Mais

Why buy an extra large beer mug? Why the hell not, that's why.

A few years back I spent some time in Munich and was amazed at how the locals order beer. All alcoholic beverages are ordered by way of the metric system- it's like going to your local watering hole and requesting 12 ounces of budweiser. And the most popular order was the mais- German for liter. Think about the conversion for a second, there are 33 ounces in a liter, that means our sausage loving friends order what's essentially three American beers at a time. Because my mother told me never to insult ones culture I happily joined the locals in this tradition and other than the various run-ins with the law, our bunkmate trying to puke in our luggage, and the inability to see/walk/stand/etc. the results were amazing.


So why not do as the Germans and bring this tradition to the states. Buy your very own Haufbrahaus Mais here for only $15. Or, better yet, why not do even better? Check out this beer glass that holds FIVE beers! Only $20 with shipping.

Ice Balls

Making the perfect cocktail. If you’re a connoisseur of liquor than you probably understand the importance of ice. You’re probably also well aware of its many shortcomings- principal one being the rate at which it dissolves into water thereby ruining a perfectly balanced drink. Our friends in the Far East recognized this problem and decided to put those math brains to good use and come up with a solution… ICE BALLS. If you want to be fancy you can also say spherical ice cubes. The science behind the idea is that one circular ball of ice will not only cool your drink at the same rate as the standard ice cube, but because of the smaller surface area, the ice will remain intact for considerably longer. That, plus the fact that it looks really sweet.


So how do you make this happen at home? Well the Japanese use this $1,300 US dollar Taisin Ice Mold. By comparison, their $176 “mini” version seems pretty reasonable, but unless you have Batman money, it’s probably a little ridiculous to spend that much on a glorified ice tray. Luckily for us, we live in a society that obsesses with making a “golf” version of everything including golf ball ice cubes. Best of all, this ice tray can be had for $20 with shipping. It should be noted that the diameter of a golf ball is 1.68” and it seems as though most of the ice molds meant for alcoholic drinks are 2” or larger, meaning golf ball ice balls are 16% smaller but I’m not convinced that matters.

If you want to be a real badass make sure to make clear ice. Do a google search for a how to guide on doing that.