That party trick where you open a beer bottle with your belly button was getting old: Steam Whistle Brewery has just released a retro-style bottle opener that’s magnetized for your fridge (including a removable magnetic cap catcher), and comes with screws if you’d prefer to mount it on the wall. But pick up the gift pack for $24.95 at the LCBO: it comes with two 341ml bottles of Steam Whistle Pilsner. And if you’re still starving for a party trick, try strengthening the old eye socket in time for your next gathering.

Would you like some agoraphobia with that wine?: This past weekend, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre hosted the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, and it was so packed, it felt like you were in a drunken haze just trying to make your way through the crowd. Tickets were modestly priced, however the catch was that most samples required that you purchase sheets of dollar-for-dollar samples tickets. Some wines were worth two tickets, but they never really filled the glass past the one-sip mark. Booths especially worth hanging out by were the cheese and bread kiosks, which offered up delicious gourmet and artisan breads and cheeses for the price of what a traditional “sample” should actually cost: nothing.

Wine booths were divided into countries and vintages, some  costing up to eight sample tickets per sip, and some very delicious, indeed. One in particular, hailing from Chile, was infused with strawberries, while the La Pinta Pomegranate Tequila booth was also a great hit. In theory, the idea of a trade show exclusively for gourmet wines and foods sounds wonderfully pretentious, but in practice, it was just a pack of well-dressed individuals elbowing their way through the crowds for some vintage merlot, which undoubtedly spilled on far too many shoes along the way to be worth it.