Single serving coffee makers are all the rage, so you can expect to hear a lot about them this holiday season. Naturally they make great gift for many people on your gift list, from the busy professionals, young students to moms and dads.
We tested the new Verismo System by Starbucks and liked the system very much. Starbucks knows coffee, so any coffee maker with their brand name on it can be expected to meet a high level of quality, and the Verismo system lives up to that standard. As soon as you pull it out of the box you can tell that it’s well-made and beautifully designed as you can see from the photos above. It has a small footprint so it will fit in nicely on most kitchen counters without taking too much space.
We tested the 580 model pictured above, and a slightly larger and more advanced V-585 system is also available. The system is very easy to use, and all of the parts work seamlessly together. It’s easy to add water, clean by rinsing and also adjust the drip tray grate to adjust for different size cups. The machine warms up quickly in about 15 seconds so you can get your coffee fix right away when you need it.
The system uses pods like other single serving coffee makers, but here you use Starbucks pods that use the exact same coffee that Starbucks uses in their cafes and in their packaged coffee. The Verismo can be used to brew an espresso, regular brewed coffee, lattes and even an Americano. Instead of using milk, this system uses 100% natural dried milk pods so the lattes are very easy to make and you don’t have any messy cleanup. The results were impressive. The espresso in particular comes out great with the crema that espresso lovers expect and the taste is excellent. You can learn more about the available pods here.
Overall, this is a premium single serving coffee system that makes for a great gift idea.
We took a little break from our Picture of the Day but now we’re back with the stunning Inessa Chimato as she unties her bikini top and start revealing her incredible, all-natural assets!
Hopefully you’ve been invited to some holiday parties this year, and if you’re looking for an interesting bottle to bring as a gift, you should definitely try the new, limited-edition Kahlúa Gingerbread. It’s also a great addition for your home bar.
Kahlúa Gingerbread “combines distinctive notes of gingerbread, nutmeg and subtle cinnamon and clove with the rich flavors of Kahlúa, which is made from 100% Arabica coffee beans and sugarcane spirit, grown side by side in the mountains of Veracruz.” Sounds interesting – right? Well we tried it and it tastes great. If you like regular Kahlúa you’ll probably like this one as well. You can serve it neat, on the rocks, or mixed into cocktails and coffee drinks. Women usually love it so keep it in mind if you’re looking for gift ideas.
Here’s a cocktail recipe you can try::
Kahlúa Cookie Martini
½ part Kahlúa Gingerbread
1 ½ parts Absolut® Vodka Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and enjoy.
As an additional note, the good folks at Kahlúa wanted to let you know that they have teamed up with One Warm Coat to help keep people warm this holiday season. One Warm Coat is a charitable organization that helps support coat drives across the U.S. and Kahlúa is giving them a boost this holiday season with its “Share the Warmth” campaign.
Each person who visits this page on Facebook and clicks the “Share the Warmth” button on the page will trigger a $1 donation from Kahlúa to One Warm Coat, with a maximum goal of up to $100,000. Funds will be used by One Warm Coat to help support their efforts in the promotion of local coat drives and in giving back to communities across the country. Check it out!
Most guys love beer. With that in mind, any gift involving beer will make most guys happy, and if you’re looking for a cool stocking stuffer then you have to check out the Shakoolie – the original shower beer holder. Yes, many of us like to drink an ice cold beer in the shower, so the Shakoolie provides a handy tool to hold your beer in the shower and also keep it cool. It even comes in pink as you can see above for the ladies on your list!
Everyone loves fun gifts on the holidays, so keep this one in mind. The Shakoolie is also a perfect accessory for your bachelor pad, your boat or for the bathroom in your man cave.
Ski and snowboard season is here, and wouldn’t it be great to capture some of your incredible runs down the slopes? With the ZEAL iON HD camera goggle you can do just that. With HD video cameras getting smaller and smaller gadget makers are finding more ways that we can capture the cool events from our lives.
