Glassware

I'm something of a glassware fanatic.  My feeling is, if you are going to enjoy a good drink, it ought to be in the appropriate vessel.  I have english pint glasses, belgian goblets, steins, and wheat beer glasses.  I have rocks glasses, glencarin glasses for scotch, and snifters.  I even have pewter julep glasses with my name engraved--they were a gift from a program I was involved with at college--which allow for perfect frost for a mint julep.  One of my favorite sets of glassware are from Duralex, they are great as wine glasses but can be used for simple cocktails, or just about any other beverage.  Twenty dollars for a set of six; they were out of production for a while but they are back.  They are the type you would see in French bistros, a nice change up from stemmed wine glasses.  In addition to glassware, I have cocktail pitchers, decanters, and other such paraphernalia.  I'll show you some of my favorites.

Here is a stein that was a gift from a friend stationed in Germany:

I treated myself to this vintage cocktail set for my birthday, Mad Men-esque in the Dorothy Thorpe style:

These snifters were a gift from my in laws, they are etched by a woman in Kenya, all different animals:

 

This goblet is from a brewpub we went to in Toronto (Bellwoods), their logo reflects quite well the straightforward style of the pub itself as well as the beers poured: 

 

I'll end with a story about glassware.  On four different occasions, I have purchase pairs or sets of glassware and my wife has broken one or more members of the set within hours, literally hours, of the purchase.  One is a pair of rocks glasses from the Naval Academy.  The remaining glass makes  me feel like an admiral when drinking out of it.  Another was a set of espresso glasses.  Still a third happened after a trip to Flying Fish brewery, where I bought a pair of etched Europint glasses.  We had one beer out of them and my wife proceeded to smash the glass on the ground.  To be fair, that day was one of my best birthdays ever, as it also included seeing the A Tribe Called Quest documentary as well as a meal at a great byob called Farm and Fisherman, all of which, including the brewery tour, planned by the aforementioned wife.  Most recently, I got a pair of liter mugs with the Hofbrauhaus logo.  They sat on the counter for about 5 minutes when they were hastily scooped up in a fit of cleaning and one was shattered, along with my dreams of her serving my friends and I beer while dressed as a German beer wench.  This last time I was hot.  I don't think I even cursed.  I just sort of yelled and rambled about how unbelievable it is.  In hindsight I can laugh about it.  The funny thing is I don't ever remember her breaking any of our $2 IKEA glasses.  I am starting to think it's a deliberate way to curb my habit of purchasing glassware, or a rebellion to the idea that things must come in pairs.  Supposedly, having a party where everyone holds a different sort of glass is a cool kid thing to do.  Who knows.  In any case, my glassware purchasing is on hiatus until further notice.   I just may replace that 1L stein though...

 

The lonely ones: