This unique Italian mixer is an amalgamation of thirty different fruits, spices and herbs. It is an absolute staple in Italy, where you can find it in every bar and store in the country. Apparently it has now made its way to the U.S. so be on the lookout. Drink it straight, mix it with juices or liquors and enjoy. You’ll find a handful of cocktail recipes on the website.

Aperol’s unique flavour and colour is achieved through a subtle blend of bitter orange, gentian, rhubarb and an array of herbs and roots - using a secret recipe that has been unchanged since its first creation in 1919.

Aperol [Product Link]

Readers down south may recognize this traditional Creole dish from the pro smokers over at Cigar Review. Grab a giant pot and a list of ingredients too long to reproduce here and get cracking on your very own jambalaya! Feel free to add your own twists, this dish is all about imagination and combination.

Chef Phil’s Jambalaya [Cigar-Review]

Football fans (we call it ’soccer’ here in the States) rejoice! Drop a few brewskies in this cleverly disguised refrigerator and you’re all set–just make sure you tell your pals about it so you don’t end up headbutting a ball full of beer and electronics.

This cool beer-ball is right in time for the FiFa World Cup! This football-shaped mini-beer refrigerator keeps your drinks chilled and fresh. The beer ball can be connected to the mains or to the lighter of the car and is not just meant for drinks but can also maintain some of your food-stuff including sandwiches or calamaries hot.

Beer Ball Refrigerator [Cool Buzz]

A shout out to the ladies and metrosexuals in the house: a Swiss army knife just for you! The Useful Chick Stuff Company of Sydney, Australia has stuck everything you could possibly need to look your best on-the-go inside a cute pink case.

The Miss A kit is basically a pink Swiss Army Knife optimized for the girl on the go—it has a flashlight, keychain, needle and thread, safety pin, corkscrew, mirror, tweezers, perfume bottle, bottle opener, screwdriver, scissors, ruler, nail file, pill box and even a knife.

Miss A Kit [Cool Hunting]

Dealing with a boss (or multiple bosses) can be a hassle. You can sit there and take the orders they bark at you, or you can be proactive and manage them like your other responsibilities. Here are some tips on how to do just that:

Rare are the bosses who, when asked for their advice or their decision, will use the psychological ping-pong approach of retuning the question to the person who asked.

And their opinion may not always be that of a genius or a visionary. However, once given, the opinion becomes a constraint: was it an order? So, if you don’t want your boss’s opinion to thwart your achievements, to slow the speed of decision-making, or cloud the viewpoint, then don’t ask for it. Best of all, don’t ask if you don’t need her opinion.

10 rules to manage your boss [Rediff]

21C, a super-stylish new hotel in Kentucky, is simply awesome. If you’ve ever had the desire to pee while staring at strangers from behind a two-way mirror, this is the place for you. You’ll also find a host of other fantastic amenities including full-sized bars of soap. $209-$359 per night, $119 on the weekend if you’re a local.

From the minute guests arrive to the time they leave, it’s obvious that 21C is no ordinary hotel.

Each room has two sterling silver julep cups, fresh sprigs of mint and a bottle of bourbon — a mint julep waiting to be made.

Arty, modern 21C offers feast for the senses [Courier-Journal]

Breaking news in the wonderful world of wine today: those lovely oak barrels your favorite wines are so pain-stakingly aged in may be completely worthless. Check out the full study and discussion over at Vinography.

Barrels are obsolete. Not necessary. Irrelevant. And, by the way, far too expensive.

At least that’s what some winemakers, including one fairly accomplished one whose wines I’ve reviewed here, are saying. The oak trees of the world are no doubt breathing a collective sigh of relief but I’m sure this latest pronouncement will bring up all the usual questions and concerns about what is “real” wine and what is not.

Oak barrels are obsolete? [Vinography]

Does your life suffer from a lack of James Bond gadgetry? Ease your pain with this dastardly suitcase that will deliver one hell of a shock to anyone who tries to steal your laundered money–err, your ‘classified documents’.

The 80,000 volt Attache Case. Otherwise known as the case of the shocking case. Steal it and suffer. Scorched. Sizzled. BBQd. Ouch. Available in brown or black. €899.00 ($1082.00).

80,000 volt attache case [Red Ferret]

From AudioMonger.com - Staff writer Mark Manson has a review of Show Your Bones, the latest effort from indie rockers The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The review is short and sweet, just like the album. Enioy–after the drop.

More…

Whether your poison of choice is the classic Jäger Bomb or the harsher Red Bull and vodka, apparently drinking alcohol with an energy drink can make you feel less like wino and more like “why not?”

Study results show that drinking alcohol and Red Bull together significantly reduces the perception of headache, weakness, dry mouth and impairment of motor coordination. Red Bull does not, however, significantly reduce alcohol-related deficits on objective measures of motor coordination and visual reaction time. People who combine alcohol with energy drinks may be at even greater risk for problems such as automobile accidents because they believe they are unimpaired.

Alcohol, Red Bull, and the perception of buzz [Boing Boing]