ZEAL Optics recently introduced the iON HD camera goggle pictured above to help you document your adventures on the slopes. The slick design will make you want to wear these goggles weather you’re recording or not, but now you’ll always have the option to capture your experiences with a point of view video. The goggles are also very comfortable.
The ZEAL iON captures 1080p HD quality video and can shoot up to 8 megapixel photos for quick, easy POV videos. Below you can see some sample ZEAL iON video footage shot by ZEAL’s pro snowboarders Kimmy Fasani, Austen Sweetin and pro skier Whit Boucher. It’s easy to download the videos or share them on Facebook or other social media. So as you’re planning that ultimate winter vacation or just heading out during the winter for some outdoor recreation, grab iON HD camera goggle and make it a trip to remember. Better yet, think about who on your holiday gift list will love this innovative gadget.
We tried out the new Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D electric razor and right away we noticed some improvements. First, the numeric LED display on the front of the razor comes up as soon as you turn it on, and right away you know how many more minutes of charge you have left up to 60 minutes. It also alerts you about cleaning and replacement heads. The also added suction cups at the bottom of the charging unit so that it stays put on the counter.
More importantly, however, is that the unit still sports the GyroFlex design which makes for a very comfortable shave. The round heads flex, pivot and tilt to make it easy to move the razor around your face and easily hit each spot. This design sets this electric razor apart and we think most guys will love it.
The razor has many other features as well. The UltraTrack heads are built to capture hairs of all sizes for the most effective shave. It’s also a wet & dry shaver and has a skin friendly precision trimmer for you sideburns. Finally, the EasyGrip design makes this electric razor very easy to use as it fits perfectly in your hand.
This is a premium razor and makes an excellent gift for any guy on your list, including yourself!
What’s better than e-mail, e-dating or Eazy-E? eShave’s line of skincare/shaving products!
Recently, eShave’s line of After Shave Soothers won Best Post Shave Lotion by Men’s Health magazine in their 2012 Grooming Awards. It marked the third year in a row that eShave was recognized by Men’s Health, previously winning Best Pre Shave Lotion last year.
The After Shave Soother was probably my favorite of the multiple shave products I’ve tried from eShave. It was at least the one that distinguished itself the most from other similar products. So many after shaves on the market are not sufficient with just one application — after you put it on once, some of them even dry your skin out even further and you’re forced to apply some lotion or an additional product. But the eShave version was thick without being gloppy and felt great. I only had to apply one coat and I was good. My skin wasn’t dried out 15 minutes later; it was still firm and moist. It just felt good.
There are four different scents of After Shave Soothers: Lavender, Verbena Lime, Orange Sandalwood and the Fragrance Free version. For this review I tried the Verbena Lime.
After I shaved, I loaded up my face with the After Shave Soother — not that I had to out of necessity, it just felt really good on my skin. The soother is marked as “greaseless” and it is definitely that. Another nice feature is that it doubles as an all-over body moisturizer for areas that can be notorious for dryness (i.e., ears, elbows, nose and forehead). I even put some on my shoulders and arms after getting out of the shower.
But as an after shave soothing cream/gel is where this product excels. It made my skin feel taut without feeling dried out, and extended the fresh shave feeling that you should be getting every time you shave. More than that, it created a layer of protection on my skin prior to venturing out into an outside world renowned for its savagery.
The Verbena Lime is the most popular scent and I could see why. It had a crisp scent that actually dissipated so soon that you wanted to smell it again. To say it isn’t overpowering is an understatement. It’s just enough for a quick, good smelling whiff for when you have to share an elevator ride with that attractive woman from your office.
We’re big fans of the casual shoes and sneakers from Lugz and we recently tried out the Allerton high-top sneakers in grey pictured above. Like all of the shoes from Lugz they’re very comfortable and look very stylish. The Allertons feature a canvas upper, cotton drill lining, cushioned insole and rubber outsole.
