"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com – brought to you by Stoli Vodka, Altos Tequila, Fireball, OR-G, Jim Beam, Plymouth Gin and 2 Gingers – is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews, the results of our Best of Bars poll and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
In honor of OnMilwaukee.com "Bar Month" we give you some of our most wanted bar related items for our homes!
Bubble it: iSi Soda Siphon
I'm not a soda guy. Sparkling water is a refreshing alternative, but the cost and packaging are both prohibitive to me. Andy Tarnoff's favored Soda Stream seems to use a lot of plastic, too, so I've been keeping my thrift store eye open for a soda siphon. I've been coming up empty and I think it's time to throw in the upcycle towel and grab one from Amazon. Just one container and the steel cartridges are easily recyclable. – Nick Barth
Drink with it: Guinness pint glasses
Guinness is my go-to beer and I usually have at least one in my fridge. However, being the mismatched gal that I am, I usually drink my favorite Irish stout out of a random pint glass – I have one from Abita, The Milwaukee Brewing Company and a bunch of other oddballs. But the thought of drinking a Guinness beer from a Guinness pint when I'm not in a bar is appealing and I just might have to spring for these. Sláinte. – Molly Snyder
Add it: Vinia red grape powder
For years, we've been hearing about the health benefits of drinking red wine in moderation. Vinia founder Zaki Rakib says he started his business to create a way to "harness the power of nature to bring these benefits in a new form without the sugars, calories and alcohol." Vinia is a powder that comes in single serve packets that you can either blend into food or liquid or just consume as it is. Trust me, the concentrated powder is better when mixed with water. A quarter-teaspoon a day provides a range of polyphenols from grapes (not synthetic) supposedly has the same benefits of 1,000 red grapes or a bottle (or four glasses) of red wine; that is, the promotion of healthy blood circulation and healthy arteries, maintaining good blood pressure and the promotion of anti-oxidant activity. Whether or not your doctor would back these claims, I can't say. But the powder has nothing artificial and is made from GMO grapes, so at the very least it serves up some daily servings of fruit. – Bobby Tanzilo
Use it: Bottlepops Talking Bottle Openers
In a few words, a goofy, annoying talking bottle opener that works great. The bottle opener is big, it's something more suited to sit on your counter. It's definitely been fun to play with (just ask my toddler). To use you put the bottle in the opening and push down. It's spring loaded and the teeth pop the cap of effortlessly. Though you will occasionally have to chase the caps down as the bottle opener can "spit" the caps out with spring loaded force. The catchphrases are pretty spot on, too! Having a BBQ, got a child? This thing will keep them busy (working) all day opening anything that has a crown cap from the old school coca-cola bottles to your River West Stein. Best part, there's years of enjoyment the sports tops come off so you can swap out the battery and annoy someone else! – Brandon Kelly
