Thursday, September 28th, 2006


News28 Sep 2006 11:17 am by nic

metal drink coolerThe management of water has become almost as crucial an environmental cause as carbon emissions or deforestation. And we’d like to think that this, and this alone, was the impetus for designing Piet Hein’s drink cooler.

Sadly, there’s no such eco-romance to be found behind the invention of this liquid-filled, stainless steel ’super egg’.

It would seem, instead, that the inventors were more concerned about the epidemic of watery drinks – the victims of fast-melting ice (or slow drinking partygoers).

It’s a novel idea, but we can see a handful of negatives that might keep us wasting more megaliters on old-fashioned ice:

  • Those of us used to swilling around the icy remains of our drinks are in for a rude shock when, instead of the splish-splash of water, we’re greeted instead by a handful of broken glass, shattered by a stainless steel, egg-sized wrecking ball;
  • There’s no better way to subtly point out that it’s your buddy’s shout than by chewing your ice in front of them while they continue to avoid the next trip to the bar; and
  • For some of us, the melted ice in our gin is the only worthwhile hydration we get…

But this is sure to be a hit with gadget-obsessed cocktail partygoers everywhere. And those genuinely concerned by the rampant misuse of water for cooling whisky.

Drink Cooler by Piet Hein [via Luxist]

News28 Sep 2006 10:28 am by nic

Monks of Buckfast Abbey

A serene English monastery hardly seems a plausible birthplace for Britain’s anti-social behavior epidemic.

But Scottish authorities have tracked all society’s ills to the monks of Devon’s Buckfast Abbey and their quaint alcoholic yield – Buckfast Tonic Wine.

Brewed since the 19th century by these Benedictine monks, and affectionately known by its loyal following as ‘Buckie’, the sweet, thick tonic is 15% AbV, high in caffeine and particularly popular among underage drinkers – hence the public concern.

And there’s no doubt, we’re sure, that bored, disillusioned youth would be far better behaved, more scholarly and home before dark if they were instead taken to drinking beer, rum, whisky or colorful, sweet pre-mix spirits.

How lucky to be Scotland. While communities of disaffected kids the world over battle meth addiction and petrol sniffing, they’re concerned instead with this peculiar (and actually quite vile) boutique Benedictine brew.

What next? The war on ginger wine?

Binge drinking - the Benedictine connection [BBC]

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