Generally, you don't want to buy a set (this applies to most consumer goods) as they usually are compiled of subpar or superfluous items, aimed for the uninformed beginner who just want to get started, but instead pick good stuff yourself.

• I'd say buy a shaker from one of the places mentioned here - buy a 'Tin on Tin' Boston shaker. Cobbler shakers need to be kinda expensive before they're good, while Boston shakers are great, even if the machining isn't ultra precise. They are also simpler to work with and clean.
  
  
• Downside is that you are going to need a strainer for a boston shaker as well. The one I see recommended the most is the OXO Hawthorne strainer (Link) - which I own as well, it's great and cheap. Most other hawthorne strainers are fine too, as long as they are big enough to cover the shaker, and won't fall in.
  
  
• If he doesn't have one already, I would also get him a fine strainer. This one you can buy from any kitchenware store / amazon, and it doesn't need to be fancy.
  
  
• He will probably also need a measuring device. If he likes showmanship, get him some jiggers from one of the cocktail sites, or if he's more practical, get an OXO Clear measuring cup (Link). I would reccomend the latter to any home bartender. For a compromise between the two, there's also the slightly fancier steel measuring cup (Link) or the OXO Stainless double jigger (Link).
  
  
• Finally, I'd also recommend some kind of juicer, as most drinks contain some kind of acid, usually citrus. Personally, I like the Chef'n'FreshForce Citrus Juicer (Link), but others are available.
  
  With a Shaker, a Strainer, (a Fine Strainer), (a Juicer), and a Jigger, you can make pretty much any shaken drink. If you want, you can look into a muddler as well. I'd recommend staying away from buying anything expensive. Best deal is buying a french rolling pin and chopping it into two muddlers (Link).
  __
  
  Even though shaken drinks are the majority, most of my favourites are still stirred drinks. If you want you can splurge on a mixing glass from one of the cocktail sites which are pretty but really expensive, or you can check IKEA. Their VARDAGEN or BENUNGE cups are pretty perfect for this (Link). He'll also need a cocktail spoon for stirring. Either buy one from the cocktail sites (Avoid those with the red tip), or find a neat pair of chopsticks. The chopsticks are untraditional, especially in the west, but are functionally as good or better as a spoon for most use cases.
  
  __
  
  Apart from gear to make cocktails, one thing which is always nice to get, is glasses for serving them in. I don't know if this applies to your dad, but some fancy stemmed glasses are always cool to get.
  
  
  
  If you're in Europe, check out Cocktailkingdom.co.uk or Cocktailian.de. Otherwise, Amazon is great (remember to check .co.uk and .de for better deals). I bought my shaker and cocktail spoon from Homestia.com, and am happy with them; good quality, great price, and arrived in a fancy box. The only downside is that I think they ship from China, so it might not arrive prior to christmas.

I've made some slight modifications to this, mostly to make it easier to follow. I've also included steps that should be quite obvious to someone who's done any homebrewing before, but I wish someone had told me when I first started.

I'd link to the original, for the sake of attribution, but the user who posted this deleted their account not long after I wrote everything down.

This will produce a sweet fruit-mead (or melomel). WARNING this will be far more alcoholic than it tastes, and should not be consumed if you've recently taken antibiotics, or suffered gastric distress, as the yeast culture will still be alive, and will happily colonize your intestines if your gut microbiome is too fucked up.

Equipment: Most of this stuff will be a good deal cheaper at your local homebrew store, but I've included amazon links (also to the yeast).

At least 2 (3 is better, for reasons we'll get to) 1-gallon jugs (I don't recommend scaling this up), glass preferred. Add an extra jug for each additional batch. This one includes a drilled stopper and airlock

Drilled stoppers (or carboy bungs) and airlocks, non-drilled rubber stoppers.

An autosiphon and food-safe tubing.

Food-safe sanitizing solution (I recommend StarSan).

An electric kettle with temperature selector is useful, but not needed.

If you want to bottle it rather than just keeping a jug in your fridge:

Empty beer or wine bottles (just save your empties), capping or corking equipment, caps or corks, and a bottling wand.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs (1130g) honey, clover recommended.

A cup (approximately 250ml) or so of fruit (I recommend blackberries, and I strongly recommend against cherries, other recipes have worked for me, but this yields a very medical flavor with cherries).

1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (a champagne yeast notable for its hardiness, its ability to out-compete other microorganisms, and its high alcohol tolerance).

Optional: potassium sorbate (to reduce yeast activity when our ferment is done), pectic enzyme (aka pectinase - for aesthetic purposes). Both are also available in bulk.

Process:

Day 1:

Mix sanitizing solution with clean water at specified proportions in one of your jugs, filling the jug most of the way. Stopper it, shake it. Remove stopper, set it down wet-side-up (to keep it sterile), pour the fluid to another jug. There will be foam left behind, this is fine, don't bother to rinse it or anything. At low concentrations this stuff is totally fine to drink, and won't ruin your fermentation or flavor.

Add honey to jug, all of it.

If you have a kettle, and your jug is glass, heat water to around 160F (71 Celsius), pour a volume into your jug roughly equal to the amount of honey present. Fix sterile stopper to jug. Shake until honey and water are thoroughly combined. The heat will make it FAR easier to dissolve the honey. Set aside for an hour or so while it cools. Add clean water 'til mostly full, leaving some room for fruit and headspace.

If you're missing a kettle, or using a plastic jug, this is gonna be a little harder. Fill most of the way with clean water (I recommend using a filter) leaving some room for fruit and headspace. Fix sterile stopper, shake 'til honey and water are thoroughly combined. This will take a while, and you will need to shake VERY vigorously.

At this point, you should have a jug mostly-full of combined honey and water. To this, add fruit (inspecting thoroughly for mold, don't want to add that). Then dump in a single packet of the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, don't bother rehydrating it first or anything, it'll be fine going straight in. Add pectic enzyme if you have it (this does nothing to the flavor, it just makes the end product less cloudy). Stopper it up, shake it again. This jug now contains your "must" (pre-ferment mead).

Pour some sterilizing fluid in a bowl, put a carboy bung/drilled stopper in the bowl, with an airlock. Ensure full immersion. Let sit for a minute. Replace stopper with your bung/drilled stopper, affix airlock. Fill airlock with clean water, sanitizing fluid, or vodka. Rinse the stopper, fix it to your jug of sanitizing fluid.

Place must-jug in a dark place, I recommend a cabinet or closet.

Days 2-7:

Retrieve jug, give it a little jostle. Nothing so vigorous as to get your mead into the airlock, but enough to upset it. This is to release CO2 buildup, and to keep any part of the fruit from drying out. The foaming from the CO2 release may be very vigorous. Do this over a towel for your first batch. If the foam gets into your airlock, clean your airlock and reaffix it. Perform this jostling procedure at least once per day, more is better.

Day 8:

Final jostling, I recommend doing this in the morning.

Day 9:

let it sit, we want the sediment to settle.

Day 10: Time to get it off the sediment

Shake sterilizing fluid jug. Affix tubing to siphon. Put the siphon in the sterilizing fluid, shake the jug a little just to get the whole siphon wet. Siphon fluid into either a third container or a large bowl. This is all to sterilize both the inside and outside of your siphoning system.

Remove siphon from jug. Give it a couple pumps to empty it of any remaining fluid. Place siphon in your mead jug, leaving the end of the tubing in sterilizing fluid while you do this.

Take the jug that you just siphoned the sterilizing fluid from. Dump what fluid remains in it. Place the end of the tubing in this jug, then siphon the mead into it. Make no attempt to get the last bit of mead into your fresh container, it's mostly dead yeast and decomposing fruit.

Add potassium sorbate if you have it, stopper the jug, place it in your fridge.

Clean the jug you started in. Clean your siphon and tubing.

Day 11:

Let it sit

Day 12 or later: time to transfer again, or bottle it.

If you no longer have a jug full of sterilizing fluid, make one.

Repeat the earlier steps to sterilize the siphoning system, with a bottling wand attached to the end of the tubing if you want to bottle.

Sterilize your bottles or a clean jug, either with fluid or heat.

Siphon mead either into your bottles or jug. Stopper/cap/cork when done.

Put your jug/bottles in the fridge.

The yeast culture is still alive, and will continue to ferment. The fridge, and optional potassium sorbate, will merely slow this down. I recommend drinking any bottles within two months, to avoid a risk of bursting bottles. The mead should already be tasty at this point, but usually tastes much better after a couple more weeks.

EDIT: Fixed the formatting up a bit.

Speakers will make your life so much better. I'd recommend getting a shower speaker too, your flatmates will love you.

A door stop is the right answer.

If you get a memory foam mattress topper your life will be so much better. It makes any bed amazing, and, although they aren't particularly cheap, they can last a very long time. I have this one

Get some good quality pens and books of paper. You don't want the refil pads as they always fall apart sooner or later, get some which have metal binding on one side. For pens I always got a box of these or these. They make the vast amounts of notes you need to take much better.

Don't buy the recommended reading until you have checked how many copies the library has. There's a good chance you'll be able to read them enough without paying for them, or search Bookname.pdf into google and it will probably be there.

Pint glasses are very useful things to have, but I found it added a nice touch to my flat if they were all borrowed from pubs.

get a multipack of playing cards on the cheap from amazon. You'll probably get through a fair few packs in first year. Some poker chips were a nice thing to own as well. In 3rd year I got Cards Against humanity as well, and it is a very good game for predrinks

Get minimum 1 good frying pan, 1 good saucepan, a good wooden chopping board, a good chefs knife, a baking sheet, and a colander.

Get a bottle opener like this one and you will have hours of fun pinging the caps at people

I didn't use mine much in 1st year, but all the other years of uni my bike was a great thing to have. It allows you to shop further away (so cheaper) and reduces your reliance on public transport. It also means you can get out of your area of the city occasionally, which is nice.

