Stuff Geeks Want

Earlier this year I called your attention to the excellent semi-automatic Rancilio Silvia espresso machine.

But as much as I like the more authentic espresso, I almost enjoy the wondrous automatic systems as much…. and probably more when I’m feeling feeling especially lazy.

In the past few days since having a DeLonghi ESAM6600 Esclusivo Gran Dama espresso machine at my disposal, I’ve drank more coffee than I probably did in the previous two weeks. Something about having to only press one button for a machiatto makes it all too irresistible.

Score the convenience for $2,518 from Amazon.com. It’ll pay for itself after about 1,000 cappuccinos…

CorkPops Cork Popper is by far the coolest way to open a bottle of wine. The handheld device punctures the cork and uses the pressure from a C02 cartridge to effortless lift the cork out of place.

It’s also priced in line with most moderate wine openers, at around $27 shipped from myGearStore (via Amazon).

Each cartridge is good for roughly 80-100 bottles of wine and run around $5 each.

We’re of a fan of any need in the kitchen that can be accomplished with a gadget that resembles a toy car, even if we just discovered the first one: the Chef’n Garlic Zoom.

This clever slicer and dicer converts whole garlic bulbs to finely chopped garlic in a matter of seconds, just load it with the bulbs and roll it back and forth on the counter, like you used to do with those wind-up cars.

Necessary? Definitely not. Neat? Sure—even if clean-up takes longer than the actual chopping of the garlic.

Amazon sells the Chef’n Garlic Zoom for $9.95 but is currently out of stock, but you can find it at Cooking.com for the same price.

Snowpeak makes excellent gear for campers, and cutlery is no exception. While ultra light-weight titanium sporks are cool and all, we prefer to chow down with the Backpacking Chopsticks, which will also impress the waitress at your neighborhood sushi bar.

These chopsticks are cool for multiple reasons:

• the wooden ends unscrew and are stored in the hollow aluminum handle when not in use
  
• the wooden ends are made from recycled white ash baseball bats
• they only weigh 1 oz.
• a carrying pouch is included

The only downside is that Snowpeak can’t seem to keep up with demand, as the chopsticks are out of stock everywhere at the moment, including direct from the manufacturer.

But when they are in stock, you can find them for about $25-$30 from REI.com or ThinkGeek (search for “chopsticks” at either place).

A strainer? Are you kidding me?

Wait, wait—a $60 strainer?

Be cool, fellow geek, here’s why we’re featuring this: it’s so simple yet so smart, every geek can appreciate it.

Designed by Boje Estermann at the European design firm Normann-Copenhagen, this rubber strainer (with a stainless steel bottom) is capable of collapsing to a fraction of its height, meaning your strainer no longer needs to occupy a cubic-foot of cabinet space.

While the sense of “why didn’t I think of that!” sinks in, point your browser to Unica Home to pick one up for 25% off ($45 + $8.50 shipping).

And don’t forget to brag to your friends that your new strainer won the Good Design 2005 and Observeur Design 2006 awards.

The problem with wine is that if all you have are standard 750 mL bottles, you either have to be prepared to down a good four glasses or put a cork in it and let it sit for the night… or two, or three… or whenever you remember you have an opened bottle and feel like drinking again.

Wine loses its flavor quickly in such cases, and usually just 24 hours is too long to expect an opened bottle to maintain peak flavor (hint: store it in the fridge, even if it’s a red, to preserve it a little longer).

But a vacuum wine saver, like this nice 3-piece stainless steel set ($29.99 at Amazon), can help an opened bottle stay tasty a bit longer by sucking all the air out of the bottle when you cork it, since exposure to air is responsible for disintegrating the wine’s taste. We’re also big fans of these handy and handsome ones that cost $25.00 at Brookstone (pictured right).

The best part? You don’t even need to spend that much money: decent wine stoppers (albeit less stylish or sturdy) can be had for as little as $9.99, like this white one here, or this black one here.

There are sexier espresso machines on the market, especially in the $600 price range, but the Rancilio Silivia is the benchmark by which everything else is measured.

Silivia is a semi-automatic espresso machine, so if you’re looking for something that you can set and forget or you don’t have the patience to learn how to pull the perfect shot, you should look elsewhere. But if you want to produce espresso shots with the same quality of a commercial setup, the Silvia is the way to go.

What makes Silvia so good? Check out these features, a number of which straight out of Rancilio’s far pricier coffee shop setups:

• commercial-size portafilter (ensures even water distribution over the grinds)
  
• chrome-plated brass filter holder (keeps the temperature consistent)
  
• ultra high quality construction (frame is iron, exterior casing is stainless steel)
  
• stainless steel steam wand
  
• largest boiler (12 oz.) in this price range
  
• cup warmer (up to 6 espresso cups)

Ready to splurge? Pick one up for $595 at Chef’s Corner or Whole Latte Love. Keep in mind you’ll want a high quality grinder to take Silivia to its limits ($100-$300), or you can just buy this $905 package and call it good.

Bodum’s Pavina, Canteen, Assam, and Bistro series of glasses are the closest you’ll get to drinking out of a work of art, assuming you don’t own a medieval chalice or something.

These sleek glasses feature two mouth-blown layers that create the illusion of the liquid being suspended in the glass. But it’s not just a cheap trick: the space also serves as insulation, keeping cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot while also preventing your fingers from getting scorched or water drops from forming on the outside.

Before you ask: yes, they’re somewhat fragile; yes, you should only hand wash them; and, yes, they’re not cheap.

Prices for 2-packs are as follows:

• 2-ounce Pavina espresso shot: $11.95
  
• 9-ounce Pavina tumbler: $14.95
  
• 12-ounce Pavina cooler/beer: $19.99
  
• 15-ounce Pavina tall drink: $29.99
  
• 21-ounce Pavina tall drink: $39.94

• 3-ounce Canteen espresso shot: $11.99
  
• 6-ounce Canteen tumbler: $14.95
  
• 7-ounce Assam cooler/beer: $14.95
  
• 13-ounce Assam cooler/beer: $19.99
  
• 13-ounce Canteen cooler/beer: $19.99

• 4.7-ounce Bistro espresso (with handle): $21.92
  
• 10-ounce Bistro mug (with handle): $25.47
  
• 15-ounce Bistro cafe latte (with handle): $27.95
  
• 16-ounce Bistro jumbo mug (with handle): $33.05

All the above quoted prices are from Amazon, which with its free shipping has the best prices anywhere on these glasses. Bonus: at the moment, all of the above glasses (except for the Bistro series) are eligible for Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, which means you can buy 4 different sets an only pay the cost of 3, further knocking down the price.

Behold, the lowly dishwasher. Forever neglected and taken advatange of, until that day it breaks down and forces you to wash your wares Amish-style.

But rejoice! That broken dishwasher is an excellent reason to install a Bosch Integra 800-series dishwasher, the Ferrari of dishwashers, if you may.

Forget the dishwasher laundry list of features, like 9 wash cycles and 24 hours delay start: the most important attribute of this elegant monster is its noise level, a mere 42 dB. This makes it the queitest full-size dishware on the market, meaning you’re unlikely to even notice when it’s working (most “quiet homes” have about 40dB of noise, apparently).

If $1,549 (from #1 online appliances retailer AJ Madison) is out of your budget, Bosch also serves up the Integra 500-series and 300-series, which share the same sharp looks of their big brother but trade off some features (and noise) for a lower price tag, starting under $800.