Drinking

Elegant water kettle turns up the heat

Where there is water there is life; almost just as important there is also coffee and tea. It should come as little surprise then that the seemingly simple act of brewing and drinking caffeinated beverages can be carried out in so many ways. No matter what the preferred ritual happens to be, a means to boil water (or at least heat it) is necessary. Makes sense to have a good-looking device to handle the everyday task.

The Bodum Chambord Adjustable Water Kettle is constructed of plastic, silicone, polished stainless steel, and Bakelite; it provides an efficient way to prepare water … Read more

Create the perfect ice bucket for your beverage

When it comes down to it, an ice bucket is an ice bucket. When you're chilling champagne or wine for a special occasion, you want something a little fancier than a bucket. The Exaco Nice Ice Cooler offers you the option of creating an ice sculpture just for your bottled beverages. It's a mold that shapes ice to keep wine or other bottled beverages chilled for up to 6 hours at a time. Because you're starting with plain water, you can easily add citrus, flowers and any other ornaments that will freeze well to your ice sculpture--and … Read more

Ice maker always at the ready

Summer, fleeting as it is, is not the season to waste. Warm weather is made more enjoyable by sharing it with family and friends, and we gather together easily at the slightest hint of a backyard barbecue or pool party. It doesn't require much to get the good times going at a get-together: just a little food and some drinks will do the trick. As basic as that may be, there is still at least one other factor to consider.

Nobody wants to go on an ice run in the middle of a party. The easy-to-overlook detail, while seemingly … Read more

Summer = beer + robot that delivers beer

When it's too hot to even get off your ass and stick your head in the freezer, who ya gonna call?

PR2, that's who.

Engineers at Menlo Park, Calif., robot start-up Willow Garage have hacked their PR2 humanoid platform to make it deliver fridge-fresh, cool beer straight to their desks. The droid even wields a bottle opener for easy access.

PR2 can fold towels like nobody's business. While 11 PR2s are being loaned to universities around the world as part of an open-source research project, beer-fetching chops will doubtless make them more popular.

We've seen some … Read more

Soup and coffee from the same appliance

Some kitchen appliances are meant for bigger and better things. Leaving underachievers behind, toasters have transformed into toaster ovens and indoor grills have become combination grills and griddles. With all these appliances just begging to become combination appliances, it would only make sense that a coffeemaker could strive for something more and become a coffeemaker with the ability to also serve hot water on demand.

The Cuisinart CHW-12 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker with Hot Water System provides a logical combination of coffeemaker with a hot water dispenser. After all, at the heart of all coffeemakers is the ability to heat water, … Read more

With liberty and...beer robots for all?

Ah, the Fourth of July holiday weekend, when we celebrate our freedom by drinking beer. But really, how free are you if you have to get up and get your own beer?

Developer Steve Norris, who has an absolutely fabulous sense of humor, is hard at work on a Beverage Delivery System (BDS), a fully automated inter-home delivery system he hopes will solve the "problem that has plagued mankind since the invention of the canned beverage."

The system comprises two discrete elements working in tandem: Baxter, the transport component, and RoboFridge, a fixed location dispenser robot. You sit … Read more

A truly spill-proof cup for kids

A while back, I received a sample cup from Contigo, and this truly spill-proof travel mug quickly became a favorite in my house. Recently, the company asked me if I'd be interested in trying out its new line of kids' cups. You mean there might be a way to keep apple juice off my couch? Sign. Me. Up.

Like their grownup counterparts, the kids' cups are 100 percent BPA free, and the patented Autoseal lid is 100 percent leak- and spill-proof. The best part, in my opinion? The lid is a single piece. There's no valve that gets … Read more

Put a mini keg on your counter

Bringing a full-size keg isn't always possible: when you're camping, for instance, it can take up valuable space in your vehicle. Even at home, a full-size keg may be a tight fit. But the Avanti Mini Pub offers an elegant solution for tapping 5-liter mini beer kegs. The mini kegs fit inside the smaller-size beer tapper, letting you cool them down and pour beer anywhere. The beer tapper is a lightweight thermoelectric model that autodefrosts. It runs silently and can use any standard 5-liter mini keg. The exterior is stainless steel.

The Avanti Mini Pub stands 16 inches … Read more

Hot water for tea, anytime, anywhere

Tea drinkers are a specific bunch. Just the choices available for types of tea can be overwhelming. From oolong to puer, there is a variety for every palate, and that doesn't even account for how one might take it. With all these choices available it may seem like there is no chance for tea drinkers to ever come together in anything resembling a consensus about anything, but they all do have at least one thing in common: water.

Without water, there is no tea, and without hot water, there is no hot tea. That's pretty simple stuff one … Read more

Blender and juicer meet on the countertop

Sometimes we need all the help we can get when trying to maintain a healthy diet. We learn little tips and tricks that help us get through our day. Perhaps we don't walk by that co-workers desk that always has always has treats and candy available for all (all meaning you), or maybe on the drive home, we take the long way so as to avoid as many fast-food eateries as possible. The worst though is when we are at home, safely ensconced in our own dominion, and we're done in by something so trivial that we didn'… Read more