The Trick To Opening A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew
Wine and college dorm rooms have a history thicker than your philosophy book. It’s a warm friend on a cool night and a constant companion during late night cram sessions before finals. Despite your best efforts, chances are that there will be at least once in your college career where you find yourself with wine but without a corkscrew to open it with. Read on to see how to pop those bottles and check out this interactive guide for opening wine without a corkscrew!
The good news is that, with a little know how, chances are pretty good that your dorm room is overflowing with alternative wine opening devices. Everything from your tennis shoe to your dorm room key can be used to pop the top if you know what you’re doing. For example, did you know that placing the bottle in a shoe and gently, yet firmly, pounding the sole of the shoe against the dorm room wall can put enough pressure behind the cork to cause it to slowly dislodge? The same method can be used with a hand towel, if you’re not the type to have a spare gym shoe lying around.
If it’s late and you’re worried the pounding could annoy your dorm neighbors, don’t fear, grab for your scissors next. More than one desperate wine lover has gained entry to their vino with desk scissors. Simply jab one shear into the cork, and use the second metal end to twist and slowly pull the cork out.
Another tried and true method exists in your purse. Your car key (or dorm room/house key) can be used as a makeshift corkscrew as well. The key need only to have a pointed tip, new age keys won’t cut it, to get the job done. Simply poke the pointed end into the cork and slowly twist and pull up to slowly, carefully, remove the cork.
One method we really like is fashioning your own cork screw. Perhaps the most effective one calls of a screw, a screwdriver, and a hammer. Use the screwdriver to screw all but a half-inch of the screw into the cork, and then use the claw of the hammer to remove the screw and cork. We’ve also heard of some people having success making their own corkscrews out of untwisted metal coat hangers and serrated bread knifes.
Do you smoke or enjoy scented candles? While open flames are generally not allowed in dorm rooms, often lighters can be found pretty easily. We’ve seen jaw dropping videos of people using blow torches on the necks of bottles to create heat induced pressure that drives a cork up and out of a bottle in impressive time. If all else fails, perhaps a candle lighter could serve the same purpose?
Of course your best resource, and the one with the least amount of effort and highest odds of success, is your neighbors. Before you smash wine into a wall, set your house on fire, or cut your hand on sharp scissors, why not try asking your neighbors to borrow a corkscrew. You may even make friends in the process and find someone to share a glass of wine with.
[Editor’s note: this is a partner produced post.]
