We can’t imagine too many scenarios where we couldn’t finish our beer (wine we can understand).  But on the off chance you find yourself in the sort of unfortunate situation where despite its great taste, your beer is too filling, simply pop on one of the six color options of Beer Savers (available at beersavers.com for $8) and your beverage will stay fresh as it chills in your refrigerator.  Each Beer Saver is made of food-safe silicone and is flexible enough to fit most standard beer bottles (you may be on your own though when it comes to that growler or keg you’re trying to keep from going stale).

When we’re taking down a six pack of beer, the last thing we’re contemplating is its nutritional value.  But leave it to the Abita Brewing Company, located just north of New Orleans, to brew a beer that happens to incorporate a key ingredient packed with antioxidants.  Abita Purple Haze (available at Internet Wines & Spirits starting from $10) is a crisp wheat beer that adds raspberry puree after the filtration process, resulting in a singular lager with the coloration, bouquet and taste that was made for summer imbibing.  With just the ideal hint of raspberry (without being overly sweet), Purple Haze perfectly pairs with after-dinner desserts and fruits, as well as being just as refreshing on its own no matter the meal, time of day, or season for that matter.

We’re going to ruefully admit to a quondam late night college ritual of ours (one that involved the ever ubiquitous collegiate food group known as ramen).  We’d eat the ramen noodles uncooked, broken up into bite sized pieces, and heavily dusted with the dry powder soup base (a combination that we know sounds rather suspect, but was highly addictive for many years).  While we have no desire to revisit those late night eating habits, we do find ourselves gastronomically nostalgic and incredibly intrigued with Komforte Chockolates (available at AmazonFresh.com for $3).  Available in three flavors (french toast, tortilla lime & salt, and ramen noodle), these 2.5 ounce bars combine high quality milk and dark chocolate with the flavors of some of our favorite late night noshing, resulting in a delightfully quirky but sweet and savory comfort snack.

There’s a certain hazelnut-based spread that the editors at DS used to consume quite frequently (we basically considered it a peanut butter substitute).  But upon further inspection of its nutritional label, we were a little less than enthused to find things like soy lecithin and vegetable oil among its ingredients.  Good thing for us there’s Caramel Cream by Le Caramel (available at Le Caramel for $13).  This caramel cream artfully blends butter, sugar, creme fraiche with just a touch of French sea salt and is cooked in imported French copper kettles, which results in a greater depth of flavor without being cloyingly sweet.  Whether spread on your morning toast, a crepe or even on an apple slice, this caramel cream will add just that right amount of rich sweetness that only a pure caramel can tastefully achieve.

Ideal partners, dynamic duos, whatever term you use, it’s never too difficult to see the value in a perfect pairing.  Sometimes they make sense (see: cheese fries) and sometimes they don’t make enough sense (see: bacon vodka).  And then on occasion, it just makes absurdly complete sense, with a prime example being Firelit Blue Bottle Coffee Liqueur (available at K&L Wine Merchants for $45).  The result of a collaboration between San Francisco-based Blue Bottle coffee and local distillery St. George Spirits, this 60 proof liqueur is distilled from small batches of single origin coffee beans that have been hand roasted, cold brewed and then blended with two brandies.  Purist coffee aficionados and brandy connoisseurs should rejoice in this deliciously designed combination, mostly because it actually tastes like coffee (no surprise whatsoever given its provenance).  And though we don’t recall the last time we had a White Russian, there’s no doubt we’re looking forward to our first Firelit Blue Bottle Coffee Liqueur-infused sip.

While we don’t drink soda these days (see: high fructose corn syrup), we can”t deny there are times when something refreshingly carbonated just does the trick.  With the SodaStream Penguin (available at SodaStream starting from $200), our carbonated urges can be completely satisfied without as much guilt over the health implications and environmental impact as well.  The starter kit includes two 60 liter carbonators and two glass carafes, and with just a few seconds of pushing the carbonation button, you can transform regular tap water (filtered we hope) into either sparkling water as well as soda (using SodaStream’s 30 sodamix flavors or your own personal syrups).  Not only will the SodaStream Penguin save you money in the long run, but it will also give you a little more control over what you’re drinking and help reduce unnecessary waste in the form of soda cans and bottles (and we just dig the overall “penguin” aesthetic).

Notable things that happened in 1938 (the good, the bad and the ugly): Action Comics issued the first Superman comic, a recession was underway with 19% unemployment, and Bernie Madoff was born.  1938 was also the same year that Mortlach 70 Year Old Whisky (available at Master of Malt for approximately $15,200) was distilled in Scotland.  This single malt whisky is gorgeously packaged and though its price tag would be considered cost-prohibitive to most people, with the moniker of world’s oldest whisky (or whiskey depending on your spelling preference), the Mortlach 70 is clearly in rarefied air.  Now whether you’ll ever be able to partake of this smooth and singularly aged nectar will depend entirely on your disposable income.  Yeah, pretty much all of it.

Hobbies centered around the home come in various forms (most of which don’t interest us in the least) and often involve some type of DIY construction or plumbing (things that require quite a bit of effort, with mixed results to show for it).  The Brooklyn Brew Shop DIY Kit (available at Brooklyn Brew Shop starting from $40) changes everything.  Founded by Stephen Valand and Erica Shea, the Brooklyn Brew Shop provides aspiring or experienced homebrewers with the means to begin or further develop the one DIY hobby we can get behind without any reservations.  Their kits (available in both one and five gallon capacities) include a glass jug, all the necessary accessories to brew, including a stopper, thermometer, tubing, etc, and your choice of mix, ranging from Chocolate Maple Porter to Holiday IPA to our favorite: the Black & Tan (which appropriately includes a pouring spoon).  And taking into consideration the limited amount of space most urban dwellers have (especially those of us in New York), the Brooklyn Brew Shop DIY Kit takes up less than one square foot of space, making it the ideal home hobby to take up, requiring minimal space and effort, but in return providing maximum pleasure.  Mmm.  Beer.

When it comes to our favorite cold beverages, we appreciate the added chill that only ice cubes can impart.  And with the Iced Caraffe by Officeoriginair (available at FormNation for $28), our drinks stay refreshingly cold from the first pour to the last.  Simply fill the Iced Caraffe with water up to the indication level and place it flat in your freezer.  Once the ice cubes form around the “spine” on the inside of the carafe, just fill it right up again with water (or your drink of choice), and as your drink begins to cool down, the ice cubes will do their job and naturally release from the inside.  Available in a taupe or warm grey color, the Iced Caraffe ensures that every one of your thirst-quenching indulgences will be a frosty one.

The Dutch may have had a little something to do with the origins of the Dutch oven, but with the Slowcooker by Margriet Foolen (available at Royal VKB for approximately $55), they’ve moved on to one of our favorite means of preparing food: the slow cooker.  The result of Margriet Foolen’s graduation project at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Slowcooker is functional simplicity at its best.  Just place your ingredients in the terra cotta/silicone container and set it in the oven.  By cooking/steaming food in its own essence, the Slowcooker ensures that whatever is placed within, will emerge tender, moist, and full of flavor.  It will practically idiot-proof your next foray into the world of gastronomy by doing all the work for you (just make sure to choose your ingredients wisely).