Man Made DIY

Margaritas are simple drinks, though most of us wouldn't know it. We've been weaned on the sweetened, frozen, bright green slushies that replaced the classic margarita in Tex Mex restaurants in the 1970s.

But a real margarita, made not from a mix but 100% pure agave tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juce, is all about brightness and freshness. As such, use a silver or blanco tequila, so the oak-aged flavors of a reposado or an añejo don't interfere with the high-end crispness of the Cointreau and the kick of fresh-squeezed lime. If you do need a little sweetener, dissolve just a touch of sugar in the lime juice before shaking...but try the original, at least once, and see what you think… read more

ManMade wants you to throw your own cocktail parties, and we'd like to help.

So, during the two weeks of May 17 - 30th, we're giving away a Home Bar Essentials gift kit that includes over $100 of great tools to make it happen. All you'll have to do is grab some glassware and bring the spirits.

The goodies include EVERYTHING on ManMade's Top Ten Essential Bar Tools, plus plenty of extra stuff thrown in for fun. If you win, you'll recieve:

• Professional-grade Boston shaker set
  •   28 oz metal beaker
  •   16 oz mixing glass
• Hawthorne strainer
• Long bar spoon
• Bartender's bottle opener
• Two refillable squirt bottles
• Jigge… read more

Cocktails - like all fine things - have a culture, style, and traditional all their own, some of which is flair, but most of which comes from praticality and serving the best drink possible.

There are hundreds of styles of glasses, making it completely impractical for any home bar to stock all the options. Thankfully, that's a good thing - cause you only need five, which you can add as get excited about different styles of cocktails. The first three are absolute essentials, and the latter two are designed for specific classes of cocktails that are important to their enjoyment.

1. The Martini [or Cocktail] Glass: Traditional v-shaped g… read more

SoftMachines Inc describes itself with the the tagline - "original German cuddle engineering," which is about as apt as it gets. The Deutsch seamsters create pillow versions of classic analog technology, like the Roland TR-808 drum machine, Sequential Circuits Pro-One synthesizer, the Big Muff distortion pedal, and everyone's favorite Tetris format, the original Nintendo Game Boy.… read more

Every craft and medium requires the right tool for the job. And while most men won't need a Shape-A-Dart for altering patterns to match the proper cup-size, we do love us some gear, and sewing notions are no exception. Here are ten tools - beyond the obvious needle/thread and sewing machine/bobbin combos - you'll never regret buying.

1. Seam ripper. I hate to admit it, but this is the sewing tool I use the most. One doesn't nail every stitch every time, and there's simply no better way to get it out and start fresh. These are also great for ripping apart clothing for fabric hacking and reuse.

2. Tailor's chalk/Marking Pen As a pencil is to woodworking, tailor's chalk is essential to proper seamster-ing. You gotta be able to mark what your doing - where to sew, where to cut, where to pin, and tailor's chalk, in both white (for dark fabrics) and blue (for lighter ones) is my favorite medium, as it rubs right out. They also make markers and pencils for special projects and fabrics - a water soluble pen is handy for special projects (like embroidery) when you need drawing control.