I’ve always dreamed of building a house from empty bottles (i.e. – beer, wine, whiskey, mouthwash, etc.). Emptying them out is 90% of the fun! Nevermind the traditional “Pizza Painting Party,” how about a “Drink to Build the West Wing Party!”

Story Served Neat:

• During the 1960, Heineken briefly introduced the World Bottle (or WOBO), a beer bottle that could serve as a brick.
• “The bottom was dimpled in a pattern identical to the bottle’s stubby neck, so that the top of one bottle would interlock with the bottom of the next.”
• “The sides had a nubbled surface, to make them both easier to hold and to apply mortar onto.”
• Heineken actually produced 100,000 WOBOs and even constructed a home out of them.
• The bottle never made it to market, possibly due to the need for thicker glass, blockier corners could chip in shipping, and customer preference for a rounded bottle.

You’re Welcome.

Read More:  Fast Co.Exist

My invite to the Manhattan Cocktail Classic must have gotten lost in the mail or set adrift in cyberspace. I’m too upset to write so I’ll just let the Lost in Translation clip do all the explaining.

Story Served Neat:

• The fourth annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic, one of the biggest spirit conferences in the world, kicked off at the New York Public Library.
• The buzz was of the “rapid ascendancy of Japanese whiskey.”
• Founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii, Suntory established Japan’s first whiskey distillery in Yamazaki, “an area prized for its pure, soft water and lush, misty climate.”
• The Suntory event was at the Noguchi Museum where chef David Bouley created a pairing menu.
• The Nikka distillery (founded 1934, by a former Suntory employee, Masataka Taketsuru) located in Yoichi, takes “advantage of an underground water source, filtered through peat.” In addition, the distillery’s proximity to the Sea of Japan provides its stringent and salty character.
• The Nikka event cordoned off a tasting room in the Andaz Hotel and previewed four spirits set to debut later this year.

You’re Welcome.

Read More: NY Times

Normally,  I write about drinking alcohol but water plays a very important part of that too – think ice.  So among all the other things that we have to look forward to in the future:  End of Days 2012; Zombie-pocalyse; a post-pubescent Justin Bieber – seems there will be less potable water.  Leave it to the Japanese  (and possibly some experiments with New York City cabbies)…

Story Served Neat:

• The Hydrolemic System:  both harvesting moisture from the air,  and  retaining the water we have inside our bodies (no Bear Grylls tap required).
• Inserts in the nose,  to convert the moisture in the air we breath into water.
• Inserts  (IN the body)  at the ends of our renal and digestive systems keep water from leaving.
• A collar on the neck using body heat to form electricity and prevent perspiration (I think this needs to be their 1st prototype).

You’re Welcome…

Read More:  Fast Co.Exist