This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at U Penn chapter.
It’s Friday night and you’re with your friends and you’re ready to get rowdy.. You have beer, you have wine —you think you’re all set, until you realize the ugliest of truths: there are no corkscrews or bottle openers in sight. Lucky for you, there are dozens of crafty bottle opening methods that will get your partying and impress your friends.
Wine
- No corkscrew or knife in sight? When in crisis, my favorite way to open wine bottles is with my keys. First stick your keys into the cork as far as you can (push hard!) at a 45-degree angle, then start twisting the keys around. The cork will slowly start to rise up. Voila.
- Wine tastes better when you opened it with the help of your schoolbooks. Hold a thick book under the bottom of your wine bottle, then slam it against a wall. The cork will slowly start poking out of the bottleneck. It’s awesome —who knew textbooks had another function?
- Ladies, your heels aren’t just made for walking. Little did you know your thinnest heels can double as your pregame party trick. Slam your heels right into the cork, then make like salt-n-peppa and “push it real good.” The cork will pop right into the bottle, and you’ll be ready to pour and enjoy.
- You know what big feet means? Big…just kidding. It means you can open a wine bottle with your sneakers! Slide the base of the bottle into the shoe, then knock it right against a wall as you did with the book trick.
Photo by Amanda Shulman
Beer
- I like to call this one the “poor little rich kid.” Note: Make sure no one is standing in front of you. Fold a dollar bill in half and roll it up tightly, so it looks like a tight…cigarette. Then fold it in half again and wedge the fold under the cap, holding onto the two ends that have been folded together. Grasp your other hand around the bottleneck and push the bill up. The cap will go flying, so be careful.
- Fit the edge of your keys under the ridge of the bottle cap and push out, so that the metal of the cap starts flaring off. Do this on 2-4 points on the cap until it looks completely deformed and you can just lift it off the beer bottle.
- Kill two birds with one stone by using one beer to open another. Place the cap of one bottle under the ridge of the other. Pull down hard on the top beer, and the cap of the other one will rip right off!
- Is anyone wearing a belt? One of the easiest ways to crack open a beer is to latch it off using a belt buckle.