A french press means you can make a whole pot of great coffee for your flatmates when you are all getting up after a heavy night, at which point they might crown you or start worshiping you or some shit

I like the cheese platter you might also add some different types of crackers. the two will cleanse your pallet.

For the wines

Merlot is a middle of the road wine, not sharp not sweet good for almost any meat or main dish. would also go well with some Mexican foods

Cabernet is sharp and strong, good for the red sauces Italian foods and dishes strong flavors.

Pinot Noir: is a very nice wine between the mellow Merlot and the sharp cabernet. it is a little sweet and just a tad stronger than the Merlot. It would actually pair with a dessert if need be.

Chardonnay: there is Oaked and unbaked chardonnays. the Oaked uses the Large bulb open topped glass to allow some of that smoky oak to dissipate. the un-oaked are much easier to drink for most. I like Josh brand chardonnay it's smooth and just a slight sweetness to it. very very smooth.

Also, just in the last few years. I learned that the glass really does make a huge difference. for white wine such as an un-oaked chardonnay these are wonderful!

[White wine Chardonnay glasses]
(https://www.amazon.com/Riedel-VINUM-Viognier-Chardonnay-Glasses/dp/B000P1SA5G/ref=sr_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1487125952&sr=1-7&keywords=reidel+chardonnay+wine+glasses)

for red wines these work wonderfully I have these
[red wine]
(https://www.amazon.com/Riedel-Extreme-Cabernet-Merlot-Glasses/dp/B001D1WUZ8/ref=sr_1_8?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1487125759&sr=1-8&keywords=reidel+wine+glasses)


Pinot Gris: dryish sweetish would work well for appetizers, desserts, seafood etc.

Pinot Grigio: sweet soft flavor, would be great for desserts and appetizers. would also pair well with chicken and fish dishes

sauvignon Blanc: fresh fruity but not too sweet. great for seafoods, chicken, appitizers, desserts, chicken, etc...

Moscato: sugary sweet. way too sweet for me! more a wine for those that don't really like wine or to drink wine.

now for your cheese, I would maybe pick a few bottle to sample stay with one color maybe red...

a mixture of cheeses and crackers would be wonderful to sample the different flavors of wines. It can really help you to learn which wines you like. and don't like. you can get rubber corks you can vacuum into the bottle that will keep it fresh

like these: this is what I use
[Vacuvin wine stopper]
(https://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Bottle-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE/ref=sr_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1487125168&sr=1-7&keywords=wine+stopper)

I like your appetizer idea. that sounds yummy..

the blue cheese butter you an make way ahead I freeze mine wrapped in plastic wrap. when I want to use it, I pull from the freezer slice a few tablespoon off and set on a plate to warm. I let it warm to room temp that way when I put it on the hot steak it melts YUMMYY!

I think she is a Very lucky girl to have someone want to work this hard to make a very special dinner and evening for her.

wine, cheese crackers and some soft music!! oh yah!

Yo, I'm cheap.

SET OF THREE FRICKING HEAD SCRATCHERS! These things work like a dream, for serious, and you can share 2 with 2 friends! (Someone bought me these already.)

There are a whole ton of these Yankee car air fresheners for $3.45 plus shipping!

Obvs, this $0.90 bottle opener ring

I also have/have had a lot of that cheap jewelery on my list that comes from Hong Kong or wherever, but I think this red camera charm necklace is REALLY cute, and I'd actually wear it.

This necklace is also cute.

Good contest! I'm always looking for under $5 products that I'll ACTUALLY USE, not just ones I add on to my list for the sake of winning a contest.

Edit! I see that you have a REALLY cool fricking dog! There are a lot of these cool LED collar lights to keep your pup visible on night-time walks. This one is a little but over $5 with shipping, but if you look around, I think there are other ones that might be under.

Here are my pups:

Lulu's tricks!

Bonus photos of BOTH dogs ♥ ♥ ♥:

• My dogs starring in "The Cheer Up Committee"
  
  
• Hipster Lulu
  
  
• Lulu in booty shorts and a sports bra
  
  
• Lulu with a large toy she was gifted
  
  
• Compilation photo, with one of Lulu's silly upside down faces!
  
  
• The girls, relaxing together

First off, you should add me on Steam (I'm wigriff everywhere, but it might show J.C.Wigriff on Steam).

Questions:

• What is your favorite Nintendo series? What about your favorite Nintendo character? And your all time favorite Nintendo game?
  
  
• What are your favorite non-Nintendo titles on PC or other platforms?
  
  
• I walk into your tavern and lean up against the bar. You walk over to me and ask "What can I get for you." I look at you intently, and doing my best cool guy impersonation, say "Impress me." What drink do you make?
  
  
• What's your favorite subreddit?
  
  Stocking Stuffer Ideas:
  
  Since this is totally subjective, and you haven't provided criteria for who we're buying stocking stuffers for (Mom, Kids, Geeky Cousin Ted, etc.), I'm going to make my list very general so that it would fit anyone.
  
  
• Cool Refrigerator Magnet Poetry Set
  
  
• A USB Charging Station
  
  
• A couple nice, colored, braided USB charging cables, because who couldn't always use an extra charger?
  
  
• A scented candle, because everybody loves scented candles.
  
  
• Premium All-in-one Wine Opener, Bottle Opener and Foil Cutter. Hell, it even comes with a lifetime money back guarantee.
  
  It was very nice to meet you. :)

I generally recommend getting great accessories, instead of wine itself. I've often been gifted wine by people who aren't into it; of course, I completely appreciate the gifts, but often they're just not to my taste.

Here are a few accessories that I love, that I think would be a great gift for someone who doesn't have them:

• Decanter
  
• High-quality double-hinged corkscrew (doesn't have to be expensive; I use this one at work and it's awesome
  
• An Ah So opener, if he's into older wine.
  
• Ice buckets or marble wine chillers
  
• Nice stemware
  
  If you must get wine, I will say that the only wine I'm always happy to receive as a gift is Champagne.

I'd search for a Bartenders Kit - something like this - to get a good sense of what equipment you might want for the types of drinks you'll be making. I definitely wouldn't buy one of those kits because they're almost always crap, but just for reference.

Basics that I have in my bar are:

• mixing tins (I like the full-metal ones, others prefer the Boston Shakers w/ the glass)
  
• a stainless bar strainer
  
• a layering spoon/tool (yes, I have the turtle)
  
• a long cocktail spoon for stirring drinks
  
• some cocktail rimmers for rimming margaritas, lemon drops, etc.
  
• some jiggers for your higher-end stuff and pour-spouts for the basic stuff
  
• and a wine key + decanter + aerator if you're into wine (plus a vacuum pump for bottles you don't finish off right away).
  
  I just included the links for reference - you'll probably want to search a little for the highest-quality tools, because you really don't want flimsy stuff.
  
  For glassware, I like to just pick out unique stuff that I find in my travels, but I have all the basics - rocks glasses, highball glasses, long-stem martini glasses, margarita glasses, pint glasses, Guinness glasses, a couple of snifters, and a Chimay glass.
  
  For the booze it's kind of up to you, but just think about what liquor types a bar has in its speed-well for your base, and then just add higher-end, unique stuff from there. I always have a nice vodka, rum, tequila, gin, bourbon, irish whiskey, cognac, and brandy in the cabinet.
  
  Then I have the popular mixers/liquers - Grand Marnier (skip the Triple Sec and get the good stuff), Bailey's, Kahlua, Amaretto, Limoncello, Frangelico, Chambord, White/Dark Creme de Cacao, Blue Curacao, Sweet/Dry Vermouth, sour mix and simple syrup, soda + tonic, juices, Fireball, various Schnapps, etc.
  
  And then from there I just gradually collect bottles of high-end stuff that will get sipped slowly and dress the bar up a bit. Just picked up a bottle of Kraken that has one of the cooler labels I've ever seen (and tastes pretty damn good, too).
  
  Have fun!

Keyring

1. Kingston DT108 - solid flash drive, been using this one for years, never failed me. Looking for a larger capacity replacement, something that preferably lines up with the keys better?
   
2. NITE IZE S-biner - pretty cool, fun to mess with.
   
3. Utili-key - love the idea, but the knife is not as useful as I hoped. Looks cool on the ring though. Would appreciate suggestions on replacing it.
   
   iPhone 5 leather wallet case - SPORT - Just got this one yesterday, nice construction, great feel, haven't quite broken it in yet though. It's a neat concept, the phone is magnetically attached to the wallet. I recommend you check it out!

Well some gifts I got this year were decent individually, but combined it was pretty cool. I got a Whiskey gift box from one person, and another person gave me a set of [sipping stones.] (http://www.amazon.com/Sipping-Stones-Whisky-Chilling-Carrying/dp/B005D78RPU/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1451176159&sr=1-4&keywords=sipping+stones)

Best I got was a giant gift basket with SOOOOO much home made treats, and candies and mason jar creations of a snowman filled with hot chocolate fixings, and hand made spreads and it was all so yummy and filling! I'm so round now...

Did you enjoy your gifts?

The best way I found to get started is to just get a gallon jug carboy, some starsan, some montrachet wine yeast, yeast nutrients, and 100% grape juice from your local grocery store.

The starsan is a concentrate, I put about a capful into a 2 liter bottle, fill it up with water, and keep it under my sink. It's an antiseptic rinse that should splash over everything that's going to touch the juice; airlock, bottle, your hands, the scissors you use, all that stuff. It doesn't even needed to be rinsed, just shake the bottle out and go to town.

Once you've rinsed, put the juice, yeast nutrients, and yeast in the bottle. Put some water in the airlock and put it on top. Put the bottle of juice and yeast in a dark cool spot until you can easily see a flashlight shine through it, about 2 months or so.

While it's doing it's thing collect 5 old wine bottles or get some from a brew supply store. Old liquor bottles work great, just rinse them good and then splash starsan around inside.