The muted dark grey color with the white outsoles make the Allerton sneakers a great option with jeans or other casual slacks and they work for most weather settings. Check them out for yourself along with all of the other selections available at the Lugz online store. If you have a guy on your gift list who can use some casual shoes or sneakers then you’ll find tons of great gift ideas there as well.
As video recording devices get smaller, we’re getting to the point where we can easily record countless aspects of our lives. Think about skiing down a black diamond run and recording everything you experience from your point of view. Or maybe zip-lining through the jungles of Costa Rica or hiking through the Grand Canyon.
With the Pivothead HD recording sunglasses, capturing all of these experiences on video is not only possible but very easy. Just wear these stylish sunglasses or one of their other models and you’re on your way with effortless, hands-free video and audio recordings.
We tried out the Durango model pictured about and the videos turned out great. All of the controls are on the left side and are very easy to use, and as you can see the sunglasses look great so you’ll fit right in and look great as well.
The Pivothead unit we tested captures 1080p HD video @ 30 fps, along with 720p @ 60fps and 720p @ 30fps, and uses a 8MP Sony CMOS Image Sensor. You can use all sorts of settings to customize the type of videos or photos you’ll capture, including Auto, Continuous, Fixed, and Macro Focus Settings, and you can also get up to 16-shot rapid burst still photos and time lapse burst still shots at various intervals. Just experiment with the various settings and you’ll find what works best for different situations.
The sunglasses come with a handy protective carry case along with a USB 2.0 cable for easy transfer of your videos and photos. You’ll be packing it for all your vacations and we’re sure you’ll come up with all sorts of interesting ways to use these things.
Pivothead has recently reduced the price to $299 just in time for the holidays, and they are also running a Cyber Monday promotion for an additional $50 off + free shipping in the US. (promo code: CyberMondayOnly) Check them out for a great gift idea for the gadget lover on your list.
There’s certain advantages and disadvantages to living in a big city that any resident will tell you. For disadvantages, there is the high cost of living, the crime rate, the human traffic (and motor traffic) all around, and in some places a smell so unique and horrific that you are afraid to identify it in the fear that by giving it a name, you also give it strength.
However there are the perks. The best restaurants and stores, world class architecture, an unlimited amount of entertainment options available around the clock, and the ability to have pretty much anything delivered to you.
That last one just got a big boost thanks to the launch of eBay Now. Available to residents of San Francisco for about a month now, recently the service has been expanded to New York and allows you to buy a large number of products from a variety of big name retailers from their eBay stores, and have it delivered to wherever you are, that same day, with an estimate that many of the deliveries will arrive in under an hour.
With a host of major retailers already signed up including Macy’s, Best Buy, Target, and Walgreens, there are very few things you could want or need that are not now available to you for same day service, and the only limits of this app’s uses are seemingly your imagination as it pertains to what “have to have it here now” items you could possibly want.
And whether it be an impulse need for an epic NERF gun fight brought to you via Toys R’ Us, or a strong desire not to wash your socks in the near future that just leads you to ordering some new ones brought to you from Macy’s, there is now a wide variety of impulse purchase options available that are made all the better by the reported excellent speed, reliability, and support the service offers, which includes a GPS tracker of your delivery progress.
eBay Now is a significant release for the online retail giant, and shatters expectations of consumers when it comes to availability and speed of purchases even if they are used to living in a big city. eBay is looking to expand the service to more cities to come, so even if you are not in one of the included areas, be sure to keep an eye out for additional upcoming locations as this app comes through with its lofty promise and not only delivers just about anything you could want right to you, it also delivers the app of the week.
Hopefully you’ve been invited to some holiday parties this year, and if you’re looking for an interesting bottle to bring as a gift, you should definitely try the new, limited-edition Kahlúa Gingerbread. It’s also a great addition for your home bar. 
