Drinking

Water is great on its own, but considering that it lacks caffeine, it can be improved upon. Luckily, the process of doing just that is quite easy. Just heat some water and add ground coffee beans or tea leaves; soon, the resulting brew will be a flavorful beverage with a kick. It being such an easy procedure for creating coffee or tea, it can be easy to get carried away with minutiae. Sometimes, all that is needed is a means to heat the water and a separate something to steep either the tea or the coffee to be. Or just … Read more

There are a few obvious obstacles to overcome when considering starting a wine collection. First off, of course, is price. But that entry point has been obliterated as good wines can now be bought at almost any price. However, having a collection implies keeping a collection, which would thereby necessitate a place to keep the collection. Luckily, wine fridges are abundant and attainable. That leaves what is perhaps the biggest barrier, and one that is not so easily explained away: space limitations. If you have nowhere to store a collection, you have nowhere to store one. Simple as that, end … Read more

Making decisions isn't always the easiest thing to do in the morning. Coffee drinkers and tea lovers usually know what they want, but sometimes they want a change--coffee instead of tea or vice versa. Naturally, the process of making the newly desired brew would have to change, possibly ending with disastrous results because of the sleepy-eyed, precaffeine morning. Unless of course, the same familiar equipment was used.

Practically speaking, making a mug of coffee or a cup of tea requires different contrivances to get the job done. One could use a French press to extract all the goodness out … Read more

Coffee drinkers are a particular bunch. The easiest of the pack to deal with is, of course, the coffee drinker who prefers the beverage to be served in its natural state: black, no cream, no sugar. But when it comes to those who like to embellish coffee with particular proportions of milk, froth, and sometimes sugar, it is telling that there are names for such things, such as cappuccino and caffe latte (not to mention what the barista might mutter under his or her breath about a particularly precise concoction).

Those who would rather forgo the trip to the coffee … Read more

For many coffee drinkers, mornings before coffee aren't among life's beautiful moments. Harried and hurried, we ungracefully roll through our routine as best as we can. Along the way, things often get knocked over, bumped into, spilled, and splattered. Once we get to the magical machine, however, things get set straight in a hurry. (Assuming the automatic timer has kicked in.)

The Krups KM9000 Cup-On-Request Coffeemaker maximizes morning efficiency. Featuring a hidden tank carafe and a precise pouring system, the appliance helps to keep mornings moving on automatic. The adjustable-height drip tray accommodates multiple cup and mug sizes … Read more

If filmmaker David Cronenberg designed a dress, it would look like the DareDroid 2.0. This cocktail-making frock looks like the union of a Madonna outfit and a cyborg jellyfish injected with the DNA of a bartender.

The DareDroid didn't come from Chanel or Versace. It sprung from the minds of a design team called the Modern Nomads, a trio that consists of Marius Kintel, Anouk Wipprecht, and Jane Tingley--a hacker, fashion designer, and sculptor, respectively. Now it all starts to make sense.

The dress isn't all tubes and white fabric. There's a lot of tech tucked in. Medical tubing and bottles hold the liquid. Custom hardware makes the dispenser function.

Built-in sensors are triggered by proximity. Remain at a respectful distance and the dress will dispense a non-alcoholic beverage. Get too close and it will shut off. LEDs alert you to just how close you are.… Read more

One of the great mysteries in life is knowing what you want out of the fridge before you open it. This is not a food-specific dilemma: the same conundrum can and does occur when contemplating a wine selection. While it may be easy (or not) to decide upon red or white, deciding upon which red or white is another story entirely. It is something that we as a society have learned to live with. And as with other resignations, we try to make up for it by doing the little things.

Since it is apparent that the practice of open-door … Read more

Sometimes I play the game where you think of which famous celebrity you'd like to have a drink with. Bob Dylan would be awesome. Bill Gates probably makes a mean sloe gin fizz. For those of you who have Martha Stewart in mind, you can get one step closer to dream fulfillment with the Martha Stewart Cocktails app for the iPad.

The 99-cent app requires clicking through the age-restricted material warning when installing it. You just have to agree that you are over 17 to browse 20 recipes ranging from an Herbal Lillet Cooler to a Caiprinha, the Brazilian libation made with sugarcane liquor. In a nice pop culture collision, the White Russian recipe includes a shout out to the Dude from "The Big Lebowski."… Read more

Kitchen appliances get put through their paces certain times more than others. During the weekday, the stove might not see any action at all, but the microwave may be put into overdrive. Coffeemakers, on the other hand, see use every day of the week. (At least for those of us who cannot manage to make it out of the house without a cup.) However, even with a coffeemaker being an essential appliance, that doesn't mean it needs to perform exactly the same every day of the week. Monday morning comes, and that coffee might need to be ready to … Read more