Buy a racking cane! This significantly simplifies the process of getting wine out of the jug without sucking up all the dead yeast at the bottom. Run starsan through it at first, filling the starsan cup with water as it gets siphoned out so that the inside is all nice and clean.

Rack that wine out of the jug and into bottles. That's it! Age for six months if you want, but I often just mix in a little fresh grape juice to sweeten it up a bit right there in my cup and go to town right away, hence my inability to age it.

The only regular cost is the juice. I like to get the frozen 100% juice on sale because I'm doing 15 gallon batches these days (because I'm going to outpace my thirst, darn it), I use about 14 of those per 5 gallon carboy and fill the rest up with spring water from the grocery store.

I also use 4 cups of 5 minute boiled raw sugar in each 5 gallon carboy of juice to boost the abv, but this is personal taste. It makes the wine taste pretty hot but it also has a solid kick to it so I don't mind. After I mix it with a bit of fresh grape juice it just tastes like a light sweet wine and I have a very good time with it.

Depends on the alchohol and if you like sweet or dry drinks. The beautiful thing about cheap alcohol is that it's perfect for cocktails. Never mix good alcohol with cheap mixers. Using a good Rye whiskey with coke or ginger ale is a waste, but mixing it with Absinthe, Peychaud's bitters, a sugar cube and shaken over ice will yield my favorite cocktail a Rye Sazerac.

Here's my suggests for the basics

Vodka: Moscow Mule
Ingredients: 4 oz Ginger beer, 1 1/2 oz Vodka, 1/6 oz Lime juice, and mint to taste. It's important to either muddle the mint or to slap it against tour hand a few times to get those oils to come out and flavor the cocktail.

Rum: Dark and Stormy
Ingredients: 2 ounces Gosling's or Myers's dark rum, 5 ounces ginger beer, Lime wedge.

Tequila: Classic Margarita
Ingredients: 2 ounces tequila, 1 ounce triple sec (orange schnapps mixer 15% alchohol), 1 lime, add simple syrup to taste. Salted rim or splash of OJ optional.

Whiskey or Bourbon: Old Fashioned
Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Bourbon or whiskey,
  
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters,
  
• 1 Sugar cube, orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
  
  Muddle cherry orange and sugar cube with the dashes of bitters. Pour whiskey over top.
  
  Gin: don't buy cheap gin....gin isn't like vodka. Gin has a different flavor depending g on the brand. My favorite brand Hendricks had notes of cucumber and rose tips in it and is amazing in a variety of drinks.
  
  Best recipe I can do for gin: Tom Collins
  Ingredients: 2 ounces gin, .75 ounce lemon juice, and .5 ounce simple. Pour over ice and stir.
  
  Another option is to just use lemonade. Never shake gin and you'll bruise the juniper in the spirit and really take away from the liquor.
  Get yourself one of these a shaker and a cocktail book. Start experimenting.
  
  
  
  This channel has some decent drink receipts if you're looking for some.
  
  
  
  Prost!

Personally, I think this cocktail would be better up than on the rocks, but that's really your call.

I would definitely batch everything except the citrus and then do 2.5 oz of batch and .5 oz of citrus juice to order. If you're concerned about keeping up with volume, you might want to invest in some OXO measuring cup jiggers like these. If you look very closely inside the jigger, there's a dimple near the pour spout--that marks 3 oz. So you can measure .5 lemon and then just fill to the dimple with batch. It's less accurate, but it's fine for high-volume settings and it's much faster than jiggering with a Japanese or American jigger.

Anyway, it seems like you have a pretty good handle on things! Best of luck and let me know if I can help!

I've always been rather partial towards Balvenie Doublewood. Its rather mellow but the double casking gives it rich woodsy notes. You absolutely CANNOT go wrong with this Scotch:
http://www.thebalvenie.com/en-us/ourRange_currentRange.php

Edit: another great gift idea, since he apparently already has a collection, would be whisky stones and/or proper glassware. This way, you avoid the possibility and stress of trying to find one that he likes, while still showing him that you know his passions and interests and giving him a bit of a surprise as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002GZX2DE

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ba37/

http://m.wineenthusiast.com/newui/advsearch.aspx?slr_qt=model&redirect=yes&slr_q=glencairn%20whisky%20glasses

Hey, I'm a drinky ex-mormon myself. Welcome to the other side! A couple of my sisters asked me for similar advice when they were first trying out alcohol and they seemed to like sweet wines and low-octane, sweeter drinks best. Maybe try out some fresh fruit blender drinks.

As for equipment, most of what you need may already be in your kitchen. I get the most use out of my hand-held citrus press, my peeler and my OXO angled jigger. Shakers are fun-looking and could be a good gift, but I rarely use mine. Glassware is always a fun gift!

I hope this helps! Good luck!

I nominate my mum because she is the strongest and most loving mother <3 She has been through two terrible marriages both with my half siblings dad and my father and still never made her love for us change or disappear...absolute unconditional love. She is the most selfless person I have ever met and will bend over backwards, forwards, to the side, and inside out for her children despite ANYTHING. I really wish I will be a mother like her, if I ever decide to have children. She's the person I admire most and love her with all my being <3

Oh, did I mention she is also really awesome?! She is taking bartender classes at her workplace after work, so she would very much love this bar set or this mp3 player for her unique and ridiculously fun music taste :)

I only recommend Cocktail Kingdom or Barfly tools to pros who use them hard and can justify spending the money. I have stainless tools, of lesser quality, that I've used hard for 30 years. They still work as good as they did when new. I suppose a good analogy is automobiles. You can buy yourself a Toyota. It's affordable, reliable and does pretty much everything most of us ask of it. You can also get yourself a new BMW or Benz. Are the German cars nicer? Sure! But you pay for the luxury. The only things "Cocktail Kingdom" that I own are weighted tins that I purchased soon after they were released (many years ago). But I was Manhattan based and Cocktail Kingdom was the only brick and mortar store that actually carried weighted tins. Today, we have more options.

I know at least 6 pros who are very happy with this set @ <$40. You get the weighted tins, which is the biggest change in modern bartending. You also get a lifetime guarantee and Prime shipping. If you want one, you'll need to add a heavy-bottomed mixing glass for stirred cocktails, a Y-peeler and perhaps an OXO jigger and microplane. I suggest you save yourself some cash and put it towards ingredients. Otherwise, Barfly sells a decent kit for $171 that you'll still have to add to. Cocktail Kingdom is even more expensive.

TL/DR: The fancy tools aren't necessary at all. If you want the Cadillac of bar gear, however, go for it.

This is a great jigger, he can make do without a barspoon, muddler, and strainer (unless he's making cocktails with egg), a funnel should be cheap, like less than 2 dollars. I've found a few things on amazon, I think it's a good place to shop.

Unless he's starting with no gear, most sets don't make sense.

I've always been able to find recipes online; /u/hebug's Not Cocktail of the Week series on /r/cocktails is where I went for all of my recipes for months and I still rely upon it regularly. Most recipe books include a lot of garbage he wouldn't (and shouldn't) ever make. There are some good recipe books, but the good ones tend to be a little specialized; for example Beachbum Berry's book, Beachbum Berry Remixed is amazing if you want to make tiki cocktails and are willing to buy about 10 bottles of rum and buy or make another 5-10 bottles of liqueur and syrup otherwise it's not worth picking up.

My favorite tools for home-made liqueurs and syrups are 1/2 pint, pint, and quart sized mason jars and swing-top glass bottles (most of mine are recycled beer and soda bottles).

Hopefully this helps a little.

Some comments and opinions, operating under the assumption that you are after a classic, basic margarita that will knock people's socks off, and aiming to steer you to that without bothering to deal with riffs and variations that one could do within the realm of "margarita":

Your Questions Answered / Margaritas 101

1. For the tequila, 100% agave is the only key. If it doesn't say 100% agave, don't even consider it, it's shit in a bottle masquerading as tequila. That said, there are plenty of perfectly serviceable 100% agave tequilas at/under ~$30/bottle, which is about what I'd expect to spend on a bottle for making margaritas. My preference is blanco - reposado and anejos tend to result in heavier-tasting drinks that aren't what most people want/expect when they ask for a margarita. They can be good, but let's get the basics down first. For specifics, Siembra Azul Blanco is my preference, though you can't go wrong with El Mayor Blanco, El Jimador Blanco, etc.
   
   
2. "While others say lime juice in a bottle is fine and can hardly tell the difference." <- people who say this are wrong, and you should discard both this and the rest of their opinions about cocktails and life in general. Lime cordial (Rose's) could have a place in a recipe, but it will be a variation on what a margarita is supposed to be, and it is certainly not a 1:1 sub for lime juice. Never, never, never (ever, ever, just for fuck's sake do not) buy ReaLime or any variation of grocery store plastic-bottled lime juice with the intent to use it in a cocktail of any kind, and certainly not in a margarita where lime juice is one of the stars of the show. It will only end in sadness and regret.
   
   
3. Cointreau. Bottom shelf plastic-bottled triple sec (Montezuma, DeKuyper, Jacquin's, etc.) is absolutely not a substitution. The "why" is basically the same as why you should insist on 100% agave tequila, and real lime juice: a good rule of thumb is that a cocktail is only as good as it's worst ingredient. Most triple sec is syrupy artificial garbage that bears no similarities to Cointreau or good curacao or Grand Marnier, other than that it's technically an orange-flavored liqueur. So, spend the extra $10 and buy a bottle of something that was actually made with oranges.
   
   
4. I'm also partial to the Jim Meehan / Dave Arnold recipe:
   2 oz tequila
   0.75 oz Cointreau
   0.75 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
   0.25 oz simple syrup (make this yourself, it's called 'simple' for a reason)
   Shake with ice, hawthorne strain into a glass. Garnish with salt/lime wedge per your or your guest's preferences.
   
   Regarding "replace triple sec with simple syrup". They aren't even sort of the same or similar tasting. No.
   
