Gizmodo: beverages

The Right Stuff: NASA's Strange Attempt to Dethrone Gatorade

Adrian Covert — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Apparently robot missions to Mars are now passe, because NASA's gotten into the business of making electrolyte-packed sports drinks and naming them after Tom Wolfe books about...um...NASA.

According to MedGadget, The Right Stuff is a new NASA-developed electrolyte drink designed to quickly replenish and regulate the body's hydration levels after heavy workout or illness. It's also portable, calorie-free and comes in various fruit flavors, or unflavored. And you know it has to work, because NASA packed their press release full of highly technical terms. Isotonic formulations? Extracellular body fluid volumes? THAT'S CRAZY! (...and effective?)

CrunchGear says a 10-pack will run you about about $27, but I think I'll save some money and continue to dehydrate myself with a 12-pack of Coors Light, thank you very much. [NASA via MedGadget via Crunch Gear]

Vertigo Self-Heating Food/Beverage Container Is Not A Bomb (...Right?)

Jack Loftus — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:20:00 EDT

This slick looking concept, called Vertigo, warms a beverage and some food, by way of a hand crank, in just minutes. Just keep it away from airports.

The shell is heat resistant up to 302 degrees, and includes a handy LED so you know when the food or beverage contained inside is ready for eating.

Sure the insides look like an incendiary device, but the slick form factor and real world applications make up for it. One caveat though. That "in just minutes" claim is a bit of a misnomer, even for a concept. One of the Yanko commenters did the math, and it would actually take about a half hour of nonstop cranking to get food or beverage to 60 degrees Celsius. Back to the drawing board.

[Yanko]

U-Fizz Can Make Any Drink Carbonated, But That Doesn't Mean It Should

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST

Sure, the U-Fizz is a fun little toy. You could make homemade Sprite, orange soda, or experiment with wackier flavors. But this gadget has a dark side: ungodly fizzy creations that anger the soda gods.

U-Fizz, used in conjunction with normal baking soda and vinegar, can make any drink carbonated. But instead of giving you a list of delicious ideas, I'm going to put the kibosh on a number of beverages that are served sans CO2 for a reason.

1. Egg Nog
2. Coffee
3. Pistachio Ice Cream
4. Fine Imported Darjeeling Tea
5. Franzia
6. Milk
7. Tomato Juice
8. Maple Syrup
9. Chicken Soup
[Technabob]

Fizz Saver is Like a Beer Tap...but for Soda Bottles

Adrian Covert — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

For those of you who have an unhealthy obsession with bar style beer taps, but also want to avoid becoming a functional alcoholic, you might want to check out the Fizz Saver. Basically, you screw the Fizz Saver onto your 2-liter bottle of soda, place the base on a flat surface, and voila—you get a soda dispenser. And as the name implies, it also keeps your soda from going flat (apparently). Since there's no explanation as to how it keeps your drinks carbonated, I'll reserve judgement as to how effective/not effective the Fizz Saver is. But hey, it looks cool. [Get Organized via 7 Gadgets via Craziest Gadgets]

Eco-Friendly 360 Paper Bottle Concept Makes Tetra Paks Look So '60s

Kit Eaton — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:51:40 EST

I tend to avoid bottled water—my tap-water's fine and way cheaper—but since millions don't think the same, this concept from designers Brand Image would be a way to reduce the eco-impact of all those nasty plastic bottles. The 360 is a paper bottle, molded from 100% recyclable, food-safe paper, and its simplicity makes even the venerable cardboard Tetra Pak drinks carton look outdated. These things are almost "printed-out," they stack, are re-sealable, and look fab. These ought to be real, and when they are I hope they get the texture of the "lip" right: you don't want fuzzy cardboardiness there. [Core77]

Ubuntu Cola Makes Us Realize Our Carbonated Ignorance

Haroon Malik — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:30:00 EST

Having had Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Microsoft Cola and Wal-Mart's own brand cola in our blood streams, all at mutually exclusive time points in our lives, we considered ourselves cola connoisseurs. How wrong we were. We were fools, for coladom has a new king and its name is ~~Slim Shady~~ Ubuntu cola!

