridget Arsenault

Issue No. 50
June 27, 2020
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Issue No. 50
June 27, 2020