   Regarding orange juice: Nope. You could certainly make the case for playing around with some (again, preferably fresh squeezed) orange juice in a variation of a margarita, but it has no place in a classic margarita.
   
   
   

   Barware Recommendations
   

   
   I noticed elsewhere that you mentioned bar tools. My recommendations are:
   
   For your shaker/strainer, I haaaaaate three-piece tins. Hate them. Simply: in my experience they are very leak-prone. So, despite seeming like the simpler, one-stop-shop option, they kind of aren't. Also, they're typically not particularly well balanced or weighted, which makes shaking more awkward than it needs to be.
   
   So, my preference is to buy two piece tins: Koriko tins - awesome, appropriately weighted, seal nicely. It seems silly, but watch this video too, and look at how to break the seal. Trust me.
   
   ...and then a separate Hawthorne strainer. People have their preferences. I have an Oxo Hawthorne. It works.
   
   Glass rimmer: The one you linked would work fine, but it's not necessary if you have a small plate and a lime. This is the secret of glass-rimming as far as I'm concerned: to prep the rim for salt, do not use water. Use your garnish, preferably a citrus fruit. Cut yourself a lime wedge, then cut a single-cut notch in the flesh of the lime. Get your glass, put the lip of the glass in the notch, and run the lime around the rim. Put some coarse kosher salt on a plate, and flip your limey-rimmed glass into it until you've got the coverage you want. I would also specify to not use table salt. The grains are too fine, so with every sip you'll get much more salt/perceived salt taste - it will be overwhelming, basically.
   
   Juicer - the one you linked is probably fine. To a certain extent, an elbow (/handheld cocktail juicer) is an elbow. To wit: I use a Tanqueray-branded one I got for free somewhere along the line. It's totally adequate, and the one you linked will be too.
   
   ...
   
   Holy shit, that got long. Anyway, ask away if you've got any more questions - happy to offer an opinion.

• Bench scrapers. I use them for both picking up chopped up bits and for clean up. Nothing cleans a countertop better than a bench scraper.
  
• Microplane. For a long time I didn't have a micro plan and anytime I needed to grate anything I had to use my box grater. Also, it's great for ginger and garlic.
  
• Vacuseal. Goodbye freezer burn. Also, it's great for leftovers since you can just reheat your leftovers in a pot of boiling water. Better than microwave or even the oven.
  
• Wine sealer. Something to seal up bottles of wine. I use:
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GA3KCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  It works pretty well and makes wine last a lot longer.
  
• Prep dishes. Little dishes for herbs, liquids, etc. I probably use like 5 of these each time I cook.
  
• Strong gloves. If I'm cooking something that is annoying to touch(garlic, chicken, eggs, chilis) I put on gloves. I like a tight fitting glove.

Shoot, you're only in college and already drinking some damn respectable stuff. I'm a big fan of Double Black. It tastes like you're drinking a camp fire, and that's exactly why I love it. Looks live you've got an iceball in there, those are pretty neat, but might I suggest these?

Oh yeah, nice setup. That monitor is sweet. But mostly good choice in scotch ;)

Are you just bartending casually at home or are you looking to do it as a job in the future?

Jefferey Morgenthaler's book is great:https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Book-Elements-Cocktail-Technique/dp/145211384X

You'll want to get a jigger, I recommend oxo's graduated jigger, a barspoon, a mixing glass, a strainer, a set of shaker tins (get a small and a large, and seriously splurge for koriko not the other bullshit)

Those are all of the essentials, beyond that everything is fairly unnecessary but there are tons of other things you can buy. I guess a vegetable peeler could be handy for peels but you can just use a sharp paring knife for zest garnishes.

For glassware you can spend as much or as little as you want, depending on how much you care about appearance. When I first starting making drinks at home I had glasses for every variety of drink. I still have those glasses, but basically use these for everything, regardless if it's shaken stirred or whatever. Gimlets taste delicious out of them, manhattans taste delicious out of them.

One little handy thing I've found is these seagram's bottles. Buy a 6 pk of the little glass club soda bottles. Once you use the soda, rinse them out and they're perfect for storing syrups, juices, etc. Plastic caps won't deteriorate like metal will in other styles of bottlees. They're short so they fit in weird parts of your fridge, hold enough syrup for plenty of drinks, etc etc.

http://12bottlebar.com/

Go to that site, which is sadly no longer active, but the back log is great. Find recipes that basically use the stuff you have, and start working your way through it. Read the articles.

Or, they have a book, which is worth buying.

You will likely not be needing that blender, at least not very often. I find most blended drinks are more work than what they're worth on a small scale.

Otherwise, you just need a shaker and a pint glass for stirred drinks. You also might want to purchase a Hawthorne Strainer, a jigger, and possibly a mesh strainer.

I could list out 50 drinks that basically just use the spirits you have plus some juices/sugar, but I'd just be listing the stuff that's on 12 Bottle Bars site.

I won't do a ton, but here's an example of one rabbit hole: First, make a Gimlet, if you like it, then try a Fitzgerald, if you like it, then make a Bee's Knees. If you like that, then make a Gold Rush...

You get the idea.

I'm a bit behind schedule from my "back in 30." You may notice in my assembled ingredients pic the plastic graduated shot recycled from some long-ago bottle cough syrup. I fell back to that because in assembling that picture I fumbled my nice glass graduated shot and shattered it on the floor, necessitating a thorough sweeping. Now I finally have the impetus to order one of these. Also that glass shot, got from some thrift store, inexplicably had teaspoons graduated at 4 per tablespoon...

As you may recall from the book the parentheticals are direct quotes and he wasn't lying about the orange juice (the bracketed "repeat as needed" is my own and we'll just see how this evening goes). I'll use concentrate in a pinch but fresh squeezed is really where it's at. Tonight I only had some clementines and they added a certain bitterness but I like that. I think the Luxardo syrup is fine, just a different fruity complexity than the pomegranate. Here's the final result. I'm glad I didn't fumble that glass, an exceedingly fragile gift from a neighbor.

The drink remains fantastic to me, if in this case a bit flat at the beginning of the sip, probably just because it's less sweet than usual. That flatness, not unlike a dark chocolate milk, gives way quickly to a shifting complexity as multicolored desert sands making and remaking a dunescape, really everything for which I started mixing cocktails in the first place. This feels like a drink with which I could both start and end a perfect day.

Mixing it I looked up to notice the cover art of Typhoon's Hunger & Thirst on my radio and momentarily thought it appropriate but now I'm not sure that's an orange, or what it is at all in fact. In any case I shook vigorously at the disjointed end of Belly of the Cavern and it felt apropos:

all my life i've spent wasting time, wasting my time
just to forget again but i don't mind
i'll take my medicine and i will be fine

What about a set of whiskey stones, since you enjoy scotch and whiskey. They're useful, don't take up much space, and will definitely help maximize the experience. And while there's only one copy of this game, it looks pretty cool, and suited to a lot of your interests! And while you probably don't need these pint glasses, why the heck not?

Happy belated birthday! And thanks for the contest.

• Best dog brush in the world.
  
• I know it's over $5 but this is incredible.
  
• This because why not?
  
• This seems pretty useful.
  
• Good deal on a dog bed
  
• Everyone needs a good laugh
  
• camera case
  
• because everyone loses their keys every now and then.
  
• these are legit
  
• last but not least!

I use Haley's 5-in-1 corkers once a bottle is opened, simply because it makes it easy to do neat pours and it seals nicely (sometimes better than the original cap/cork). For long-term storage (both wine and liquor), anything from Vacu Vin's Wine Saver line, really. I have this cheaper model and it works great.

This is my favorite keychain/ bottle opener. It has come in handy more times than I can say :) You are a good friend! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

1. You can buy one of these to preserve the carbonation in the bottle, thus increasing it's shelf life.
   
   
2. Metal transfers heat faster than other materials. Cans cool down faster, but they also warm up faster. A chilled glass is probably the best way to serve a carbonated beverage.
   
   
3. Insulated coffee cups keep hot things hot and cold things cold. If you invest in an insulated coffee cup, like this one you can make your beverages portable, although the container isn't disposable, which can cause issues.
   
   
4. According to this page, you can purchase 24 cans of Pepsi at 7.25 cents per ounce and a two liter at 2.2 cents per ounce. This means that if you drank a third of the two-liter and then threw the rest of it away, you would still save money over an identical volume from cans.
   
   
5. Environmental impact. While the materials used for both cans and two-liters are recyclable, the volume of material used to contain a two-liter (plastic) is less than the volume of material used to contain cans (cardboard, aluminum).

St. George is making a pretty nice coffee liqueur. If it's not available near you, try Borghetti espresso liqueur.

I definitely agree with /u/BeExcellent re: Luxardo Amaretto and Carpano Antica vermouth. Just make sure you store the vermouth with a vacuum wine stopper or in the fridge, as it will oxidize if left open at room temp.

I didn't notice a huge difference between Combier and Cointreau. My go-to for curaçao right now is the Dry Curaçao from Pierre Ferrand. It works as both an orange curaçao and a triple sec; essentially it's a blend of cognac and unaged brandy infused with true curaçao orange peels, then sweetened. It's called 'dry' curaçao because it has about half the sweetness of most examples you'll find.

The basics:
Shaker: http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Cocktail-Shaker-Set-Stainless/dp/B000796F1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017012&sr=8-1&keywords=cocktail+shaker

Spoon: http://www.amazon.com/RSVP-Endurance-Stainless-Steel-Handle/dp/B000F7JY00/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017049&sr=8-3&keywords=cocktail+spoon

Muddler: http://www.amazon.com/Tablecraft-H4258-Stainless-Muddler-Plastic/dp/B0032FOQY6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017078&sr=8-8&keywords=cocktail+muddler

My fav strainer: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-1058016-SteeL-Cocktail-Strainer/dp/B0000DAQ93/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017130&sr=8-1&keywords=cocktail+strainer

Jigger: http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017174&sr=8-6&keywords=oxo+measuring+cup

These few things should get her to a good start. If she prefers a Boston Shaker (http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Cocktail-Shaker-oz/dp/B000NNO2X0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017243&sr=8-6&keywords=cocktail+shaker), all you'll need is a typical pint glass to go with it.