We don't know what it tastes like, but we hope the recipe wasn't open source. We also hope the Fair Trade beverage is so fair it is free, just like Gutsy is now. Mind you, it's all for a good cause, so get consuming whatever the price. Of course, you'll have to find some first. A good place to start would be Tom Lynch's university—ask him where that is by contacting him via his Flickr page. [Flickr]

Tip N' Sip Cools, Warms, Tears a Hole in Universe

Travis Hudson — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:13:15 EST

A device cooling and warming at the same time? This can't be safe for the universe, but the Tip N' Sip does it. Unlike the USB cooler and warmer we saw earlier today this device keeps the coffee/tea/whatever piping hot below and cool on top for safer drinking. The "tip" comes into play because you have to tip the mug to fill the top chamber with liquid for quick cooling.

Just don't use a large straw with this device, because then it will eliminate the entire purpose of the Tip N' Sip mug and make you look like a moron. $20. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via OhGizmo!]

Self-Stirring Mug, For the Spoonless

Travis Hudson — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 12:30:00 EDT

Surely there are people out there who don't believe in or own spoons, right? Because besides being extremely lazy, spoonlessness is the only reason to own a gadget like this. This coffee mug, from Hammacher Schlemmer, features a miniature propeller at the bottom of the mug that will spin at 3000 rpms mixing whatever additives you like into a frothy morning beverage. The propeller is activated with a button on the handle and the entire unit is powered by a couple AA's. It is available for $30. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Popgadget]

E3 2006 Booze Watch: Margarita Machine

gizmodo.com — Tue, 09 May 2006 21:44:04 EDT

So far Team Giztaku's favorite gadget from all the pre-E3 press events we've attended over the past two days is this beautiful, beautiful Margarita machine we had the pleasure of acquainting ourselves with over and over again at yesterday's Sony press conference.

To the catering guy who made the decision to fill the machine with muy delicioso 1800 instead of nasty cheap stuff, and to the Margarita machine rental company Margarita Man LA: we salute you both.

Keep Your Drinks Hot or Cool USB Style

Jason Chen — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 07:46:14 EDT

While us hairy Americans are stuck in the stone age with plain old thermoses to keep our drinks warm or cold, the Japanese have found their black monolith and released a USB device that does the same thing. From what I can make out from the Google translation, the device operates in either "hot" or "cool" mode, retaining the temperature of your beverage for up to 4 hours. Just make sure you don't switch this baby to "hot" when you've just taken out a Sierra Mist from the fridge. Unless you like warm soda. Weirdo.

These space age Japanese proprietors even wrap your box in one of 3 fancy "packing paper" colors. Google translate calls it "Lapping for present", but we all know how old that joke is.

Hot or Cool [via digg]

Coke Blak

tgrumet — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:03:17 EST

Is it any wonder Coca-Cola Blak, a combination of Coke Classic and coffee extracts, will be launched in Europe first? As much as we love our Starbucks here in the US, it probably makes sense that it would debut in France, since the French take their coffee beans a bit more seriously. The drink, which is mid-calorie kind of like the failed Coca-Cola 2, was initially launched in April 2004 and contains less sugar and carbs than regular soda. How much it will actually taste like coffee is still being tweaked, but the US should see Coke Blak sometime in 2006. Though I have a feeling it may go the way of Tab real soon.

Coke to launch coffee-infused Coke Blak [Yahoo]

Put Your Vices Together for Coffee-beer

tgrumet — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:49:56 EST

Feast your eyes on the newest Swiss invention: Coffee-beer, a "fermented coffee beverage" that has been patented in every major market around the world by Nestac (part of the Nestle empire). The beverage is basically a super-caffeinated liquid that pours like a beer but smells like coffee. No alcohol included. To make it, coffee beans are roasted and the chemicals that contain the natural aroma are collected in a cryogenic condenser and then converted to coffee oil. The rest of the roast are ground into powder, mixed with yeast and sugar and fermented for 4 hours at 22 degrees Celsius. This way, the yeast still metabolises but doesn't convert to alcohol. They then mix the oil in with the liquid and nitrogen and that is injected to make foam.

Invention: Coffee beer