MelloYello Redesign and Rebirth

So this is pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever seen MelloYello sold in Hawaii before but I do remember it as being the brand that sponsored Cole Trickle’s car in the 90’s flick Days of Thunder. Although MelloYellow was released in 1979 to compete with Pepsi’s Moutain Dew, it has been regulated mainly to the Midwest and Southeast parts of the United States.

That’s about to change, though, as the Coca-Cola Company is set to bring MelloYello to the masses (that means the Northeast and Western United States) complete with a vintage 1979 redesign. the redesign comes to us courtesy of Norwegian graphic designer Mats Ottdal and was designed at Stag & Hare in New York City.

My only question is, MelloYello, when are you coming to Hawaii?

USB Zinfandel: The Perfect Geek Wine

The USB Zinfandel from Peltier Station might be the perfect wine for your next geeky get together. This desert wine has hints of “chocolate balanced with ruby cherry and spice.” Sounds yummy to me!

So does this wine require a USB port? Nah! In fact, the back label of this interesting wine tackles this topic head on:

“The back label reads: “United States Bureau for trade signed an im____ant agreement with the European Union to protect ____ugal’s geographical indication of this type of wine. Our Unidentified Secret Brand is therefore no mystery wine …Be the Ultimate Savvy Buyer by including our USB ____ in your ____folio of wines. PS…Peltier Station Winery mission accomplished.”

Tapi: Tap, Squeeze, Drink!

I rarely drink out of public water fountains these days, and it’s not just because they tend to be nasty filthy but also because they are increasingly becoming rare to find. Tap water at home, on the other hand, is something that I do still drink. Maybe it’s because I live in Hawaii and we have great water here. Or maybe it’s because tap water is free (sort of) and it’s not as wasteful (those darn plastic bottles). Needless to day, the Tapi is a nifty device from the wonderful inventors at Dreamfarm that turns any plain sink faucet into a fun home water fountain.

The Tapi is made out of rubber and won’t affect the taste of your water and it fits into any faucet with a straight spout. Pretty nifty, I think, especially for those times when you need a quick drink or want to do a quick rinse minus the need for a cup.

Buy the Tapi from Dreamfarm for $4.95.

Beer Savers: Silicone Bottle Caps

According to the official Beer Savers website, Beer Savers are good for 10 reasons:

1. Durable, stretchy molded bottle cap charms
2. Designed to help keep beer fresh and safe
3. Dishwasher safe and reusable
4. Made of food-safe silicone
5. Come in multi-colored sets of 6 – the perfect party pack.
6. Make a great housewarming or hostess gift for any beer lover.
7. Fits most standard beer bottles
8. Make for a great talking point at any dinner party or beer tasting party.
9. Help homebrewers keep their beer bottles clean and sterile before bottling.
10. Helps keep your beer safely identified when in clubs, bars and restaurants

I’m not sure about you, but I would feel a little weird carrying around little silicone bottle caps when going bar hopping. It should be law that if you open a bottle of beer then you should finish it!

With that said, Beer Savers, send me a few caps and I’d be more than happy to test out your product. I’ll start off in the comforts of my own home and then work my way out!

Buy a 6-Pack of Beer Savers from Beer Savers for the sale price of $7.99 (Retail: $12.99).

Merlot-Bot

I like geeky cool stuff and the Merlot-Bot falls right into that category. The bot itself kind of looks like an elongated Johnny 5 from Short Circuit (If you have no idea who I am referring to then I must be showing my age).

“Prepare yourself for a robot invasion of the cutest kind with this helpful household sculpture handmade by Utah artist Fred Conlon from recycled steel – factory discards and reclaimed parts from junk yards, construction sites and pawn shops.”

Buy the Merlot-Bot from Uncommon Goods for $90.

Introducing the Concrete Espresso Machine

One thing is for sure, with the Concrete Espresso Machine, you will never have to worry about knocking your espresso machine over – unless of course you’re the Incredible Hulk! That’s because this espresso machine is like no other. It’s built out of solid concrete! Israeli student, Shmuel Linski, from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design came up with solid concept product. The machine features metal parts alongside a unique and very chic concrete encasing.

Why concrete? Linkski had this to say:

“Concrete in the kitchen, not only as a wall or decorative part, I wanted it to be a desirable consumer product.”

DHARMA Initiative Drink Labels

Max Pictures has been doing an excellent job of creating Dharma labels for anything and everything you could imagine. These are perfect for you to use at your LOST finale party! Here I feature all of the drink related labels, including ones for vodka, soda, beer, and wine. All of these labels and a ton more are available for download as PDF’s at Max Pictures for free.

USB Bottle Opener

Some might argue that with the increased prevalence of cloud storing services, thumb drives may soon go the way of the dodo bird, much like the floppy disk. Having said that, it might be impossible for beverage enthusiasts with an appetite for technology to not lust for this thumb drive. The USB Bottle Opener Flash Drive is like any other flash drive, except it has the added feature of being able to open your favorite bottle of beer. Neat? Absolutely.

Buy the USB Bottle Opener from the Brando Workshop for starting at $19 (2GB).

Sunbeam Designer Glass Kettle

I spotted this glass kettle over at the Appliancist and instantly thought, wow, that’s a sleek looking kettle. The basic kettle that I have at home (and use on a regular basis) looks sort of like a Kia compared to this Porsche-esque designer kettle. Wow. The kettle was designed by Australian industrial designer, David Knott and is a part of Sunbeams ongoing designer series.

Features:

1.3 litre glass kettle
SCHOTT DURAN Germany glass vessel
Sensor-touch button operation
Patented electronic control
Fast-boil, 2400 watt concealed element
Removable lid with mesh filter
360 degree cordless power base

Buy the Designer Glass Kettle by David Knott from Sunbeam for $139.95 AUD.

Via Appliancist.

Anthora Paper Cup Designer Dies

The New York Times ran an excellent story a few days ago on the death of a New York icon, Leslie Buck. The 87 year old Buck passed away at his home in Glen Cove, New York. Buck is known as being the designer of the ubiquitous Anthora coffee cop that dominated the streets of New York for nearly 4 decades. Beck introduced his novel coffee cup idea to the masses in 1963 and since then it has become a part of the daily ritual for millions of people.

Sales of the cup reached 500 million in 1994 (when it was by far the most popular design for the company’s cups), but fell to about 200 million cups annually in 2005. One New York Times writer in 1995 called the Anthora “perhaps the most successful cup in history”. By 2007, it was mentioned in passing in a New York Times television review as “one of those endangered artifacts” – Wikipedia.

The Anthora coffee cup features the image of an ancient Greek amphora, a decorative border on the top and the bottom, and the capitalized slogan, “WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU.” The Solo cup company, which purchased the rights to the Anthora cup discontinued it from their catalog in 2006, however, they still have it available for custom orders.

Buck’s NY Times obituary can be seen here.

On the left is the original Anthora coffee cup and to the right is a replica ceramic version.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users mttsndrs and brotherM.