Oh, you've gotta get these big ice cube trays. Only way to enjoy your cocktail, if you're serious about your drinks.(http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-KING-Cube-Trays-Blue/dp/B00395FHRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377017434&sr=8-1&keywords=big+ice+cube+tray).

Does she has glassware? Collins glasses, old fashioned glasses, highballs? Might be good to look for some of those too. Also, people often give away glassware on Craigslist for free or for next to nothing.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back to this. Should get you off to a good start though.

Ooh, very nice. Shiny and curvy. And very fancy. At the moment I am partial to this one by OXO https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0036X4YOG/ it has very clear markings and a nice grip.

Edit: Not to say the OXO is in the league of OP's jigger, that Leopold is one sexy jigger right there, and I may have to acquire one. Or give one as a gift to my favorite bartender. Wonder if Cocktail Kingdom offers engraving...

I love this: Since it replaced my carabiner it works great and I always have it on me!

I just went to Tröegs on Saturday and got a Nugget Nectar bottle opener that works pretty good too!

I use the exact same OXO 2oz measuring cup, but I have the stainless steel version. Same difference. I use it for almost all of my cocktail measuring as it is easy to read, easy to use, and easy to clean. Only time I use my other measuring devices is when that one is dirty...

here's the link to the stainless one http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/ref=pd_sim_k_10?ie=UTF8&refRID=172EY2R4X5REZ6F9VNVW

Pandora's Mystery Summer Box of Goodies

Interests - reading, photography, wine, animals, cottaging

Perfect Summer Day - floating down the lake in a pontoon boat, glass of wine, sunglasses, sunny and HOT!

This would make me laugh everytime I put it in the wine bottle, thus adding to my enjoyment of the day wine stopper

One of the fake Pulltaps like this one on Amazon will honestly do the trick and last quite a while. Maybe get the set of 4?

If you really want to spend more money on it, a real Pulltap will be heftier and have better nonstick material on the screw, but you have to pay quite a bit in shipping because it comes from Spain. I picked up this one a while back, and it looks great and works great.

ooh fun! Whoever wins this will definitely be Looking Good!!

I think this bottle stopper looks hilariously fun!

I love to host parties so this 6 pack of drink pourers would help out a lot and make my bar look so much more legit!

When I am thirsty I love to drink water. I will never drink coffee when I am thirsty.

I purchased these whiskey stones a few months ago. I've actually been pretty happy with them.

Here's the thing: I prefer my bourbon a little chilled, but not cold. I think that ice-cold whiskey masks all the subtleties of the flavor, but slightly chilled, it really brings something out. Now, all my bourbons are room temperature, and I don't like ice, because I don't want the taste watered down... so the stones are a nice solution.

Everyone is correct here that stone is a bad conductor of heat, but that's sort of the point. I drop three stones into my glass, give it 30 seconds or so, and my bourbon is just slightly chilled down. Perfect.

Also, the soapstone frankly looks pretty badass, IMHO.

If he likes cooking, you could possibly gt him some sort of themed gift around bbq to bring him back to Tex.

Spice Rubs for meat that come from Tex... (https://www.etsy.com/listing/167344642/gustos-rubs-of-the-states-barbecue-rub) -- they sell these everywhere, like in williams sonoma as well.

A 6-pack of his favorite beer (or liquor)

If he likes whiskey... http://www.amazon.com/Teraforma-1220-Whisky-Stones/dp/B002GZX2DE

I really want this because it would be PERFECT when we are going to fancy dinners with my SOs parents.

Plus, he's so dang cute!

Butts are super funny!

The 3 piece shaker is more work to clean and has a smaller capacity than a 2 piece shaker. That hawthorne strainer looks useless. the spring on it is not nearly taught enough to filter out small pieces of ice or pulp. I don't use speed pourers at home and don't know why someone would want to.

Cocktail kingdom carries top of the line stuff. To start I'd get a 2 piece shaker from them, their hawthorne strainer, and then any julep and tea strainer will do. The oxo jigger is very nice for home users. I've also heard good things about "top shelf bar supply", and I believe their stuff is more affordable.

cocktail kingdom sells the best muddler, but you don't need that at the beginning.

You'll want a hand-held citrus juicer eventually. Something like this is the way to go, with as much metal as possible.

for garnishes you'll want a y-peeler, and for a y-peeler you want kuhn-rikon. 3 of those are still like 1/3 cheaper than brands that work way worse.

barspoons are nice but you can get by with a chopstick or just a regular old spoon.

I would very much like this.
It doesn't qualify for prime but it does have free shipping.

Awesome contest!

Keep in mind that ambient temp can be much different than your beer. A relatively cheap and easy solution if you have the room: a $50 deep freezer from Craigslist (I was amazed at how many I found) plugged it into this , then use this on your carboy.

Drop in your carboy and you’re good to go.

Edit: Woops. I missed the “no room” part. Good luck

Meh. I guess the third one. Best reviews and it has a metal-on-metal shaker, which is my personal preference. If your interest persists you will probably end up upgrading almost everything in the kit.

You could probably get by for a long time with just a shaker, jigger, barspoon, hawthorne strainer, and a fine mesh strainer.

$47 total and all those products have a much better chance of persisting in a cocktail enthusiast's equipment for the long haul. You could later add quality versions of the other stuff (muddler, more jiggers, etc).

I have owned (and still use!) everything in that above list. Though I am considering upgrading the hawthorne strainer to one with a tighter coil in the spring (I have heard good things about Cocktail Kingdom's).

The image won't load for me, but amazon has some things like that: http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-Fizz-Keeper-Pump-2-Liter-Bottles/dp/B00004XSH3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341941239&sr=8-2&keywords=carbonation+saver for example. I bought something in a CVS once that went over the top of a can of soda and kept it fresh allegedly, but it didn't work for me. I didn't try one like this though, might work better.

Waiters Corkscrew by HiCoup - Premium Rosewood All-in-one Corkscrew, Bottle Opener and Foil Cutter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MSXW15E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_x5f7xbGFR4HHE

When I decided to do the same thing for myself I picked this one up. It's a fantastic key, it's a little heavy so if it's always going to be in your pocket keep that in mind and you can't pop the knife with just one hand, not a big deal, but you know how often that comes in handy. Other than that I love this key, feels very premium, I've had quite a few coworkers check it out and ask about it. It's been about 6 months using it 10 times a day minimum and it feels brand new. I'd be surprised if it doesn't last as long as I will.

https://www.amazon.com/Forum-Novelties-CPA-HL1039-Bottle-Opener/dp/B001U2RNXE

If they like beer or soda in glass bottles, I highly recommend. These were gifts for my guy friends one year, went over great.

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Wine-Opener-HiCoup-All/dp/B00MSXW15E/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1519222505&sr=1-1&keywords=hicoup

These ones are 10 buck and super SUPER durable. Good wooden handles and very tight hinges. THe foil knife is also serrated and reasonably sharp too.

Pockets

• Phone Case - Magpul iPhone 5 Field Case
  
  
• Knife - Benchmade Mini-Griptillian
  
  
• Handkerchief - Fifth&Brannan Charcoal Pocket Square
  
  
• Bottle Opener - New Belgium Globe - Got this for free after a tour there, and it's lived in the small pocket of my jeans ever since.
  
  
• Lip Balm - Burt's Bees
  
  
• FitBit - Fitbit Ultra - Probably going to be replaced by a newer Fitbit soon.
  
  
• Pen - Fisher Cap-O-Matic Space Pen - I will buy this pen over and over.
  
  
• Wallet - Saddleback ID Wallet in Tobacco
  
  
• Gum - Orbit Sweet Mint - It's unbelievable how much of this I have chewed.
  
  
  
  Keys
  
  
• Biner - Nite Ize S Biner Ahh
  
  
• USB - Kingston Digital DataTraveler 8GB - Contents change daily. Mostly client software.
  
  
• Light - FOURSEVENS Mini 123/ML - Throws a ton of light for how little room it takes up.
  
  
  
  
  That's pretty much it. Any questions feel free.
  

Buy a shaker setup that is just a pint glass and large metal shaker, which is essentially a large metal drinking glass. (Like this, but obviously you still need a pint glass). The fancier setup that consists of a pint glass with a two part lid/strainer ends up leaking and is useless. (Like this). There's a reason bartenders use the former. As a setup, it's BIFL worthy in comparison, works better, and is much easier to clean. You can buy a strainer that fits on that type of setup, too. (Like this).

What other pieces are you looking for?

I use a brown beer bottle with one of those vacuum wine corks. My cork is lame and doesn't hold a vacuum very long, but it completely seals the odor. The brown glass protects against sun damage. It also protects a little against casual observation. If you had a good cork that holds a vacuum like they're supposed to, it would also protect against oxidation, since that's the whole point of their existence.

I use the OXO Steel Double Jigger. It has easy to read markings for smaller measurements and is thick enough in the center that I can hold a tin in my left hand, the jigger between my left index and middle fingers, a bottle in my right, and tilt the jigger to pour the ingredients without having to set the tin down. This comes in super handy when someone orders a drink not on the menu and I have to leave my well to go to the back bar, where none of my spirits have speed pours.

$10 is a little low for a multitool but this carabiner and this flashlight are in the price range and well worth the money. Throw them on some aircraft cable key rings and they should make great gifts.

Also her "husband" does not want a fucking ring for his anniversary present. Go on amazon and look at all the cool fucking electronics on there, this dude is gonna be fucking bummed. Like, even this fucking thing is a way better gift.

Just thought this would be fun to do.

