One of our investors took a trip to Amsterdam, well, just because. And he met these guys, Storz und Bickel, who happened to engineer the world's best "herbal" vaporizer, the Volcano. And while testing it out, he thought that it was the perfect solution to Grant's problem of finding a way to deliver the aroma of coffee or lavender to the guest, flavoring the dish through olfactory alone.

He was right—it is perfect for creating the aromas of herbs without also creating the burnt, acrid smell that would occur if you simply lit them on fire. It also made capturing the scents incredibly easy. Alinea has four or five Volcanos now, and uses them almost every day.

That is actually how Alinea helped Storz und Bickel prove a legitimate use for the vaporizer, for importation into the US. See, we really do use it for the herbs that are listed on their website. What do you use it for? You're welcome.

Pillow full of lavender vapor, providing aroma for a plate of elaborately prepared English peas:

Nick Kokonas co-founded Alinea with Grant Achatz in 2005, and works with the chef on Alinea-related projects, recruiting innovators to challenge and improve every aspect of the cooking and eating experience. A finance guy and web-oriented angel investor by trade, Kokonas got his start back in his teen years writing business software on an Apple II. You can grab the gorgeous Alinea cookbook here, or just visit Alinea's home page.

Taste Test is our weeklong tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl-Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.

So what makes the Volcano so great that people spend close to $700 on one? Well, first of all, it looks pretty awesome. If you didn't know what it was, you'd think it was some sort of German-designed kitchen equipment, which isn't too far off.

Each Volcano is built by hand by a small German company using top-notch parts. It's got a classic design to it that will make you want to leave it out rather than hide it in a desk drawer. But that's not why you buy it. You buy it because it gets you high really well.

You simply pack some vaporizables into the heating chamber and pop that into your Volcano, which has a handy digital readout to let you decide exactly how hot you want it running (it still stays cool to the touch on the exterior). You then attach a vapor balloon to the top of the heating chamber. Over the course of about 30 seconds, it fills up with vapor (not smoke, mind you). You then snap on a mouthpiece and pass the balloon around. It all sounds more complicated than it is.

So why is that so great? Well, it's all about the vapor. The Volcano heats your vaporizables up, but not hot enough for combustion. That means all the nasty tar and toxins in your herbs don't get released, just the active ingredients and flavors you're looking for. What results is a healthier and cleaner-feeling experience. It also gets you high as shit.

So is it worth the cash? Well, not really. But if you're a serious smoker and you have cash to burn, you will almost definitely absolutely love this thing and want to use it every day, not just because of the great experience but because of how good it looks. But if spending $700 on something to smoke with seems like a ludicrous and insane thing to do on your budget, it most definitely is. But hey, not everyone can afford a Porsche, either.

[Digital Volcano Vaporizer]