5 Essential Life Hacks for the Modern Drinker

Spilled a bit of red wine down the front of your shirt? Again? Fear not: This supposedly unbeatable stain does, indeed, have a match: cold water, lots of salt and, if the situation is dire enough, vinegar. For all other stains, including sticky cocktails, beer and really most everything else, you’ll want to be sure you have a Tide to Go pen handy. Pre-treat the stain right away and you’re most likely in the clear. But if all else fails, take your stained party-wear to the dry cleaners and let the professionals handle it.

If you’ve ever wished that “BYOB” automatically included cocktails and not only beer and wine, well—are you sure it doesn’t? While there are multiple ways to stash a cocktail on the go—this is why bottled cocktails exist, right?—one of the easiest ways to mix and go is with a trusty Mason jar. You can not only mix one drink in a half pint–sized jar, but you can also mix for a group. Keep in mind, though, that if you go this route, you’ll want to stick with simple drinks. Egg whites and cream won’t travel, but a Manhattan, Martini or Margarita will keep its consistency well. You can even ask for a glass of ice or a bucket to re-chill the drink once you’re at the table.

The red-wine struggle is very real, and stains extend far beyond your favorite shirt. It’s not uncommon to find yourself at a nice dinner, sipping on a glass of delicious Pinot Noir and then, out of nowhere, get self conscious about your possibly purple teeth. While you could carry travel-sized toothbrush and toothpaste along with you, you could also be sure to have on hand a product designed especially for this predicament: Wine Wipes. That’s right, a wipe made specifically for your vino-colored teeth.

At one point or another, everyone falls into the twist-off trap: It looks like there’s an arrow on that cap, but it’s not coming off—no matter how hard you twist.Luckily, there are a number of ways to remove that pesky lid without breaking the bottle. If you’ve got a countertop, lighter, key or another bottle on hand, you’re golden. Household Hacker demonstrates each of these fool-proof ways get to your brew.

Though a similar predicament to not having a bottle opener, the absence of a corkscrew is much more daunting. Sure, you could push the cork all the way into the bottle with a high heel (no, we’ve never done that…), but it’s best to avoid the resulting shards of cork in the wine—especially if it’s a nice bottle.Instead, try the innovative screw, screwdriver and hammer method if you’re handy (no, you won’t be smashing anything). You could even go the way of a kitchen knife or one of these other ingeniously creative techniques.