(from left to right, top to bottom)

2009 13" Macbook Pro w/ 256 GB SSD

Pentel GraphGear 1000

Moleskine Notebook

Nebo Redline

Bolle Anaconda

Time Easy Reader

Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10

Boy Scouts Swiss Army Knife (not sure which model)

Audio-Technica M50 with EDT250 pads

Nintendo Wallet from NYC Nintendo World

Insulated 20oz Klean Kanteen

Kenneth Cole Reaction Bag

Arbor Bandana (as a face mask for cold days)

iPhone 4S

S-Biner

Keys (glowing tritium, apt, mail, bike, lockbox, utili-key, LED, room, car keys)

life as we knew it :)

THIS IS THE SERIES

id like this :) hopefully shipping keeps it cheap..

I don't know what a "tip-jigger" is, but I use this guy and it's fantastic. Has measurements in tablespoons and ounces and it looks pretty slick too.

I doubt I'd play with it much beyond a day because it's a bit big for a keychain and I'm not an alcoholic, but it's $3



I try to find cool stuff like this for /r/INEEEEDIT, my sub. If you like stuff like this you'd probably like the subreddit too.

I recently went to a wedding reception that did pretty much exactly what you are describing, down a T: they had wine and bottles of beer in different galvanized buckets around the venue, with the clear plastic tumblers sitting next to the wine buckets. A family member pulled a new bottle of wine out of the fridge and opened it to replace any empty bottles as needed. The beer buckets actually had bottle openers attached to the buckets themselves, so that was quite handy!

For the wine, they used pourers similar to these: http://www.amazon.com/Chrome-Bottle-Pourers-Set-6/dp/B0009SZZQW I thought that was extremely clever (and am stealing the idea) because it did double duty for guests pouring their own wine: first of all, it keeps it really clean - no wine dripping down the sides of the bottle. Secondly, it makes the pouring go slower, so guests (like myself) got impatient and didn't pour themselves a full glass all the time.

I don't know if there were any underage people there (at least, none old enough to be of concern), so I'm not sure how that wedding handled it. However, when I applied for the state alcohol license for my upcoming wedding, they asked me to specifically state how I will handle any underage folks and prevent them from getting alcohol. My plan was stated as: alcoholic drinks will be in a separate area from non-alcoholic drinks, so anyone can see if the underage guests approach the alcoholic beverages. All underage guests will be attending with their parents, so I put down in my plan that I would be talking to both the underage guests AND their parents to let them know that underage drinking will simply not be tolerated at the wedding and that I need the parents to help me enforce that with their teen(s). Lastly, I will be making sure the entire wedding party knows who the underage guests are, so they can shoo them away from the alcohol table if need be.

That was my "three-pronged approach" for underage drinkers that I submitted to the state alcohol board, and they were happy with it. Turns out it won't even be necessary, because the only above-12-but-under-21 guest I invited won't be coming. But that was the plan I had in place.

(By the way, since it's come up a lot in these comments: both my venue and the state alcohol board allow for self-serve alcohol. But yes, you've got to check both of those things and obtain the proper licenses. Both my venue and the state board made me pay for licenses for the alcohol. Neither of them require insurance for it, but of course insurance is also a good idea, because you or I could be legally liable for underage drinking or drunk driving that occurs when we "served" the guests that alcohol.)

This bottle opener would be great for when I'm thirsty.

When I am thirsty I love to drink a nice dark craft stout. I will never drink my own piss when I am thirsty.

This is what I have. You can make just about any basic drink with this and the right glasses.

For alcohol this takes a while to build up, but in the beginning buy a handle of your favorite version of

• Dark Rum
  
  
• Light Rum
  
  
• Vodka
  
  
• Irish or Rye Whiskey
  
  
• Bourbon or Scotch Whiskey
  
• Gin
  
  
• Tequila
  
  
• Vermouth
  
  
• Curacao (Cointreau)
  
  And then mixers
  
  
• Club Soda / Seltzer / Tonic water
  
  
• Coke & Gingerale
  
  
• Cranberry Juice & Orange Juice
  
  
• Bitters (ok technically not a mixer but you know)
  
  Glasses you'll want
  
  
• Red and white wine glasses
  
  
• Highball and rocks glasses
  
  
• Pint glasses & beer mugs
  
  
• Martini glasses
  
  
  All in all you can get all this for under $1000, but not much under, so take your time building this up. Start with what you know and like, and expand from there.

I would buy a good box wine, just as I buy screw top wines.

I'll suggest you use the Vacu Vin to keep partial bottles drinkable for days. It's cheap, $14, and worth it to me. Like you, I used to feel I had to finish a bottle, especially something nice. Now, a glass, close it up and have another later in the week.

Normally I would never recommend these let alone chilling your whisky, but I can make an exception. Whisky stones are probably the best way to chill if you have to. Historically, when people wanted to chill their whisky they would go to the river and pick up a stone out of the water so there is even more history for you. Be forewarned that if you chill whisky you will lose some of the flavors present in scotch, so if you are studying tasting notes and don't understand why you don't get a specific flavor that is why.

As for bottle suggestions I don't know exactly what to recommend since you have no taste history to go off of besides MacGregor. Because of this I am going to say if you like bold tastes go with a Laphroaig 10. The smokey-brine in this whisky is fan-fucking-tastic. As RustyPipes put it 'If you want a Koala bear to crap a rainbow in your brain'. If you like sweeter more complex flavors go with Bruichladdich Rocks.

Edit: I originally sounded like an enormous prick so I changed that.

The carabiner is a Nite Ize carabiner with a bottle opener Link Here.
I have one and I love it. I use it to hold my keys and open beers and it works great for both!

Pick up some of those wine vacuum seals (like these), and they will help you keep your port longer. You can get a few months out of a bottle with these.

edit: and yes, the LAT 38 SS is an absolutely fantastic smoke!

Boston shaker. For a dry shake dead center straight down. For shaking with ice (note, do not get a glass this big with the shaker LOL).

The first placement is good for dry shake since it's a stronger seal actually, but it can be released with ice clacking around so you don't want to do it when there is more weight hitting the glass as you shake. For the second orientation the drink getting cold causes the tin to compress and tighten the seal. If you get a good combo, you can hold it by the tin with the glass on the bottom and the seal won't break like so. This combo is what I use, cheap and effective.

http://www.amazon.com/Winco-Stainless-Steel-Shaker-30-Ounce/dp/B000NNO2X0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463751871&sr=8-2&keywords=boston+shaker

http://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-Pint-Mixing-Glass/dp/B00BJ5IPIE/ref=pd_sim_79_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=313BRYWafDL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=10BA3MFA02KN8WBB88CP

I have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/SuckUK-7910560-Church-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0000B0DKM - it's awesome and fits very nicely on my keychain (doesn't take up a huge amount of space like most bottle openers)

It's a fun and easy project and you can get all the stuff on Amazon. This is the one I got, but you can find several others in designs such as your favorite sportsball teams, etc. I just picked a random cap catcher to go along with it, but you can use a magnet or really anything you want.

I agree with grerab, you definitely want to start small and build it up. Nothing feels worse than buying an expensive liqueur that is a "required" bottle for a bar only to find out that you don't enjoy any drinks that use it. That said, it's pretty safe to have a nice high quality bottle each of whiskey (bourbon or rye), gin, and rum.

I'm a "buy once, cry once" kind of person when it comes to tools. You can find some lovely vintage cocktail coupes at antique stores for a reasonable price that will add a lot of character to your bar. I also like the quality of the basic tools available from Cocktail Kingdom, if a touch overpriced.

Again, to echo grerab, I would also suggest a long-handled bar spoon, Boston shaker set, hawthorn strainer, and one of these jiggers. If you find you like a lot of drinks with citrus and want to forego the citrus juicer, I would suggest at least picking up a cheap tea strainer to catch all of the bits from your fingers.

I'm not affiliated with this author in any ways, but I always suggest Dave Stolte's website and book to anyone getting started.

This actually looks pretty sweet and useful.

Who doesn't need a spendy baking pan that was cheaper when I added it to my list = 11 bucks or a wine pump and stoppers or a maglight for when storms happen and the power goes out?

pan = baking cakes! and other things... brownies! :)

wine pump = for the days when you can't finish the bottle, pump all the air out, keeps it tasting better longer!

maglight = for when the power goes out or when it is dark or when you need to see under you bed or couch

That particular probe looks like it has some nooks and crannies that would be a perfect place for bacteria to hang out. (i.e. The connection point of the wire and metal tip) If you insist on submerging the probe you should check out this stopper/thermowell combo. I’m going to assume that the vessel you’re fermenting in has a wide mouth opening, however the thermowell in the link is removeable and could be adapted to your set up with a little creativity.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Weekend-Brewer-COMINHKPR141218-Thermowell/dp/B01KP4D0K2

Mischief Managed.

I would need this because stale wine is the worst wine.

I would need this to keep a tidy room since I would bring my kitty, and brooms are used to clean.

I would need this to keep my head warm and dry.

I would need this because it talks about magic and witches and vampires and would be useful.

I would need this because trunks store things and I would need to store my kitty food.

And my cat totally needs this to fit in at wizard school, he has to show other cats whose boss.

Ok I hope I did this right..

They said they like beer so I ended up getting them an S-biner that doubles as a beer bottle opener, the SAS Survival Handbook, and the interesting 4-in-1 turn off wrench suggested by you shown here. I'm going to post an update when my match posts their gift to see what they thought.

This is probably the best answer, but it doesn't work on all bottles. You can also just recap it if you have a capper.

One more important tip is do not use an air pump wine stopper - example. The pump makes the beer flat. Maybe, this is obvious to everyone else, but boy, did I feel silly after giving it a go.

I was looking at this myself for an setup:

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Fermenter-Capacity/dp/B00KQN9OSK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1524859700&sr=8-4&keywords=glass+carboy

That pretty expensive compared to what you are seeing at LHBS'?

EDIT: NVM, actually took a minute to call a LHBS near me and yep, a lot cheaper. Can get 1g glass carboy's for like $6.....

