ople have been drinking wine for 8,000 years. Beer goes back 5,000 years. Distilled spirits, about 2,000 years. That’s 15,000 collective years of drink hacking, yet in 2015 we’re still finding new ways to improve the basic boozing experience.
Beer pong was a bright idea, but the following seven gadgets speak to real innovation. They’re all imbued with clever engineering, should appeal to the nerdier, geekier drinkers among us.
Coravin Model Two
Coravin is a must for anyone who’s serious about collecting— drinking—wine. Using a medical grade needle, this “wine access” system lets you pour a glass of vino without ever disturbing the cork in any meaningful (let alone negative) way. The upshot is you can enjoy a glass of your rarest wine today, then have a second glass six months from now. And then a third glass in 2017. And so on.
Step One: Attach Coravin to your bottle (note: the system only works with natural corks). Step Two: Insert the needle, tilt the bottle over your glass as you would to pour normally, press the trigger.
This injects inert argon gas into the bottle, displacing the bottle’s oxygen, forcing wine back through the needle, into your glass. Step Three: Extract the needle. The cork reseals perfectly, ensuring the remaining wine never suffers oxidation. Argon for the win.
The $350 Coravin Model Two updates earlier versions by promising a more secure fit on bottles, as well as a 20 percent faster pour thanks to a new thin-wall needle. I’ve tested the system over the course of two months, can testify it works as advertised. The oenophile elite swear by Coravin, as well. It really is a game-changer.
Medea Vodka
OK, OK. It’s a bit showy. And, sure, you can probably find more preciously crafted grain-based vodka than Holl’s $40 Medea. But look at it. It’s got a programmable, ticker-tape D display. In blue.
If you’re a common heathen, you can program your message (up to 99 characters) with buttons directly on the bottle. But if you’re a boss, you can program the D with an Android or iOS app. The app holds 10 messages total, the ticker will scroll continuously for 45 minutes before shutting down to save battery life.
The vodka itself won a award at the 2015 s Angeles International Spirits Competition—this from a blind tasting that didn’t influence judges with all the D bling. But you know what? o cares. It’s vodka. Once you mix it with enough Kahlua or dirty olive water, no one can tell vodka from rubbing alcohol. But we know this is good vodka. And it comes in a dazzling package. And it has its own mobile app. So get up on that.