We climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and stepped into a room with sacks of coal samples lining the walls like sandbags.

NEWYORKER: Green Giant

Its funky little tasting room offers a friendly welcome (and free samples), plus a roster of all-organic brews, ranging from malty Extra Special Bitter to smooth Heatherdale Ale.

BBC: Canada��s creative island escape

In one room a group of young men are looking over some Theory menswear samples.

WSJ: A Homegrown Fashion Mogul

Similarly, pass up the free food samples at the supermarket and the jar of jelly beans or cookies in the coffee room at the office (unless they're in individual packages).

FORBES: Magazine Article

Thirty seconds later, it might seem more like one guy in a vast room, skidding between machines set too far apart, trying to trigger samples and stab a few notes out of a guitar or spit some unintelligible lyrics into a microphone on his way toward the drum machine.

NPR: A Spaz-Funk Marching Band's Riot of Unpredictability

Crucially, the samples are easy to make, the results are reproducible and the process takes place at room temperature.

ECONOMIST: Space-age soot