Ah the Ring Thing aka the bartenders best friend

I use my trusty OXO jigger... love those things.

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Steel-Angled-Measuring-Jigger/dp/B00B6LUAPW/

$0.91! free shipping, SWEET BOTTLE OPENER RING

Yeah I have one of those. I never use it anymore now that I have two of these.

The ones in the picture are awful and you're torturing yourself. They definitely look cool, but they're just too small. If you want a full measure, you have to be super careful with it or you'll spill.

Amazon has it. A friend of mine bought me Happy Man. "He's always glad to see you!"

You may want to consider investing in some whiskey stones like these. I still like a little bit of water, but I'm coming around to the idea that maybe a melting ice cube isn't the best.

My house is decently cool thanks to A/C, but I still use a small dash of cold water about half the time I pour a glass.

Here are some gift ideas.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I've never actually used one of these but the reviews on Amazon seem positive:

http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-Fizz-Keeper-Pump-2-Liter-Bottles/dp/B00004XSH3/ref=pd_sbs_k_4

I wouldn't drill the lid for a thermowell and ball lock port. There are a combo action of items on Amazon you could get and utilize the bung hole that already exists.

Homebrew #7 Stopper Thermowell

Stainless Carbonation Cap Counter

Home Brew Ohio Solid Rubber


Drill a 1/4" hole in the undrilled stopper for the carb cap and you have a ball lock connector.

The bung with the thermowell works great on my anvil fermenters.

These vacuum corks are pretty good and they aren't terribly expensive http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Bottle-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE

Looks great, I made very similar bottle opener using the same metal hardware.

www.imgur.com/Anu5U0U

I bought my bottle openers from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNU7N8/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And magnets from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WB3I6A/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Total cost of materials was about $15 per bottle opener.

90 cents with free shipping?

Thanks for the contest!

My carabiner broke a few weeks ago. A new one would be nice, and the added bonus of it being a double bottle opener will come in handy when around friends (I don't really drink, so meh for me, but others will appreciate that facet).

Fancy corkscrews are one of the biggest rip off schemes out there. All you need is a double hinged waiter’s corkscrew. They last forever and are super easy to use once you figure it out.

Pulltap's Double-Hinged Waiters Corkscrew, Black and Stainless Steel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055OGPWS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_utXvCbRTZNJWX

It's tequila, not wine... I don't understand why you would need to do this. If you're really keen on doing this you could use a vacuum pump instead. Then again, your tequila will be fine, even opened, for years and years. You will possibly lose some noticable volume after 10 years (angels share), but you should have enjoyed it by then!!!
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B000GA3KCE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rSlFAbPMYWVR7

Oxo Stainless Steel Jigger
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6LUAPW/

Love it for things like this.

OP is looking for something that could store and dispense a measured amount though.

This looks like a lame attempt for a seller to profit off of their overpriced resell of a cheap chinese knock off item that you can get on amazon for 98cents plus free shipping here
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Electronics-CPA-HL1039-Bottle-Opener/dp/B001U2RNXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369962677&sr=8-1&keywords=bottle+opener+ring

It's the S-biner from Night Ize. Pretty handy keeper, and definitely doubles as a double sided bottle opener.
They got em cheap here on amazon.

I bought it from amazon, it was like $6. Kinda a crappy bottle opener but its great for shooting your buddy from the other side of the couch while he's looking at his phone.

Link

Have you seen the S Binder Ahhh? I'm planning to order one soon. It looks pretty sweet.

If you want to make 1 gallon batches, which I recommend for beginners, buy a two gallon bucket. You want the extra space because your batch size will really be 1.25 gallons so you can top off your secondary. When you mix the mead for the first 4 days to add oxygen and degas CO2, it will foam a bunch and you dont want a mess. After you mix the mead, add nutrients. To learn more about nutrients, google "advanced nutrients in meadmaking"

I was gifted an Ink Bird ITC-308. It comes with a temperature probe.

Wanted to get a couple of these two spout carboy caps so I can easily swap out the prob to different carboys as they cycle through without haveing to swap out the entire cap as you would have to with these caps.

I can't find the thermowell tube on amazon. My LBS only had one of the stopper thermowells. Anyone have suggestions on where I can pick up two thermowells with fair shipping prices? I will be using mostly 5 Gallon Carboys but due also have a 3 Gallon Carboy I hope to use.

Looks nice. I've thought about doing something like this before, but you definitely forgot something

Wine Saver!
Have a good sleep :)

AND THIS! Somewhat NSFW

And for /u/Anitaxjffdskjarizard to make her root beer classy enough to fit in with winos

Beer tote

And we have a coupon code for 15% that's good through June if you want to use it (friend15).

I wanted to find a cool keychain bottle opener to hang around the handle, but I couldn't find one in time for the pic. Something like this.

For friends, I use a mixing glass and strain.

For myself, I go for convenience and build in my measuring cup.

• I put a large ice cube in a 5.1 oz whiskey glass and put that in the freezer.
  
• Then I add 2 oz of spirit to a 2 oz Oxo measuring cup. (e.g. Buffalo Trace bourbon)
  
• I add the sweetener and bitters to the cup. (e.g. 2 bar spoons simple syrup, 3 dashes Angostura bitters)
  
• I add a small ice cube to the cup and carefully slosh it back and forth with the bar spoon until the ice melts.
  
• I retrieve the glass and fresh large ice cube from the freezer and pour in the cocktail from the mixing cup.

check out Amazon FR You can play darts with bottlecaps. Also, I want that beer poster now, preferably pocket friendly.

these are the two measuring devices I use for whiskey. A more aesthetically pleasing stainless steel jigger that works fine. And the one I actually use 90% of the time 2 oz plastic measuring cup

a little help for a fellow drinker. To stop all the kiddies wanting to call you a pussy and what not for watering down what you like to drink....whiskey stones...its called whiskey stones, friends.
http://www.amazon.com/Teroforma-1220-Whisky-Stones/dp/B002GZX2DE

I bought one of these to keep from having to unscrew and rescrew the bottle which I do about 10 times a night. It's nice :)

It is pretty cool. Backup bottle opener too! http://www.amazon.com/SBO-03-01-S-Biner-Carabiner-Bottle-Opener/dp/B0037H3EB0

Unless you are looking to look fancy don't waste your money. Just go to amazon/walmart and find a shaker tin, all-in-one "jigger", and a pint glass from your local cabinet. That is really all you need to get started.

If you want to add on some stuff just to make life easier you can get a bar spoon, muddler, strainer, fine strainer (get rid of those ugly ice bits), and a citrus juicer.

Save your money for alcohol to make more drinks!

It's not gonna last forever no matter what ya do. But the best way to keep it fresh is to keep it refrigerated and use one of those inert gas "wine savers" or a wine vacuum gadget. Here are some links:

Wine vacuum

Wine preserver

Posting initially without links and will edit them in my mobile browser is crashy.

Keychain: nite-ize S-biner bottle opener 2.98 (it's really useful to clip onto belt loops etc for cycling)

Wallet: A6 leather notebook cover wallet w/ pen loop - 36.99( fantastic thing to have i would imagine, a6 is w bit larger than "field notes")

Pen: Kaweco Sport in blue. 24.94 (It is the space pen of fountain pens)

Knife: Case Sodbuster in american workman blue - 24.98 (I am a sucker for a traditional slip-joint)

Light: Maglite Solitaire in blue 9.43 (very tiny and pocketable, 40 lumen, made in the USA!)

It comes to 99 and change

If you are a beer drinker or host a lot of a parties, a wall mounted bottle opener is a must. If you like wine, then also get a corkscrew.

$60 seems really pricy. Just a quick search on amazon brought me up a 13 piece set for $12^1 and then toss in a muddler (if your doing a fruited old fashioned) for $13.^2 Take the money you save and spend it on booze!

^1 (http://www.amazon.com/13-Piece-Professional-Bar-Set/dp/B004LD54OO/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1394728318&sr=8-16&keywords=boston+shaker)

^2 http://www.amazon.com/OXO-3104900-SteeL-Muddler/dp/B003AIKP0O/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1394728467&sr=1-1&keywords=oxo+muddler

Coffee related!
French press

To Go French Press

Whisky Stones

Star Wars Footie PJs

Ummm yes hahah those all seem awesome <3

I have a few of these. They feel kind of flimsy, but work surprisingly well. Get them here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKQSL2C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

your plan might work reasonably well if you got one of these https://www.amazon.com/JOKARI-5002-Jokari-Fizz-Keeper-Pump/dp/B00004XSH3 but you'd probably be better off just getting some canned beer.

I dunno if you're at all familiar with whiskey stones but they're essentially small cubes of soap stone you put in the freezer and then use them to chill your whiskey without it getting watered down. The soap stone carver who came up with that must wake up laughing.

I frequently freeze orange slices to throw in any wheat beers. Works great.

Also whisky stones.

They sell bottle caps with pumps on them so you can re-pressurize the bottle after you pour some out. That's the best way to preserve your fizz.
http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-Fizz-Keeper-Pump-2-Liter-Bottles/dp/B00004XSH3

I bought one of these for my SO and he always comments on how it is a the best present ever when he uses it.

Loving the comments!

The usual: microtowel, battery charger for phone or camera, ear plugs/ eye mask, maybe a phrase book

Not mentioned: carabiner that doubles as a bottle openerbottle opener

Suggestions for improving your pocket experience, based on my experience with trying to minimize the amount of stuff in my pockets:

1. Try using a smaller pen. In particular, the Fisher Bullet Space Pen is incredibly small, but when the cap is attached to the back of the pen, it becomes full sized.
   You'd probably have to do something similar for your stylus (although what is a stylus useful for on an iPhone?)
   
   
2. Get a carabiner for your keys and move them to a belt loop, if you don't have many keys.
   
   
3. Get a smaller wallet. This is especially feasible if your wallet mainly just contains cards; there are a number of minimalist wallet solutions available; the one I ended up using was the TGT 2.0, which was based off using a rubber band (and is generally only useful for keeping your cards together).
   But of course, you have to pick one that works for you, and none of them will hold coins, and most don't hold bills well either.
   
