Having a brother that travels to Japan certainly has its perks. The kids get Pokemon cards, and I get Bottle Cleaning Sponge Beans. Now what on earth are they? I might hear a few of my loyal readers whisper? Well if you haven’t encountered the handy kitchen edamame bean before, allow me to show you.

Basically it’s a bottle cleaning device, (that I love to bits.) Cleaning bottles with a narrow neck can be a bit tricky, especially when I’m brewing things like kombucha. I don’t strain it before bottling, so the floaty bits can get stuck on the side, making it tricky to clean.

Enter the cleaning beans. Pop one in, add some hot water and shake it like Taylor Swift.(There are two ceramic pea sized balls within the spongey casing which act as a slight abrasion. Also a hole on one end if you need to add some string to retrieve it for a longer necked bottle.)

And that’s it, you’re done! Floaty caked on kombucha bits all gone and bloody brilliant they are!

Now if you don’t have a kind younger brother getting these things for you from Japan, I would recommend looking them up and finding a local company that stocks them.