Check out the Dell Store on CNETMojitos are the perfect summertime drink: a traditional mojito is a little sweet and a little tart, making it a refreshing drink for a hot summer day. Like many drinks, there are a special set of glassware just for mojitos. The Mojito Glasses, available in a set of four from Sur La Table, look like long Collins glasses. They're usually a bit taller, though--you can still use a muddler to crush mint leaves against the bottom of the glass, but only just at 7 inches tall. If you don't have a muddler, you can substitute a long teaspoon to mash up mint leaves in these glasses. Each glass holds 13.5 ounces, plenty of room for the rum, mint leaves, lime juice, soda water, sugar, and ice in the glass.
The Mojito Glasses are dishwasher-safe, a must when cleaning up the sticky combination of sugar and lime juice. They're actually not the easiest glasses to clean by hand: they're very narrow, making it hard to slide a sponge inside, or to otherwise get clean. The set is priced at $12, though, if word gets out that you make a great mojito, you may need more than four glasses.
There's a certain tradition to the martini glass: the thin, long stem and shallow glass are meant to make it easy to get your drink cold and keep it that way. But nothing says that your martini glass actually has to be made of glass. The Stainless Steel Martini Glass, from Sur La Table, offers an alternative that can update your cocktail. They're dishwasher-safe, making cleanup simple. The glasses hold 8 ounces and are sized to match standard martini glasses, letting you swap them out with no worries. While there are many designer martini glasses on the market, incorporating colored glass, patterns and other design elements, the metallic sheen of the Stainless Steel Martini Glass still stands out.
There are a few alternative uses for the Stainless Steel Martini Glass beyond drinking: it can make an eye-catching dish to serve desserts in. A chocolate mousse or a few berries and cream can be kept perfectly chilled in these glasses. Sur La Table sells the martini glasses individually at $10 per glass. That price is steeper than that at which you can pick up glassware--but the Stainless Steel Martini Glass is much more resilient than its glass counterparts and is unlikely to need replacement because someone was careless about where he set his glass.
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Sky Mall)
If you're like me, then you probably have some chips in your wine glasses. I take this to be a good thing, because having chipped wine glasses means that I have friends over often enough to use them. But, outside of the communal environment chipped glasses imply, these jagged edges can be dangerous and unattractive. A simple fix is to toss the glass and buy another, but with the Crystal Saver Wine Glass Chip Remover, the toss and replace strategy may no longer be necessary.
The Chip Remover is a nickel file that's covered with diamond particles. To use it, you simply dip it in water and apply a few short strokes to chipped glassware, crystal, china, or ceramics, eliminating the chipped portion and making the glass available for another guest to use.
For being coated with diamond particles, the price is reasonable: you can buy one from the Sky Mall Web site for $24.95 (less when you buy it in bulk).
Drink ability.
(Credit: Sur La Table)Sometimes it is fun to think about what everyday objects would be like if they were just invented differently from the beginning. While I doubt the wheel would have ended up any other shape, some familiar household objects might have. One doesn't have to look far to realize the implications. Just consider chopsticks. While one side of the world was learning how to eat with a fork, the other collectively decided that using two slender rods was the best method. Objects that we are most familiar with are the ones that see the least innovation. But there is no reason why we cannot re-examine these simple tools.
The Bodum Rigi Double-Walled Stackable Glasses take a simple concept and apply it to a familiar object. The double wall forms a barrier that keeps drinks hot, yet cool to the touch. An added benefit is the reduction of condensation on these glasses. The result is a nice, clean cup that will not be too hot to pick up.
The glasses come in sets of two and are available in three sizes. With an 8-ounce, 11-ounce, or 15-ounce option, the stackable glasses provide a new way of thinking about drinking no matter what beverage you choose. And they're dishwasher-safe.
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MoMA Store)
Father's Day is right around the bend, so you can bet on seeing a lot of gift ideas in the coming days on store shelves, like fancy ties, coffee mugs, and classy bar-inspired dishes such as these Inside Out Martini Glasses.
When your dad pulls the glasses out of the box, he might give you the kind of eyebrow raise and forced, "Oooooh, nice," that accompanies the gifts that end up collecting dust in a storage shed, because they look like ordinary drinking glasses from the outside. But pick your favorite hard liquor to pour into them and they reveal the classic martini shape on the inside. They're also make of a blown glass that insulates the liquid, keeping it cooler longer.
Alissia Melka-Teichroew designed the Inside Out Martini Glasses and they are available at the MoMA Design Store as a set of two for $65.
