Gizmo Guy: Drinking gadgets to liven up your sips and swigs

Drink to me only with thine eyes?

Today, we have better ideas - tech-minded gadgets for gulping, preserving, and improving our beverages. So make it one for my baby, and five more for the road.

Takes a miracle: Turning water into wine still takes a biblical miracle. Improving the flavor of wine with the wave of a hand? Almost any mortal can do that, working an aeration device that fits between the wine bottle's mouth and the glass, infusing the flowing juice with air molecules to "open it up," improve flavor and aroma.

Pocketable aerators are better to take to a BYO but a juggling act to use. Aervana, the first automatic pouring/aerating system newly introduced to the United States by the Bethlehem-based company of the same name, doesn't travel well but is far easier to use at home.

Akin to a self-serve soda dispenser, the stylish pewter and black (rubber) cased device seals tightly on an open bottle with a connected tube underneath that extracts most bottle liquid - but not bottom-resting sediment. A push-button mechanism (battery operated) encourages a liberal pour.

In blind comparison tests, three out of four tasters judged an Aervana-adjusted glass of a $14 California cabernet "smoother" tasting than a non-aerated swig from the same bottle. More telling was my direct/aerated comparisons of an earthy French blended vin, Costieres de Nimes Cuvee Tradition. After Aervanation, the wine's acrid bite and "barnyard" aroma were far less pronounced and objectionable. $99.98 at aervana.com

Soaked in oak: Aged in oak cask is a term that raises the spirits of many imbibers. But the longer a brew's held in reserve, the costlier the variety gets. Until now. Oak Bottle (yes, that's what it's called) promises to make unaged whiskey or cheap wine taste like an expensive vintage after just 24 to 48 hours of storage in the vessel. And for sure, this cored-out, solid-oak bottle does adds a whole lotta woodsy flavor to anything poured into it. A devoted Scotch drinker suggested it made Johnny Walker Red label taste more like far-pricier, 12-year-old Johnny Walker Black. To me, a Chilean merlot imbibed after a 36-hour sit in the Oak cask tasted like a mistake - as if someone had accidentally blended wine and whiskey. Tells you how much oak is a whiskey "note." An overnight aging worked better on a steely toned Chardonnay. A 750-milliliter capacity Original Oak Bottle sells for $79.99, the new 355-ml Oak Bottle Mini fetches $59.99. Info at oakbottle.com.

Rabbit punches: Famed for manual corkscrews, Rabbit has finally joined the battery-driven age with the first "fully automatic" Metrokane Rabbit Electric Corkscrew. This $49.99 (at amazon.com) device pulls, then spits out, a cork without any button pushes. Not that the two-button operation of a Brookstone Automatic Wine Opener ($19.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond) is all that complicated. And Gizmo Guy actually prefers the foil cutter built into the stand of the Brookstone.

Beverage chillers: Rabbit has hopped onto this trend, too - with Freezable Whiskey Glasses (two for $24.95 at kitchenkapers.com). The double-walled tumblers are filled with a "food safe chilling liquid." So long, drink-watering ice cubes.

Like to nurse a can of beer or soda? The Arctican koozie is seriously cool, with a double-walled, insulated housing and twist-on bottom disc you've prepped in the freezer for prolonged can chillin'. $19.95 at corkcicle.com.

More to score:

The Perfect Drink SmartScale and App make anyone an "expert" bartender. Weighs in ingredients for 300+ drink recipes (Alabama Slammer to Zombie), adjustable for serving size. Comes with scale, tablet/smartphone stand, 750-ml stainless-steel shaker, free app. $38.99 at amazon.com.

The veteran West Conshohocken-based apronmaker Ritz (John Ritzenthaler Co.) offers cute wearables for bartenders. Our fave's inscribed "Wine a bit, you'll feel better." A mere $5.26 at amazon.com.

Most wineglass identifiers are annoying to attach. Not so the new Le Creuset Glass Markers - tiny, color-coded silicone suction cups with looped tabs for easy pull-off and string-together storage. $12.95 for 8 at wayfair.com.

Infants can join the party with the Chill, Baby Lil' Lager, a safe (BPA-free, phthalate-free) baby bottle with food-grade silicone nipple but a very grown-up, beer-bottle-like demeanor. $12 at fredandfriends.com, if you dare.