The Liquor Fairy brings me many things, not just booze. But his little wings were beating mightily this week as he flew up with a box from Air & Water, Inc. The box contained a new model portable ice making machine called the NewAir Portable Ice Maker.

The current model is more sleekly trimmed than pictured here.

Among my most important rules for a successful Basement Bar setup is the importance of a ready supply of fresh ice. Cocktails and Ice are inseparable items, like chickens and eggs. One of the more popular posts I’ve ever written was my discussion of ice making options for your home bar. Therein, I strongly encouraged people, for a variety of reasons, to consider adding an automatic, stand-alone ice machine to their setup. I got two objections from most readers to this advice: the expense of the machines and the expense or sheer impossibility of plumbing them.

The NewAir holds at least the possibility of an answer to their pleas. I’ll talk about the machine, how it works, the ice it makes, who will want this machine, and who won’t.

The unit itself is fairly large, 17 inches by 17 by 15, and weighs about 45 pounds. It is a bit large to set on a countertop, but it really is fairly portable. It has well-placed handles, large, sturdy feet, and seems pretty durable. While it is actively making ice, you can hear it but it is not obnoxiously loud.

The way it makes ice is actually pretty ingenious. I made a YouTube video so you can watch it work.

The refrigerant is pumped through pipes connected to twelve vertical cylinders. The little bucket revolves up to contain those prongs and fills with water from the machine’s internal reservoir that doubles as a drip catcher below the finished ice bucket (not seen in the video). The NewAir holds enough water to fill its ice bucket several times.
The ice forms around the prongs. There are three ice size settings, and these merely determine how thick the ice is allowed to form. When the ice has reached the desired size (about seven minutes for the smallest setting), the bucket rotates away from the prongs and the remaining water flows back into the reservoir. You can see in the video that the refrigerant goes from cold to warm, and the ice slides right off the prongs.
After a moment, the bucket rotates back into position for the next round of ice, and the attached flipper shoves the new ice over the edge to fall into the ice bucket.
The machine is not designed to be on and running full time like a built in version that costs five times as much. The ice turns into a glob of merged pieces after a day or so, rather than cleanly melting away and being replaced. This isn’t a problem if you are using the ice all the time, but if you make a drink or two a day, take advantage of the automatic timer to ensure you have fresh ice ready for you at cocktail hour. On the other hand, it is very easy to maintain, with a swift and effective self-cleaning mode.

So what is all this ice like? Each piece is a rounded, hollow cone, about an inch and a half long. It is also filled with microbubbles so it’s white rather than clear. Finally, it is pretty warm ice, coming out of the machine right at 32 degrees. As an aside, the little flanges you see in the video on the top of the ice are due to leaving the door open while videoing the mechanism. The actual ice produced is much cleaner in appearance. The ice has a large surface area to mass ratio and is warm. This means it will start melting pretty quickly in a glass or mixing tin.

In short, the ice geeks and cocktail showmen are not going to like this ice.
But then, mostly they don’t like any ice from a machine, preferring to fill a freezer with all manner of fancy ice trays and molds, or hack away like Sharon Stone on a huge block of the crystal clear stuff, so the Camper Englishes of the world really aren’t the issue here.

First off, I think the ice is just fine in the tin for shaking and stirring. I know some mixers swear by “super cold” ice, but the science (and my own experimentation) says that most all of the chilling from ice comes at the moment it melts. Using cold ice may make your drink at most a degree or two colder, but actually takes longer to get there. “Warm ice”, especially with lots of surface area, can chill a drink faster than anything else, with only a very little more dilution.
Additionally, unlike with plumbed-in ice makers like mine, you can be as big a water snob as you like with the NewAir. Use Fiji water or even Perrier I suppose. I use water from my Brita filter and the ice tastes great.
For serving in a glass, the NewAir’s ice is less ideal. It really isn’t a pretty as cubes, and its propensity to melt quickly makes for dilution issues if you are a slower drinker.

