There is nothing better than kicking back with your friends and a couple of cold beers after a hard day’s work. However, there is nothing worse than realizing that your bottle opener has gone missing, again.
Instead of having to turn your house upside down to find the opener, or even admit defeat and choose a different drink, there are a couple of options available.
In this quick guide, we are going to look at some creative ways that you can open a bottle when you don’t have access to a bottle opener. Best of all, none of these suggestions involve switching to cans or bottles with twist-off caps.
All of these suggestions can be done with things you find lying around your home,
Creative Ways To Open A Bottle
Using a bottle opener is the easiest and most convenient way to open a capped bottle. However, life happens and we don’t always have the tools we need at our disposal.
Below are some creative ways to open a bottle without an opener.
Use A Lighter
This is a party trick that many people master when they are young and at college. It is a particularly useful trick to know if you are a smoker or if there are multiple smokers in your group of friends.
This is because someone will always have a lighter on them.
For this technique, you will need to form a tight grip around the neck of the bottle. Your thumb and forefinger should be just below the cap of the bottle.
Place the bottom end of a plastic lighter between your forefinger and the edge of the cap. This works best with a rectangular lighter rather than a round one.
Push the top of the lighter down so that it acts like a lever, pushing the bottle cap up. Your finger should be acting as the fulcrum point.
The cap should pop off with the right force. It can take some practice to get this right.
Use A Key
This is one of the most convenient ways to open a bottle when you don’t have a bottle opener because you are likely to always have your keys on you.
For this method, you will need to grip the bottle in the same way as with the lighter method. Make sure your thumb and forefinger have a tight grip around the neck of the bottle.
Slide the end of a key under the edge of the cap. The teeth of the key should be facing up to grip the cap edge. Simply jimmy the key upwards to pop the cap.
If the cap doesn’t pop straight away, you can try twisting the bottle a few times to loosen the seal around the cap.
Use A Screwdriver
Using a screwdriver to open a bottle is another super simple method when you can’t find your bottle opener.
The grip that you need for this method is slightly different than the previous two. You still want your thumb and forefinger to grip the neck of the bottle so that your finger can provide leverage for the screwdriver.
However, you will want the fleshy part of your hand between these two digits to cover part of the cap. This will prevent it from flying into your face.
Jam the tip of the screwdriver under the lip of the cap and push it upwards. The pressure caused by this motion should be enough to pop the cap straight off.
A flat-head screwdriver is best for this method but it can also be achieved with a Philips in a pinch.
Use Another Bottle
This is another party trick that is more practical than you would imagine. The only downside is that you need one more bottle than you are going to drink to make this work.
Hold one bottle tightly around the neck and keep it the right way up. Take another capped bottle, hold it upside down, and interlock the two caps.
Then, simply move the upside-down bottle like a lever to pop one of the caps.
With this method, it is difficult to predict which of the caps will come off with the lever motion. Therefore, it is best to perform this trick over a sink or outside.
You should also not mind getting some beer on you. If the upside-down bottle pops its top, you will risk losing some of the drink.
Use A Countertop
This is another great party trick that is convenient and also looks smooth if you nail it. However, you should only attempt this if you think that your countertop can handle the force.
Many corners of countertops have been lost to this method of opening a bottle. Definitely don’t attempt it in someone else’s house unless you have seen them do it first.
Begin by holding the bottle in your non-dominant hand. Rest the edge of the bottle cap on the edge of the countertop. Make sure that the bottle is at a slight angle so that the force will lift the cap off.
Then, with your dominant hand, give the top of the cap a firm hit. The force should separate the cap and the bottle.
Use A Sheet Of Paper
If you are unable to access a suitable surface, other bottles, keys, or lighters, you can always turn to a trusty piece of paper. This is a surprisingly effective method of opening a bottle.
Take a piece of paper and fold it as many times as you can. This will increase the strength of the paper and prevent it from ripping on the cap.
When your piece of paper is small and tight enough, you can use it to open a bottle in the same way as you would with a lighter.
Final Thoughts
Losing your bottle opener can be an inconvenience when you want to kick back with your friends or family. However, with these tips and tricks, you can open a bottle anywhere, with almost anything.
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
