Today’s tool of the trade is the bottling wand.

The bottling wand goes hand-in-hand with last week’s auto-siphon. With the auto-siphon to start your liquid flow, attached the bottling wand to the other end. The bottling wand has a spring-loaded tip that, when you press it, lets your new mead flow. Lift up the wand, and the flow stops.

So instead of stopping the flow with your fingers between bottles (tasty, but sometimes a touch messy), the bottling wand makes it easer. Again, another “handy but not necessary” tool — but it sure is fun to use.