OK, who would find this machine a great buy, and who won’t?
I see two main categories of buyer who will be happy with the NewAir. The first is a lot of the people for whom I’ve been writing my Basement Bar Design series. If you are putting together a bar for your home, don’t have a massive budget and/or can’t get running water into your chosen space, the machine will get you plentiful ice for everyday use at a great price. Home bar builders who have available plumbing and sufficient budget will be much happier with a built-in system.

This guy needs a NewAir….

An even better buyer for this machine is the mobile mixer. If you like to tailgate, camp out, or own an RV, a continuous supply of fresh ice will save you from the utter barbarity of no Martinis. Of course, if you want to run the NewAir in the woods so you can sip a Pegu while fishing in that remote stream, you’ll need power. The machine takes 400 watts, and most trees don’t have electrical outlets. Ditto for stadium parking lots. If this is your desired application, be sure to purchase a power inverter so you can run it off your car. Be sure to get one that wires into your battery directly, as the NewAir draws too much power for the inverters that just plug into the cigarette lighter.

The NewAir doesn’t make perfect ice. If you enjoy being persnickity about your ice, or view it as a garnish, this machine will likely not meet your needs. If you need a lot of fresh ice for mixing cocktails, or chilling juices, sodas, or basic mixed drinks like Rum and Cokes or Screwdrivers, it will provide plenty of the cool stuff fairly conveniently and for a very reasonable price. I like the machine. It is an ingenious design, the maker has a number of previous models, so they have had the chance to refine and improve what they are doing. I haven’t had it long enough to really vouch for its durability, but as I mentioned before, both the stainless steel case and the mechanism seem pretty sturdy. If you need what a portable ice maker can give you, I can definitely recommend the NewAir. UPDATE: If you decide to get a NewAir directly from the company, you can get an extra 10% off the price by entering the discount code: “PEGU” at checkout!

The Liquor Fairy Was Here!
The following product, NewAir Portable Ice Maker, was recently provided to me as promotional consideration to encourage me to discuss it.
For a complete disclosure of my policies regarding promotional items and all other financial interests, please click this link, or follow the Liquor Fairy link in the header of this page.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

OK folks, I’m going to take the risk of starting a series of posts that will stretch out over a series of weeks before it goes anywhere. I’ve always avoided multi-part posts because, well, I always assume I’ll wake up one day and start forgetting to blog.

I just went through a Winter of not enough herbs in my bar, especially mint. Even though it is Spring now, and my unkillable mint is returning to entirely too many parts of my garden, I’m going to blog the prgress of my new Basement Bar essential. I stole my wife’s AeroGarden and set it up as a now permanent fixture at the end of the Pegu Lounge.
I planted lemongrass, basil, and two kinds of mint. At each stage of it’s progress, I post again until I’m getting lots of delicious fresh herbs for my drinks and you have to start suffering through posts about Basiljitos and endless mint juleps.
Cheers!

I have a cocktail call to arms! It is time for all good culinary and cocktail enthusiasts to flex their consumer muscle to try to bring back a truly essential product.
Via the comments in a thread at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, I learned that OXO has decided to discontinue what is perhaps the most essential bar accessory out there, the OXO 2 oz. mini measuring cup!

This little measuring cup is simply the best jigger out there. If you are making cocktails that require precision, or you are cooking and use small amounts of ingredients, these little cups, with markings as low as 1/4 oz. or 10 ml, are a very valuable tool. Tiara asks in her post what everyone’s favorite jigger is, and the hands down winner is the OXO. But Jim of Vessel alerts us in the comments that OXO has discontinued them!
I immediately called OXO to confirm this. The lady I spoke to had no explanation but did confirm that OXO no longer makes the mini measure. She also said that they had received a surprisingly large number of complaints, especially from bartenders and other cocktailians, about the move.
I think we need to encourage everyone we know to contact OXO and ask that they return the cups to production. They are tracking the response they get.
To contact OXO, you can email them at info@oxo.com, call them at (800) 545-4411, or use their web contact page.
There are still some of the cups out there in the supply chain. Amazon has two links to the plastic version (here and here) and one for the stainless steel. As of this writing, there was still stock left at each. But it would be a shame if this product stays out of production. Contact OXO and save the world’s best jigger!

