Los Angeles has seen a number of specialty cafes open in the last few years, with great beans and different brewing styles. What if you don't have the time, interest or patience to deal with the process of ordering from a snobby barista then actually drinking your coffee? Carry a few rounds of AeroShot Pure Energy, pellet-sized canisters that allow you to inhale the caffeine and get your fix faster than a double shot of espresso.

AeroShots are designed to be inhaled like oversized, stubby cigars. “You are puffing in a fine powder that falls out of the air and dissolves instantly in your mouth,” AeroShot's website explains.

Each “airborne shot of instant energy” contains 100mg of caffeine, or roughly the same amount of caffeine as a large cup of coffee. There is enough caffeine for six to eight puffs in each AeroShot, which means, like a video game character loading up on energy packs, you can “Take only the energy you need, and save the rest for later.” 

The AeroShot will be rolled out first in Boston and New York-area stores in early 2012, with more cities to come. Time reports that the expected price will be $2.99 per inhaler, or somewhere between the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbucks and a pour-over at most specialty coffee shops in town. If you're curious now, you can request a free sample on its website.

This isn't AeroShot inventor David Edwards's first inhalable food product. The Harvard professor also invented Le Whif, a similarly-designed, but much fancier-sounding device, that allows a breather to “enjoy the full taste of chocolate without the calories!” What's next, puff-able bacon and apple pies? We can only dream.

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