Email
Print
ShareA vital part of our drinking lives, they can hold our drink better than us and yet they remain as transparent and clear as ever. I am talking about glassware. We fill 'em up and knock 'em back but do they serve a deeper purpose than just delivering liquids into our pie-holes!
Glass is nothing more than a supercooled liquid. Glasses are heated and shaped into forms which on cooling retain that form. Man has blown glass (since circa 27 BC) into various shapes. Which is why symmetry was always a sought after skill and those who could blow glasses of near-equal shapes and sizes were the most prized craftsmen. Machines have brought efficiency and consistency (or monotony) to glass manufacturing .
The shapes of these glasses weren't just whims of a crazy glass-blower. Nor were they chance invention as when one blower sneezed and ended up with a decanter! Each glass was designed to suit a purpose. The shapes were conceived to complement what the glass would eventually be used to serve. Don't believe me? Just read on...
Wine glasses were made with stems so that we handle them by the slender stick. But most of you didn't know that, or why else would you grab at them like hot butter? Furthermore, wine glasses have huge bowls so that we have to tilt our head back in order to drink from them. This helps as we end up smelling from the glass even while we sip thus strengthening our perception of the aromas.
Martini glasses were wide-brimmed to deliver the liquid to the sides of our mouths where we sense acidity. Martini, by recipe, is meant to be a dry and crisp drink and this can be further accentuated when it falls on that part of the tongue which tells acidity, the sides.
Initially, champagne flutes were also designed with this same idea. They didn't do much for the bubbles and hence a slender tulip shape was adopted.
Whisky glasses were wide to dissipate the strength of alcohol-laden aromas and help us tell the nuances better without having our eyelashes singed by the powerful fumes.
n Cognac balloons were shaped (big bowl with a narrow mouth and no stem) so that we would hold them in the palms of our hands. This would warm up the Cognac and release aromas. Even the rim thickness makes a difference. Thin rims are always preferable.
Murano glass from Italy was the first pure crystal. Lead Crystal glassware was developed in the late 17th century. It became an important English substitute to Italian glass and also was great for etching and engraving. Crystal was glass with a high refractive index which means that it bounced light off in various directions. While
the chandeliers aren't for us all, we can surely get crystal glasses home to feel better off! Best are the glasses made from Kwarx, virtually unbreakable.
Today companies like Arc, Zweisel and Riedel have dedicated teams to design glasses for the ultimate experience. There are already different glasses for different styles and types of wines! To burst your bubble, an MIT study proved that intricate glass shapes don't really affect the taste of a wine. But even I can't deny the joy of sipping from a big bowled glass. So even if for the placebo effect, I like holding a good glass just as much as the other thing I like to have my arms around...