   I also wouldn't really trust those door locking / unlocking apps; they're generally finicky and require trading security for minor convenience. Not to mention what happens if your phone gets stolen. Or runs out of battery. Or the power goes out. And, of course, you're keyless at that point :|

Cheaper alternative

I think this one's the winner

$20 so you can say your bottle opener is from an AR15? Wow.

Key bottle opener, less than $6

One handed opening, also less than $6

Stainless steel rings, you can get 10 for less than $8

All of these come from China so expect a 4-6 week delivery time.

Waterproof Indestructible Wallet – $2.45

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JWF6OC/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Credit Card Size Survival Pocket Tool - $1.18

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q06LI4/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ring Bottle Opener – $0.65

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U2RNXE/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Totals to $4.28 so you would have some left over.

You could also get
World’s Smallest Solar Powered Car - $1.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FEXUP4/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The blue tea thermal. If I win, choose one of these items randomly: 1 2.

This is literally all you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Pulltaps-Double-Hinged-Waiters-Corkscrew-Stainless/dp/B0055OGPWS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501819622&sr=8-1&keywords=pulltap

and

https://www.amazon.com/Monopol-Westmark-Germany-Two-Prong-Puller/dp/B0002WZR4K/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1501819785&sr=1-1&keywords=ah+so+wine+opener

They make a contraption that combines the two called a Durand and it's over $100. It's super cool, it works really well, but I don't own one.

use the ah-so to open older wines where the cork may be brittle or dry. Everything else let er' rip with the waiters corkscrew.

screw one of these (http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Mounted-Bottle-Opener-Bar/dp/B000JNU7N8) under your desk half your wishlist done XD

I ve always wanted to have liquor spouts for get togethers!
One thing that made me happy was that I finally asked out the girl I've liked for a few months!
She still hasn't answered me, but I think that's heading in the right directon.
Grape!

I use a Vaccu-Vin to reseal my bottles. Works great. Of course, this doesn't help you tonight.

https://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Bottle-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE

On this guy and in my bag. Being the guy with a bottle opener handy is a great life choice.

This one works great for me with my itc308 and NB BM bubbler.
https://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Brewer-Homebrew-Thermowell/dp/B01KP4D0K2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484750035&sr=8-1&keywords=thermowell

If you're popping tops, you might consider getting something like this http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-0981450-Vacuum-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE/ref=pd_sim_k_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SE0FPQVYGJW7FKC49Y6

I like to store mine this way under vacuum to avoid oxidation. But it probably wouldn't be a problem if you're going to drink it within the year.

At home I use a bartenders opener like this and on the go a keychain key opener like this.

I use a hand pump, and it works fine for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-981460-Vacuum-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE

Using these instead of ice is way better. just put them in the freezer and they're good to go. no more ice melting in your scotch!

Do you happen to have a brand for those? This would be the perfect gift for a friend of mine.

I see these at Amazon but not sure if they're the same thing.


I found them

check some of these whisky accessories out:

whisky stones

Balls of Steel

I've has both and the whisky stones are meh because they don't stay chilled as long as the balls.

They both look cool in your drink.


OR get him a framed picture of Ron Swanson lol

Beer Bottlecap Launcher For anyone that was curious where to buy one like myself

Ex-bar owner, wine buyer and wine drinker here. My wife’s an exec w/ 25 years in the wine biz.

That’s a wine opener that looks like it would work well. I definitely like the real knife blade. But damn that’s steep. From the pic, I’d have guessed $50-60.

At $150, I’d rather own a $120 knife and three of Pulltaps-Double-Hinged-Waiters-Corkscrews https://www.amazon.com/Pulltaps-Double-Hinged-Waiters-Corkscrew-Stainless/dp/B0055OGPWS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1492008756&sr=8-1&keywords=pulltaps+double+hinged+corkscrew&linkCode=ll1&tag=fwgearbestcorkscrew-20&linkId=6a60095c742651446437761b139268ba

Screw Pull is the only other wine opener that’s worth it’s asking price. Avoid the Laguiole style openers like the plague, most of them suck regardless of the price or materials.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NNO2X0/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484408642&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=boston+shaker&dpPl=1&dpID=31d8BgihRpL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000DAQ93/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484408783&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hawthorne+strainer&dpPl=1&dpID=51H0dKd5jBL&ref=plSrch

Used this for 3 years, works great, never leaks. Cobbler shakers are kind of clunky and leak on me. With the Hawthorne strainer you will be ready to make 95% of all drinks.

I really don't think a julep strainer is necessary, especially if you are using a metal tin for a mixing glass.

I also think with that jigger you are going to run into trouble not having 1/4 oz line on it. It's got less flair but I know many people on here (myself included) use this

Edit: you are also definitely going to want to get a citrus press, I have this guy if you're already ordering from cocktail knigdom

This would be an easy experiment for you to do. In short as others have said, no. However if you squeeze it to increase the pressure and reduce volume of air and have it stay in that state, then yes. Squeezing and capping a 2L of soda will get you some flat soda incredibly fast though, faster the emptier it is.

Products exist to solve the slow soda drinker's frugality dilema. http://www.amazon.com/Jokari-Fizz-Keeper-Pump-2-Liter-Bottles/dp/B00004XSH3

a $0.63 bottle opener ring is the cheapest on my list

under $60 I would buy new horns for my subaru

thanks for the contest!

you buy something like this https://www.amazon.com/Original-Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE

they use these in wine bars to keep wine fresh. you basically suck out all of the air using the pump, and the stoppers keep it out. so it keeps the wine from getting oxygenated, thereby keeping it fresh. with this you can get a bottle of wine you like for cooking, and seal it back after each use.

no need to get lesser quality wines that come in small bottles with twist caps.

Bottle Opener $0.56!

Thanks for hosting!

I have no idea if these work but they may interest you.

Town drunk

This isn't for me since I am under 21, but the gift card would be given to my dad whose birthday I missed because I had to drive up to college. If this isn't allowed I understand, but it was worth a shot.

I saw those, but didn't think they'd over enough room. I just ordered one of these hoping it does the trick what what I'm looking for.

Ta da! Amazon Prime for $7.31 in the United States!

Yadda Yadda, lawyer lingo

This is even cheaper than 99 cents... ring or this cute keychain

I've used these for wine and they were pretty decent. I don't know if it matters though. They're all basically the same.

I found [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Island-Dogs-CPA-HL1039-Bottle-Opener/dp/B001U2RNXE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1398780506&sr=8-10&keywords=cheap+stuff+under+50+cents+free+shipping) o-o which is free shipping I believe o:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKQSL2C/ref=cm_sw_su_dp have fun bud

Well, u/fallen-biologist has doubts on usefulness of degassing in the first place.

I do it during first part of fermentation because dropping nutrients into an active ferment will cause overflow or geyser in a carboy. Mostly by shaking or stirring vigorously.

In secondary? It'll slowly degas on its own. You can speed it up by putting in a rough wooden spoon for the nucleation points. Or putting it under a slight vacuum.

One of these might work for a vacuum actually. Possibly not strong (enough) for or a gallon or more. https://www.amazon.com/Original-Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Stoppers/dp/B000GA3KCE/ref=asc_df_B000GA3KCE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198068964911&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13238637119483462515&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007689&hvtargid=pla-511514466152&psc=1

Yeah, that's tough. U could do the natural way in a 2 litter bottle too though. Just gotta get one of those soda pumps to keep the fizz.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004XSH3/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_owZBDbTPMHQ3S

I've used this successfully.

Whiskey stones are even a real thing (and work pretty well).

Only $0.48. Thanks for the contest!

Here's the OXO strainer. Sucks that it's so expensive there. It's $7 US here, and I do prefer it to a standard Hawthorne, however the standard will certainly get the job done.

I also prefer a French shaker myself. That's certainly a matter of preference. I feel like I'm seeing more shakers other than the standard Boston popping up at high end bars these days, so I'm not alone.

I don't really like the cobbler shakers. When they get cold the cap freezes on, turning them into an unreliable version of a French shaker anyway (still have to worry it might just fly off when you're shaking) so why not just go French?

vacu vin will get you a few extra days, except for wines like pinot that lose their fruit very quickly. just pump until you hear a click. this is what I use.

My local shop uses this gas (non reactive and heavier than air) on the tasting bottles that they don't finish, and would like to save for another tasting. never used this myself but it seems to work

I have a key like that on my ring... but it's just a cleverly disguised bottle opener :)

Depends on your alcohol tolerance, really.
In the US, 3.5% beer is not unheard of. Most of it is the "lite" stuff.

I'd say you'd need to drink between 60 and 96 ounces to get buzzed, depending on your tolerance.

After that, getting hammered starts to get challenging. It's just a lot of fluid to process.

If you're looking to cut costs, PM me your address. I've got some extra Lalvin yeast packets I can send you. I normally get between 13 and 16% abv out of my wines.

If you've got a little bit of money to sink into this, and I do mean a little bit, look at this: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Fermenter-Capacity/dp/B00KQN9OSK/

That's a fermentation carboy, airlock and bung.

Add in this: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Hydrometer-Triple/dp/B01C5P6GNW/ so you can accurately measure the alcohol levels.

Then the proper yeast: https://www.amazon.com/Lalvin-D-47-Wine-Yeast-Pack/dp/B0080XSES4/

Some cleaning stuff: https://www.amazon.com/One-Step-No-Rinse-Cleaner/dp/B07G1ZR8HQ/

For less than $40, you could have a starter kit for wine making. Then it'd just be "pour the juice in, and let it sit."

If you are fermenting in this, just taping the probe to the side will get you pretty close. But a more accurate temp reading would be with a thermowell. Like this one where the probe goes down inside the wort but stays dry.