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7 of the Most Expensive Barware Items in the World

Pat Evans
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When trying to build out a bar with an impressive array of bar tools, it can be easy to gravitate toward barware that will simply get the job done. There’s also a tendency to gravitate toward an expensive piece of art that will go above and beyond and become a statement piece the entire house can revolve around. These are some of the most expensive barware items in the world.

Most Expensive Cocktail Shaker: Asprey Silver “Tell-Me-How” Cocktail Shaker

In 1884, a Brooklyn man by the name of Edward Hauck patented the cocktail shaker. Surely, someone was shaking up cocktails before Ed, but the three-part bar staple known around the globe now found its official start that year. Perhaps Mr. Hauck’s original shaker, or some other 19th-century examples, can fetch a high price, but the “Silver Tell-Me-How” apparently can fetch $12,250. The majority of the shaker is silver, but the helpful ingredient liner is gold.

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Most Expensive Mixing Glass: Richard Brendon Diamond Mixing Glass

Bar glassware such as mixing glasses don’t apparently have the extravagant history of some other cocktail accessories. While their glass structure could lend to fancy crystal builds, their relative sideline status in the cocktail-making process has left the market wanting for expensive mixing glasses. Still, as a widely available product, the $256 for the Richard Brendon Diamond Mixing Glass is still a shocking price for a potential bar staple.

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Most Expensive Cocktail Knife: The Gem of the Orient

You call that a knife? This is a knife. When it comes to cutting, most can make do with any sharp blade. So next time a lime wedge needs slicing, think about “The Gem of the Orient.” The $2.1 million price tag on the custom knife set was a result of more than 10 years of work. The set includes 153 emeralds and nine diamonds.

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Most Expensive Decanter: Ley Diamante

Most Expensive Decanter
Ley 925

Decanters are often looked at for the valuable liquid they hold. But the often gorgeous pieces of crystal artwork can cost a pretty penny themselves. Check out the Tequila Ley .925 Diamond Sterling decanter. It’s made of hand-blown glass, coated in silver and platinum, and topped off with 4,000 diamonds. All of that costs a cool $3.5 million. Some of that might be the tequila inside, but imagine throwing the empty in the recycling bin.

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Most Expensive Rocks Glass: Waterford

When pouring the next tipple, pay attention to the glass that the pour is headed into. It’s unlikely it measures up to some of the master craftsmanship that hails from Ireland. The Waterford Crest Tumblers feature the crest of Waterford city, where they’re hand-etched. The lion and sturgeon design can take weeks to complete. A set of two costs $3,500.

Most Expensive Wine Opener: London Bridge Wine Opener

London Bridge might fall down, but it can also help open the next wine bottle. One of the most expensive wine openers out there is made from a piece of the original London Bridge, which came down in 1831. With materials that could be more than 800 years old, the corkscrew sold for $62,790 at auction.

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Most Expensive Jigger: Wayword Expression

Why measure a shot in a shot glass when an uber-expensive jigger will do the trick? More than 1,000 hours apparently went into creating the “Wayword Expression,” a jigger that will run a bar owner $126,726 to furnish. The tool was meticulously crafted to help a spirit breathe when poured into it and to pour into a vessel of a drinker’s choosing from any angle. The exterior mimics the engravings of classic Colt firearms and includes a base of 1.29 pounds of gold encrusted with 8 carats of diamonds. At one point “made to order,” the jigger is no longer easily found online.

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Topics
The best kegerators for keeping your favorite beers cold and fresh
Fresh beer is better beer. Now, you can have cold draft beer at home or on the go with your own personal beer keg setup.
best kegerator on amazon

There's a wide selection of iconic craft beers and tasty cheap beers available to drink in cans and bottles. But nothing beats a good, heady draft pint served right from a tap or kegerator. As the name implies, a kegerator is a refrigerator that keeps a keg of beer cold and fresh while allowing you to dispense the contents from a built-in pressurized tap system on top.

However, it is a costly appliance, so it’s recommended to do your homework and invest your hard-earned money in a top-notch quality unit that will surely keep your beer fresh. To help you save time on researching the best ones, we’ve rounded up our picks for the best kegerators of 2023, with our selections ranging from on-the-go options to the most innovative dual-tap kegerators.