I don't even start thinking about what I'm doing on a given day until I have a little caffeine in my system. The makers of Write-On Glassware have realized I'm not the only one and have come up with a coffee mug that you write on as you sip your morning brew. They also offer a tumbler--in case your morning routine focuses more on juice than on coffee or tea.
Both are glass with a special surface added on the outside. The surface comes preprinted with lines and times for a schedule, and you can write on it with just about any pencil. When you're done, just erase your notes. It does seem that pencil is the only recommended writing tool for the mug--pens and markers aren't as simple to erase. The Write-On Glassware comes with a miniature pencil.
The Write-On Glassware is ideal for notetaking: it's much harder to misplace than a scrap of paper. It appears that the mug is hand-wash only, but the glass surface is easy to clean. The mug is 3 inches by 3.5 inches, while the tumbler is 3 inches by 6 inches. Both are priced at $16.
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MoMA Store)
The flowers that come prearranged in vases are no better, often costing twice as much for half the flora. What's the solution? How about these spring-inspired bird and leaf vase-makers?
Not only do the festive gadgets eliminate the need for vases by transforming ordinary drinking glasses, but they also cut your costs when you visit the flower shop. Even a single bud held by the vase maker makes an attractive addition to the kitchen table.
The Bird and Leaf Vase Makers were created for the Destination: Brazil collection of the MoMA Design Store and are available on the store's Web site for $25.
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The Brooklyn Kitchen)
If you've read any of my blogs about coffee, you probably know that I'm in love with my French press coffeemaker. This isn't to say that I don't love all coffee, because I do, and will drink it regardless of where and how it was made. But my favorite cup of coffee comes from the French press, which gives it a rich and strong flavor that's hard to replicate in a drip coffee pot.
If you've ever used a French press before, you know that the downside of using them is that your cup inevitably has a layer of coffee sediment hanging out at the bottom of it. Because the coffee is filtered through a fine mesh screen instead of through filter paper, the coffee is left with a significant amount of grounds. If you ask me, the sediment is what gives French press coffee its delicious flavor. However, all of those grounds sometimes make the coffee gritty, and they inevitably end up pooling like chocolate syrup in the bottom rim of my coffee cup, making cleanup much more annoying.
This Santos Stove-Top Vacuum Coffeemaker apparently will still make the same strong-brewed cup that I love without all of the grounds. It's cool to watch too, relying on principles of physics for both the brewing and filtering.
As the water warms, the pressure builds up in the bottom compartment, forcing the boiling water into the awaiting coffee grounds up top. When the heat is removed, the vacuum created by the pressure drop in the lower chamber sucks the water back down, bringing the newly infused coffee flavor back down with it. It leaves the grounds behind, so the only thing you end up drinking is full-bodied coffee.
The Santos Coffeemaker costs about $80, and is available from the Brooklyn Kitchen's Web site.
Shot glasses come in every color and are available with just about any logo. The 12 Gauge Shot Glass still manages to stand out, however, with an appearance that isn't so different from a shot gun shell. This shot glass is red plastic, with a metal base, offering an advantage over other glasses; this shot glass is less likely to get broken when a friend slams one back. The side is stamped with the words, "12 Gauge Shot Glass," in white, and the glass appears similar to an empty shell--at least until you fill it up. The 12 Gauge Shot Glass measures approximately 3 inches by 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches, putting it on par with your average shot glass.
The 12 Gauge Shot Glass seems ideal for themed parties or events, or even as a gift to accompany a bottle of a friend's favorite liquor. Just the lines that you'll be able to use when pouring a round can make this particular shot glass a good choice. It brings new meaning to taking a round of shots, at the very least. A set of four of the shot glasses is available for about $19.
If you've ever run out of glassware at a party, you've probably racked your brain for something else you can use to serve drinks. Have you ever considered raiding your fruit basket? The ShotCarver allows you to remove the core of apples, pears and other fruit with a twist of your wrist, leaving just enough space inside for a shot. From the moment I saw the ShotCarver, I've been trying to decide what the best combination of liquor and fruit might be: some vodka in a tart green apple seems promising. Of course, you can use the ShotCarver to create other treats--rather than filling that apple with vodka, ice cream would make for a tasty treat. The makers of the ShotCarver also point out it makes infusing a watermelon or other large fruit absolutely simple.
The ShotCarver is relatively easy to clean, despite not being dishwasher-safe. The bright green handle makes twisting the ShotCarver and popping the core out of a piece of fruit relatively easy, as long as the fruit is firm. Peaches and other softer fruit don't really hold up well as shot glasses, unfortunately, but most melons do. The ShotCarver is priced at $11.99.
