As sure as sunburns and barbecues, at some point this summer you’ll find yourself with a bottle but no opener. You might be at a campsite or in a friend’s backyard. It could be a pop, but more likely it’s a beer. What are your options? You could wait for someone to find an opener, but where’s the fun in that? You could try to slam it on a countertop, but don’t. You’re likely to chip the bottle, damage the countertop or hurt your hand as you open the bottle. Besides, this is summer. The laid-back vibe of the season calls for panache, not brute force. You need to learn the lighter trick. It’s the difference between trying to break down a door with your shoulder and making it fall off its hinges with a snap of your fingers. It’s also the preferred method of Grant Sceney, who won Canadian bartender of the year in 2014. The Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim’s head bartender walked us through the trick. And no, it doesn’t require a lighter.
Step 1
Wrap your index finger around the bottle just below the cap. Tight. If it’s getting pushed down in step 3 it’s not tight enough. “That’s going to act as your [fulcrum],” Grant Sceney says.
Step 2
With your dominant hand, take any object with a flat edge and squeeze it between your finger and the cap, with its bottom edge to the bottom edge of the cap. You can use practically anything. “I’ve used toothbrushes. I’ve folded up a coaster at a bar. I’ve used a USB stick. I’ve used someone’s sunglasses, but they almost broke,” Sceney says.
Step 3
With one quick motion, bring the object of your choice down like a lever. Speed here is key.
“If you do it with a quick snap it should come right off,” Sceney says. Bonus points if you can catch the cap, which should pop into the air. Extra bonus points if, like Sceney, you can get good enough at this to use a buddy’s business card folded in half.