Welcome Bostonist readers! While you are here, please look around. It is Tiki Month here at the Pegu Blog (thus the weird theme), and I have some more thoughts here about the Cocktail Apocalypse as well.

More: Down in the comments, I am reminded that these mini measures really are useful for cooking, too. And for those with dexterity issues, they may be easier to manipulate than standard measuring spoons. Why then are they being discontinued? One, I think OXO missed the boat on marketing the cocktail angle, and two, I think they are just too darn cute to be taken seriously by a lot of cooks.

You probably get as many emails as I do about Black Friday sales. But this year brings the first I’ve seen for a bar products company.
BarSupplies.com is running a series of specials for your home bar, or for the real bartender in your home. They have lots of gift packs, including ones for guys who are into drinks, girls who are into drinks, and for either sex who is into wine.
They also are touting a lot of specialized bar equipment, some of which I had not seen before. Much of it is “for the trade”, but there is a lot that could interest the obsessed amateur like myself as well.
And as a centerpiece for all their specials, BarSupplies has put together this YouTube video, with your host “Lindsay” (whose name is in quotes for some reason), in which she demonstrates the products on special and allows you to benefit from her vast… experience.

I actually did learn of some things I’d like. For those of you on the building a basement bar odyssey, the video and the site are worth a look. They have good entries in the basic glassware category, as well as fun stuff to augment your decorating choices.
In conclusion, while Barsupplies may not be a blog, I will say that they understand Rule 5 quite well.

Here’s an idea that isn’t new. I’ve heard of these things in movies for a long time, but I had not seen them in the real world until now. I am referring to small liquor cabinets that are shaped like free standing antique globes.

{Click on pic for larger image}

To be honest, these accessories are not so much for your Basement Bar as they are a way to extend your cocktail domain out of your bar, or simply have a small such domain if your house (or spouse) won’t allow for a full bar. There is room inside most of these globes for a number of glasses in a ring around the outside ring, and a small selection of bottles in a center compartment. If I had one of these, I’d prep it for company with cut crystal tumblers, a bottle of Dalwhinnie, an appropriate humidor, and a small vase to hold ice.
Put one of these globes in your living room or den, or near the back door, wander by it after dinner, tilt open the top and you’ll be quite the lord of the manor, Hugh Laurie as Bertram Wooster impression, optional.
I found a source for these globes that carries a large variety of models, 1-World Globes. They have them in a variety of sizes and styles, at prices between $300 and $1500. The one pictured above is about $500. I contacted these guys and asked a few questions to clarify how the globes work. There are definite pluses and minuses to these little barlets.
First off, they do not spin or rotate. You probably would not want them to anyway, but FYI…. Second, they are only available in antique cartography (17th Century). 1-World still shows a modern cartography globe on their site, but the manufacturer says, there ain’t no more, ain’t gonna be no more. Third, the styling is very classic as well on all models. For my house, I’d need a modern-looking steel or black enamel look in one of these.
On the plus side, however, they seem quite well constructed. I love globes in general, as they convey a sense of worldliness and education through your home’s decor. (Readers of this blog of course need no reinforcement of their obviously vast cosmopolitan intelligence, but what the hey.) Finally, they are just practical enough to make you feel justified in a little extravagance like this.
While I stated earlier that this is not primarily an item for a Basement Bar, there are some applications there as well, especially in facilities with specific themes. A British Isles themed pub might find a design like this to be right at home. I might also find it cool if you have a poker table, especially since you could put it at hand by your favorite chair, and you wouldn’t have to leave your chips at the mercy of your thieving friends while you refill your scotch or theirs. If you still want to keep all your booze in your central bar, this could still be a good storage place for such exotica as a larger humidor, or such mundanity as your twenty remotes.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