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The Borg drink is a viral Gen-Z favorite that’s really not all that new
Sorry, kiddos. "Borg" has been around for a while. We just call it something else.
borg drink recipe

Every new generation thinks they've invented the wheel when it comes to anything trendy. We're sorry to say, Gen-Z, but "flared leggings" are called yoga pants, most of us were using flip phones before you were born, and don't even think about talking to us about pop punk unless you know who Billie Joe Armstrong is.
When it comes to drinks, most generations have a hallmark party beverage that defines their college years, holding the power to flood them with a rush of nausea and fuzzy memories even decades later. For Gen-Z, that drink is called "Borg." What they haven't realized yet, though, is that this falsely fruity concoction has been around for years under the name "Jungle Juice."
While Jungle Juice was originally invented by U.S. soldiers during the Second World War, it was Millenials who made it the truly trashy, hangover-inducing party swill it is. Most stereotypically mixed in a large bucket or something else that can be found in a dorm garage, Jungle Juice is a mixture of vodka and a cheap, fruity mixer such as Kool-Aid. Naturally, there aren't any hard and fast recipe rules, but that's the usual gist of Jungle Juice.
The Gen-Z twist, Borg, does have some clever upgrades, and for that, we give them due credit. Firstly, the rather gross-sounding name is actually a witty acronym for "Black Out Rage Gallon." We love that there's no beating around the bush with this generation. They know how to call a spade a spade. Second, unlike the communal trough that's used to dole out Jungle Juice, Borg is made and served in individual plastic jugs, cutting down on germ spread. We can appreciate that growing up in the days of COVID has made for some much healthier thinking. We also love that Borg can be capped, making it much more difficult for potential predators to tamper with a drink.
Of course, the optional addition of new ingredients like Liquid IV also help to curb the hangover that will undoubtedly come with drinking vodka from a plastic jug. That sure would have been nice back in the day.

Borg drink recipe

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Is erythritol harmful? What a dietitian says new data means for your Keto diet
Erythritol is common in many keto foods - what does that mean for your health?
erythritol in keto diet advice

While sugar substitutes have been around for more than a century, they didn't really become mainstream here in the United States until around the mid-70s. According to Carolyn De La Pena, professor of American Studies at UC Davis and author of Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda, between 1975 and 1984, Americans increased their consumption of artificial sweeteners by 150 percent. This timeline makes sense when you take into account that the late seventies coincided with the start of our crazed diet culture and the revolving door of fad diets.
One such diet that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, however, is the Keto diet. Still hugely popular among Americans trying to shed a few pounds, Keto focuses heavily on limited or no carbohydrates. Because sugar contains carbohydrates, followers of Keto have turned to artificial sweeteners to satisfy those late-night cravings - sweeteners that, more often than not, contain erythritol. Erythritol in particular has become hugely popular because it's much better for baking than other sugar substitutes, has less of an artificial flavor, and will keep the eater in Ketosis, which is key for losing weight on the Keto diet.
A new study has made waves recently because its findings indicate there's a link between erythritol and higher rates of heart attack and stroke (though the study did note that only an association was found — not causation. So should you be worried?
We asked Dan LeMoine, RD, the award-winning author of Fear No Food and the Clinical Director at Phoenix-based Re:vitalize Nutrition, what he had to say about erythritol, including its benefits and potential health risks. "Artificial sweeteners are still sweeteners. While many are non-nutritive or zero-calorie, we tend to view them similarly as we do regular sweeteners or sugars — moderation is key. While many have amazing implications on weight loss – being low to no-calorie options and having little impact on blood sugar, some have their downside," he says.

While some of that sugar substitution has been good for waistlines and health issues that come from obesity, it seems to be causing more and more concern when it comes to other potential health issues. "For example," says LeMoine, "some research indicates the popular sweeteners stevia may have negative effects on the gut microbiome. And the recent study showing correlation between the sugar alcohol, erythritol, and heart attack and stroke."

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