I love a good takedown as much as anyone, but please (borrowing the words of Dolly) please, I beg of you: leave espresso martinis alone.

Jonathan Ross, a sommelier at Eleven Madison Park, is responsible for resurrecting the old world tradition of using heated tongs to open wine.

There are a lot of questions as to where exactly rum was “invented” originally.  Rum has been around since ancient times. Nothing if not old, it is practically forced to walk with a (sugar) cane. Though it wasn’t first distilled in plantations until the 17th century, rum is believed to have existed thousands of years prior in the form of brum, a drink made by the Malay people. In the 14th century, Marco Polo, an explorer, wrote about a wine made of sugar, giving further credence to the belief that rum was around before the 1600s.

Pimm’s is almost as British as a cup of tea. This popular summer drink is served at almost every summer event throughout Britain. The refreshing beverage is most associated with Wimbledon, but you will also find it at polo matches, the races, the Henley Royal Regatta, graduation ceremonies and every garden party. It’s certainly one of the most refreshing libations the booze world could ever bestow and it’s therefore important to know where Pimm’s was born.

Sometimes a bed, TV, mini-bar or even the most insane swim-up pool bar are just not good enough when you are looking for a hotel to stay at. Sometimes you crave something different in your hotel—a lot different. Fortunately, hoteliers around the world are stepping up and fashioning unusual lodging experiences. From Europe to Central America, wacky hotels keep springing up that cater to these more adventuresome guests.

Meet Jessica the Hippo – one of the world’s most famous animal stars. She’s played the lead in several National Geographic documentaries, appeared on the Discovery Channel, SKY news, BBC, Japanese, German and Australian telly and even made it onto the Oprah Winfrey Show.

The conventional cork wine bottle component only makes up a small portion of most packaging designs but Anthem Worldwide’s Sculpted by the Sun asks: “Do we need to bottle wine in glass?” The creative agency is working on a variety of concept designs for the future that has a low impact on the environment.

Uniting feline fanatics and tea aficionados, these ridiculously cute cat-shaped tea bags are certainly unusual. Inspired by cats and their shape, the disposable tea bags come from Japan. Taking on a new approach to packaging its tealeaves, Ocean Tea Bag is the creator and maker of this truly unique series of cat-shaped tea sachets. 

Salty and deep-fried things go well with liquor. Most decent bars offer bar snacks, even if it’s just a bowl of peanuts. Drinking snacks get a bit more unusual once you start travelling to different parts of the world. Some of the following snacks might even require a few drinks before you’re willing to give them a try!

The world’s largest wine cellar is something to behold. Stretching an impressive 200 km and filled with nearly 2 million bottles of wine, Mileștii Mici is the ultimate playground for wine lovers.