I have said on numerous occasions that you need a featured time-waster in your Basement Bar. You know, something to discuss while you and your friends enjoy your cocktails. Alternatively, it should also be a way to distract that annoying guy, Geoffrey or whatever his name is, who otherwise always monopolizes the conversation with tales of his band back in high school. One great device, especially for those of us of a certain age, is a stand-up, arcade-style video game. These usually have two problems associated with them: They take up a lot of space, and they take up a lot of your pocketbook.

I have also already written specifically about kegerators, for those of you with friends uncouth enough to want to drink beer, instead of fine cocktails. Possibly you yourself are so uncouth….

Most beer dispensing options also have two problems: They take up a lot of space, and they take up a lot of your pocketbook.

But what if you could provide both of the functions in one, apparently well-engineered, very cool-looking, customizable product? Behold, the Arkeg!

Via Uncrate, we discover the programmable classic game arcade machine with built in beer kegerator! Awesome, no?

The Arkeg uses the home brew-friendly Cornelius keg, with built in tap and digitally controlled temperature. I’d strongly recommend the optional drip tray, though.

The cabinet and controls look to be every bit as good as the arcade games of our youth, and the 24 inch LCD screen (with beer-proof cover) should be a heck of a lot better! You can customize the backlit screen atop the machine as well to reflect your favorite team or just make it in keeping with your Basement Bar’s own specific design.

The machine comes pre-loaded with 69 games, including some of my favorites, like Battlezone, Centipede, Defender, Joust, Missle Command, Tempest, and the greatest arcade game of all time, Spy Hunter. Furthermore, depending on your resources or your willingness to circumvent certain copyright laws that you really should not, there are thousands more out there that this machine can run for you. Arkeg calls it an in-home iPod for your video games.

Like a regular arcade machine, or a regular kegerator, the Arkeg still takes up a lot of room, and still costs a lot of cash ($4,000 plus shipping). But it performs two functions in one! That makes it a perfectly reasonable purchase, right honey? Think of what we would “save”! It would be irresponsible for you not to get one of these.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

OK. I have written before that your Basement Bar need not be in your basement. But regardless of where you put it, if you want it to also be a sanctuary, a Man Cave, it needs to be a refuge. Part of being a sanctuary means isolation. And one way to achieve isolation is to provide secrecy, or the illusion thereof. Depending on your home and its layout, you may want to consider the ultimate in privacy and isolation: A Secret Door!

Via Gizmodo, and LifeHacker, we get this unnamed guy whose office was too messy for his girlfriend. With a few IKEA bookshelves and some ingenuity, he gave her a cleaned up mess and lots of new storage. In return, he turned his office into a Mantuary that he can keep as messy as he likes!

Here’s a tip, guys:
Less mess and more storage will usually result in permission for (most) anything you want!

As I was getting ready to say, this guy is pretty genius.

Hmmm….
Excuse me.

Where’d he go?

Greetings.
I understand you are discussing secret entrances, and their use in entering bat… mancaves.
I may have questions as you proceed.

Um, yeah.
No precise instructions for this bookcase system are given, but if you check out the flickr feed, you can see essentially how it is done. If you have the physical skills to do this, you can deduce the materials and method easily. Essentially, the swinging door unit is set on a platform with casters and rolls open or closed. I would probably suggest using a piano hinge instead of the cabinet hinges this guy does. Also a spring-loaded latch, attached by wire to a book on the shelf, would be a good addition.

Tell me,
how well is the entrance concealed?

Superficially, quite well. See the picture below, and click on it for an animated view of it opening and closing. Unfortunately, it evidently leaks light like a sieve, so as I said, this method is more about the feeling of secrecy than the reality.

