the imbiberator

I'd just taken a job with a new startup. Deb, a good friend from college, was already working there as their Windows admin. She showed me this picture of a drink making machine some Yahoo folks had built and said "we have to do better."

We did.

The hardware hack took a couple weekend days, one for shopping, one for assembly. We mounted a gallon-sized pitcher on top of a brand new 3/4 horsepower Insinkerator and added 1" PVC to let the beverage being processed recirculate through the blades. The result was the Imbiberator, a fearsome device capable of turning anything, including whole limes, into a beverage in a matter of seconds.

And when it's done, you don't pour the drink out of the Imbiberator, you deploy it. The operation requires two people, one to restrain the Imbiberator and open the industrial strength stopcock, the other to hold the receiving container. With a brief burst of power, the beverage launches a couple feet into the container. Be sure to aim well.

We used it at parties for a few years. As far as I know, it still exists, knocking around the Bay Area start-ups. Deb's gone on to play for the B-Cups, and I've gone to school. But I miss the Imbiberator. Maybe one day it'll be time to make Imbiberator II.