How best to turn fruit into shot glasses without a specialized tool?

Great idea for a spring fling, but surely this can be done more simply than with a single-purpose $13 (plus shipping) “ShotCarver”. A piece of steel conduit? An empty pill bottle? [via Doug Aamoth]

1. [Anonymous]

   Empty tomato paste tin. There are about a dozen of them in the recycling bin right now.

2. [Anonymous]

   but does it make an apple bong?

3. [Itsumishi]

   $13 seems like it’s not all that expensive. Sure you probably could do it any number of ways but if you’re trying to spice up your cocktail party by serving shots out of an apple my guess is that the $13 you spent on this thing would pale in comparison to the $$ you’ve just spent on various spirits, mixers, etc.

   Would you also scoff at $13 for a decent cocktail shaker?

4. [pork musket]

   Diamond-coated for penetrating even the most reluctant fruit. Opens up the possibility of penetrating other things in order to insert libations if the need arises. $4.99. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32400

5. [kaiza]

   Tin can. Snips. Duct tape.

   In fact you can probably find a tin about the right size at an asian supermarket.

6. [dculberson]

   How do you drink out of the apple without booze running out all over your face? These are serious concerns, people!

   More to the point, what disgusting sort of liquor would you want to contaminate with fresh apple? (shudder)

7. [bat21]

   Get a garnish kit.

8. [Anonymous]

   Don’t they make tiny hole diggers for planting vegetable seeds? I seem to remember seeing something like this, though the cylinder may have been tapered.

9. [keitmo]

   Mellon baller – $2 or $3 at the grocery store.

10. [nexusheli]

    I believe that’s commonly referred to as an “Apple Corer”…

11. [Rajio]

    drill press

12. [Tensegrity]

    shaped charge

13. [firetheft]

    Or just admit that serving shots in carved fruit is frou-frou enough that dropping $13 on a goofy single-use culinary tool isn’t that much worse.

14. [kleer001]

    Your teeth.

15. [Joel Johnson]

    We’re going for perfection here, people. Also, an apple corer isn’t wide enough!

16. [RedShirt77]

    Just tape used wine corks to young apples so the apple grows around the cork. then just pull out the cork and walla, an apple shot class.

    But then this is a terrible idea, as apples aren’t exactly stable, so as soon as you pour in the liquid the apple would tip over and walla, you are licking your shot off the bar. If only someone would invent one made out of glass.

17. [i love ninjas]

    umm spoon?

    and if your looking for a clean edge start the “incision” with a carving knife and then spoon away!

18. [Anonymous]

    Really clean wood boring drill bit?
    I’d probably try a paring knife, and then wrenching the cut free core out of it.

19. [rAMPANTiDIOCY]

    a sharp knife and a steady (or bloody) hand

20. [Daemon]

    A precisely calibrated particle stream from the LHC.

21. [Halloween Jack]

    I’m guessing that there must be a wire stretched across the bottom of this tool to make the bottom cut, if you understand me. Also, that this gimmick would wear out very, very fast.

22. [w000t]

    There are any number of ways to skin this cat. I’d probably just pull out my paring knife, but results would vary greatly depending on one’s proficiency.

    The one thing this device has going for it is that it is much more likely than many other methods to keep the shot volume consistent (a jigger–1.5oz–is standard).

23. [Agies]

    Pvc pipe with a sharpened edge, like what people use for the muzzle of a potato gun.

24. [krylon]

    What keeps the fruit from soaking up the liquor?