Nonetheless, imagine this door opening into your bar, rather than your messy office. Your mantuary is now a genuine speakeasy!
There are lots of ways to use bookcases to conceal an entrance. IKEA Hacker has a sliding version. What would work for you would depend on the space you want to use.

I see.
But I am concerned about durability, too.
How would such a portal hold up if I need to burst through it swiftly every night, er, cocktail hour?

Huh? When I want to go to the bar for a drink, I don’t go slow. But burst? Anyway, I do have my doubts about durability. You would need to be careful with your set up, both in how you open and close it, and in what you put on the shelves. Note for instance that this guy has placed his bar inventory on a non-moving shelf!
Also, in an application like this, you might want to consider a speakeasy door in the bookcase. (Just don’t stick on a sign that says, No Girls Allowed) Or if you want to keep the illusion of a secret door, how about a peephole?
The point of a secret door for most people would be for fun. It is about how you feel, not actual security or stealth.

But suppose I really do need stealth.
My secret iden… privacy is important to me.

Then I would suggest a professionally made and installed secret door.
There are a number of manufacturers out there who make quality hidden door bookcases. Below, you can see an installation build by a company called Hide A Door, whose doors start at $800.

But the most fun you can have with secret doors would seem to come from a company called Hidden Passageway. Trust me, you want to follow that link. It’s fun.
Not only do they make bookcase hidden doors, they go several steps further.
How about entering your speakeasy via a floor length mirror? Or storing your bottles of Napoleon Brandy behind a painting, say, of Napolean?

But it gets better. How’d you like a secret door in your fireplace?

I’d probably avoid this kind of entrance for your Basement Bar, as the drunken head injuries might not be worth it….
Of course, since my design series is primarily centered on Basement Bars, I’d be remiss if I did not show this next idea of theirs. Use this staircase as the entrance ot your Basement Bar/Mantuary/Speakeasy, and you will be a legend in your own time….

These options interest me.
But what if an arch-ene… freeloading group of friends drops by?
How do I keep them out? Drunks are very good at finding the way to the bar.

Hidden Passageways apparently offers biometric locks for your secret door, with fingerprint and even retinal scanners! How you are going to have a secret door with a big ol’ palm plate next to it, I don’t know. To be fair, they also do safes, and even panic rooms, so those options make more sense.
If you do visit Hidden Passageways, be sure to visit the videos section and view video number 1. It’s an all-flash website, so I can’t give you a direct link. Sorry.

At last, the solution to my needs!
I much contact these people.

I will say this: There are no prices on their website. With solid wood, and steel reinforced construction, I suspect their product may be a case of If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

I see.
Fortunately, I don’t have to ask!

You don’t have to ask?!?!
I beg to differ!

Oh, all right, dear!
Um, would you like a Pegu?

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

My last post was about DIY Basement Bar Kegerators, allow me to shift gears violently enough to strip the transmission, folks.
Do It Yourself can be fun, but creating the Ultimate Basement Bar to your high standards may be beyond your skills or available time. If you have the available funds (or win them), the folks at Hybrid Space Furniture have the core of your Basement Bar ready and set to go (as of July 1, 2009). Behold, ye constructors of masculine retreats, the Man Wall! (H/T: Uncrate)

Ooooh!
Honey, call the mortgage broker! Time to refinance.

I don’t get it.
It’s a bookcase.

Sorry Guy, women don’t understand.
Sure, it’s a bookcase. And this is a scooter:

