Flat ginger ale may be what your mom gave you when you had an upset tummy, but it isn't what you want in your highball. And fizz always seems to flit away faster in big 2-liter bottles of soda--every time the cap is loosened, a bit more carbon dioxide dissipates. To solve this problem, the Jokari soda dispenser replaces the cap on any 2-liter soda bottle and provides both an airtight seal and a push button method of pouring, in an effort to keep both fizz and fluid fresh. By gently shaking the bottle (before all but the first pour), the patented design propels soda up the flexible tube, where it's ready for dispensing with a push of the thumb. It's a great theory, and in general terms it works. Unfortunately, when the button is pressed, the soda sprays out in a diverging rush, the same way light diffuses from your car's headlights. The resultant violence of the soda stream tends to cause more of the carbonation to dissipate even more rapidly; seconds later, by the time the foam subsides, what's in your glass seems considerably less bubbly than if you'd poured it yourself. Preserving the fizz is a noble goal, but a bubbleless London Buck cocktail is just pathetic.
--Tony Mason
