Favorite Gadgets for Wine and Spirit Lovers

In the last issue of élite magazine I shared a review on a new brand of high-end wine glasses. In this issue I wanted to share some of the gadgets for wine and spirit lovers that aren’t all new to me, but may be new to you that will save you time and maybe even money too.
For wine: I’m slightly envious of my wine friends that have invested hundreds of dollars in great looking glass decanters for their wine. I have two of those, gifts, and I use them often. But a few years back I was in need of a third. I went through my cabinets and pulled out one of my favorite pottery pitchers and used that. And guess what? That was the decanter everyone raved about. A decanter is great to aerate wine, but so is a pitcher, a flower vase and as a matter of fact so is a wine glass as long as you swirl the wine in it. One last word on decanting: invest a few dollars on a strainer – with a mesh screen. I used to have to use a coffee filter if there are pieces of cork that have broken off, or sediment that I can see attached to the inside of the bottle, each can fall into your decanter. With the mesh screen you can catch most of it without a mess.
If you are a sparkling wine lover look for a U- shaped metal champagne opener/puller that goes over the top of the cage and cork, has threads on the two side that grip into the cork, so you can safely turn the bottle without a chance of the cork flying anywhere. The U holds the cork in place until you are done removing it.
For spirits: At a recent bar show I saw a demonstration of home smoking devices for cocktails and even one for charcuterie boards. The Foghat brand was the one I preferred. It’s a round wood frame, fitted with a mesh screen, which fits over your drink glass. So if you are making a brown spirit cocktail like a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, you place the Foghat smoker over the built cocktail, use a small torch, light the “smoking fuel” wood chips, cover the Foghat with its wooden lid, wait a few seconds, and you have a smoked cocktail that will rival any made at a bar! (The one for charcuterie is placed under a glass dome that fits over the board, same principle and result.) Not only does it elevate the taste, it looks really cool as the “cascading waterfall” of smoke enrobes your cocktail!
The brand “Neat” glass is a handheld tulip shaped glass that is often used in judging spirits as it delivers all of the aromas and flavors you want to enjoy. Why limit that to the experts? Whether you enjoy whisky, rum, tequila, gin…whatever it is, the aromas and flavors will be enhanced with this simple inexpensive tasting glass. The Glencairn brand is still my favorite glass for sipping single malt. (While you’re at it get a water dropper too, it will help to remind you that a drop or two of water added to whisky opens up the aromas and flavors.)
Lastly, we have spent over a decade getting the right shaped “rock” for us enjoy with single spirits and cocktails. We were tutored on how to make the ice clear. We bought a very heavy weighted sphere maker. Now, though we still use some of these items, we bought another really cool item at a bar show that has taken center stage for us for a few years now: the True Cube icemaker makes clear square rocks. They make huge commercial systems for bars and restaurants but for the home their simple four-cube maker is perfect. I served a rock I made in the True Cube icemaker in a glass of gin and you couldn’t even see the cube! Simply a beautiful presentation for a bar or at home. (The product allows you to use any type of water but we were told that if you used a bottled water that would be best for a “clear” result.)
Do you have a favorite product? Shoot me an email and enlighten me: Eve@EveWine101.com
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits. 

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