Let’s go over what is included with your bookcase. We start off with a 52″ flatscreen, and two smaller tvs (included), with room for one more (shown). With DirecTV, you could watch four courts of Wimbledon or the US Open at one time! Some of you could find supplemental uses during football season…. Next we have a complete surround sound system with DVD and CD changer and iPod dock. In the lower left side we have… a kegerator! No DIY needed, though it doesn’t have a lot of room for a big, ornamental pull.
There is a microwave. If you don’t get a Man Wall, do keep in mind that a microwave is a hugely useful item to have in a Basement Bar.
We round things out with two cigar humidors and some decent wine storage. Really, the only thing these guys don’t have in this system (version 2.0, please?) is a bar front (leaving the Man Wall as a back bar) for cocktail mixing.
I gave these guys a call, and spoke to Vince Caruso about the Man Wall. Look up at the top. You absolutely know you need a 24-hour, live updated sports ticker in your basement. The marquee is self-contained and comes with a year’s data subscription. You can customize it with desired sports, teams, etc. Or you can have it display stock information, in case that’s how you afford the Man Wall. It connects via your home’s wireless internet system and you are golden.
No one you know has this.
The Man Wall comes in four standard finishes: Cherry, rose, black, and steel. Those should cover most design needs, but as they are custom products to begin with, you can get another finish if you need it. Ditto for door styles (and trim, I suppose).
Partner Shawn Matthews has been making these systems for a while now on a custom, one-off basis in Bradenton, FL. He and Caruso formed Hybrid Space Furniture recently to get some economies of scale and market these systems everywhere. They have two other units available as well. There is the Octodesk, which would go great on the back wall of an office or den, and the Multimedia Fireplace, which combines a big screen TV with a no-venting-required electric fireplace. The fireplace, shown below, would be really nice in a condominium.

These last two products are nice, but the Man Wall is the real winner.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

UPDATE: Ack! Apparently my dashboard ate my previous version of this post for no reason. I hate technology…. If this version of the post sucks more than the first, I apologize.

There is a blog I’ve been watching for a while called IKEAhacker. It is all about projects you can do and things you can make by repurposing stuff from IKEA. I’ve been reading it in part because I’m a sucker for IKEA stuff, and in part because I knew that ideas I could use for this blog’s Basement Bar Design series would show up there in due course.
Apparently, I’m psychic….

IKEAhacker’s latest post, Cheers, it’s a Kegerator! shows how to use a few miscellaneous items from the scratch and dent bin at IKEA to dress up an old commercial refrigerator into a very nice cardiovascular system for a beer-centric home bar. You should visit IKEAHacker to see the products they use, and to just look around.
The post is useful, but I thought I’d do a little digging around to help you out with the one thing that Jules doesn’t go into, the tap mechanism itself.
There are lots of conversion kits available on the web that will accomplish this end. At a minimum, a kit will need a keg tap, hoses, a faucet, a regulator, and a CO2 tank. Make sure you get the last, as it is not included in all kits.
There are two different types of pouring faucets: Door mount, and tower. The kind pictured above is a tower, and mounts to the top of the fridge. The larger fixture will make a kit of this type cost about eighty dollars more than a door mount, but a door mount on a short appliance like this would require a suppler back and sturdier knees than I for one posses. If you are converting an old full or apartment sized fridge, go for the door mount.
The cheapest kit I found was a door mount that, with gas tank, would cost about $140 from Beverage Factory.
The tower kits come with either one or two spouts. Since a fridge of the size shown would not likely have room for two kegs, I assume the person who made it went the two faucet route because of appearance, or because it was what was at the store. A base, one spout, tower kit can cost as little as $214 from KegWorks.
There are also deluxe kits that come with better components, and more importantly, with maintenance materials. A tower kit of this nature goes for $490 from KegWorks.

You ought to consider going with a deluxe kit, unless you are a fan of sticky counters and bacteria.

I would be remiss in any Basement Bar Design post if I did not link to myself with some thoughts from previous posts. First off, how can I say this… The handles on the faucets you see on all these kits are… well… plain.

They are boring!

OK, they are boring. Consider investing in something like this to show some personality. And if you don’t have the money, space, or cordless drill needed to go the custom kegerator route, you could still use one of the tabletop mini kegerators you can buy for a couple hundred bucks.
If you are going to go this route, Beverage Factory has a free manual on how to convert a fridge to a kegerator. I’d advise reading it before you even think of buying any components.
If that is to dry for you, or you are still in the decision phase, Kegworks has a great demonstration video, featuring Bob Villa Robert Hess, that is less detailed and complete, but gives a more intuitive view of what this project would take:

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....

