Via The Food Whore, I just discovered what is quite possibly the most useless appliance ever: an electric cocktail shaker.
No, really.
I about died when I saw a Boston shaker (ie, a pint glass + a big metal cup) for sale for $47 at my local Williams Sonoma a while back, but this electric shaker takes the cake for stupid overpriced crap. It's even worse than the bafflingly-popular margarita machines that are nothing more than a cheap blender with a spigot.
Why do people buy this stuff? Is it really that hard to shake a cocktail, or to blend and pour a margarita? Nevermind that good margaritas are served on the rocks anyway.
My Boston shaker cost about $5 at a restaurant supply store, and has outlasted at least four "fancier" (though non-electric) mutli-piece metal shakers (all of which leaked), and provided probably thousands of cocktails over the years. It goes in the dishwasher, doesn't leak, and the glass is just a standard pint glass, which means it can be replaced if I ever manage to break it.
The best part is that the electric shaker is called the "Waring Pro Professional Electric Martini Maker." If you ever go into a bar, and the bartender uses one of these, find yourself another bar. And if your friend buys one? Point, laugh, and mock relentlessly.
