“I ordered a shot of George T. Stagg’s fiery Hazmat III in Shot Bar Bourbon, a tiny subterranean bourbon paradise in Ginza, and the bartender served it in a wine glass. I asked why. ‘For the flavor,’ he said, and to demonstrate, he tipped my drink into a shot glass. The bourbon lost its aroma and half of its taste. It wasn’t a subtle change; it was a character-killing transformation.
That’s how I became obsessed with glass shapes. I began asking bartenders to explain their choice of vessel, and found that many could. When I drank at home, I’d pour from shot glass to snifter to old-fashioned to Burgundy, then bore people stiff with my findings.
I went to Riedel, the 250-year-old Austrian glassmaker that pioneered grape-varietal specific glassware, and asked whether their 140-strong suite of stemware was grounded in science or a desire to sell us 20 glasses when we really only need two.
‘When you drink, you never think about how it goes in, how much goes in and where it goes in your mouth,” says Wolfgang Angyal, president and CEO of Riedel Japan. “We know where to put the tastes. A glass delivers the drink to our senses, and its shape determines the bouquet, taste, balance and finish.’”
Glasses
The Japan Times, 26 February, 2010
“I ordered a shot of George T. Stagg’s fiery Hazmat III in Shot Bar Bourbon, a tiny subterranean bourbon paradise in Ginza, and the bartender served it in a wine glass. I asked why. ‘For the flavor,’ he said, and to demonstrate, he tipped my drink into a shot glass. The bourbon lost its aroma and half of its taste. It wasn’t a subtle change; it was a character-killing transformation.
That’s how I became obsessed with glass shapes. I began asking bartenders to explain their choice of vessel, and found that many could. When I drank at home, I’d pour from shot glass to snifter to old-fashioned to Burgundy, then bore people stiff with my findings.
I went to Riedel, the 250-year-old Austrian glassmaker that pioneered grape-varietal specific glassware, and asked whether their 140-strong suite of stemware was grounded in science or a desire to sell us 20 glasses when we really only need two.
‘When you drink, you never think about how it goes in, how much goes in and where it goes in your mouth,” says Wolfgang Angyal, president and CEO of Riedel Japan. “We know where to put the tastes. A glass delivers the drink to our senses, and its shape determines the bouquet, taste, balance and finish.’”