There are many days when I firmly believe that we of the West are dwelling in the comfortable twilight of a rotting civilization.
And then, like lightning, my faith in the power and majesty of American ingenuity and can-do spirit are restored.
Let us say that you are building your Basement Bar, a man cave of the first order. Much beer will be consumed here. You know what must be done with said beer, once it has been drunk. But the stairs are long, and you have no place or budget for a bathroom in the basement. However, you do have a dead super-soldier lying about….

I know it’s a Miller keg (rather than Bud Light), but I still want to offer up this song to the man among men who came up with this device:

Real Men of Genius

Real men of genius….

Today we salute you, Mr. Make a Urinal Out of a Beer Keg in Your Basment Bar Guy.

Mr. Make a Urinal Out of a Beer Keg in Your Basment Bar Guy!

When you drink beer in your basement… lots of beer… you can’t be bothered to go upstairs to hit the can.

Those stairs are long!

So you cut a hole in a full sized keg and mount it on the wall.

Say good-bye to your deposit.

A few bucks for a valve and PVC pipe, and you have a working flush system.

Don’t talk about where the drain leads!

Throw in a urinal cake you borrowed from work to keep the smell down, and don’t forget a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Employees must wash hands!

So here’s to you, Mr. Make a Urinal Out of a Beer Keg in Your Basment Bar Guy. When used beer needs getting rid of, you are our favorite guy.

Mr. Make a Urinal Out of a Beer Keg in Your Basment Bar Guy….

Thanks for the picture to a friend of mine who shall remain nameless, to protect his access to said urinal.

If you want to follow this specific series of posts on the Pegu Blog, you can subscribe to our Basement Bar feed here. Or you can just subscribe to the entire blog, with all its brilliant content, here!
Here’s a list of the other articles in this series that have been posted so far:

• Basement Bar Accessories #10: The NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Basement Bar Accessories #6: DIY Kegerator
• Basement Bar Accessories: Herbal Assault Part 1
• Basement Bar Design #0: Introduction
• Basement Bar Design #1: Where, What, and Why.
• Basement Bar Design #2: Refrigerators
• Basement Bar Design #3: Ice Supply
• Basement Bar Design #4(a): Essential Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(b): Supplemental Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #4(c): Buying Glassware
• Basement Bar Design #5: Water and Washing Up
• Basement Bar Design #6: My Own Basement Bar
• Basement Bar Design #7: Bar Top and Countertop Surfaces
• Basement Bar Design #8(a): Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8(b) More Artists
• Basement Bar Design #8: Artwork
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #1: Lit Backbar Walls
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #2: Holiday Glassware Giveaways
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #3: Beer Dispensing from Heineken and Elsewhere
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #4: Branded Beer Taps
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #5: Pure American Ingenuity
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #7: The Man Wall
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #8: The Arkeg
• Basement Bar Design Accessories #9: Global Domination
• Basement Bar Design Accessories: Hidden Lairs
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere
• Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #1: Sheds
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #2: Dangerous Party Invitees
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #3: Irish Pub in a (really big) Box
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #4: Mr. Blendtec, activate the defenses!
• Basement Bar Design Factoid #5: 1800 Tequila's Mancave Contest
• Basement Bar Design, Things to Consider #1: The Bargain
• Basement Bar Design: A Tour of the Parade of Homes
• Bulletin, Bulletin, Bulletin!
• Christmas Idea: Martini Shaker
• I Saved at Least $10,000 Because of Cocktail Blogging...
• New Basement Bar Contest From Grant's Whisky
• The Sixth Day of Christmas
• Tiki Timeout: Bar Building and BlogBarCrawl Update
• Trader Tiki's Basement Bar in the News
• Wow, They Even Have Black Friday Sales In the Cocktail World....