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by Foodie
- February 3, 2023
In one of my favorite pictures of myself, I’m ingesting a cocktail out of a glass pipe at Canon in Seattle. I’ve set on an overly serious and glamorous facial area, nevertheless you can tell I am about to crack a smile, because, effectively, I’m consuming a cocktail from a pipe. There was no genuine reason that my cocktail desired to be served in a thing that looked like Sherlock Holmes’ signature accessory, or that my friends’ beverages ought to get there in glasses shaped like a bathtub, a grocery shopping cart, a byzantine goblet and a Lego block. I do not assume they manufactured our drinks taste any better. But that was completely not the point.

At any time considering the fact that my initial Hand Grenade all through my faculty a long time in New Orleans, I have been a sucker for ornate, unwieldy novelty eyeglasses. Give me a tiki drink served in a full pineapple, a smoked cocktail offered below a cloche or everything sipped out of a swan’s butt. Some individuals want to search stylish though they drink their Martinis or glasses of wine. I, apparently, am pleased to appear like a clown.


Of program, there are numerous cocktails that have historically been served in a signature, eye-catching glass. What is a Moscow Mule without having its trademark copper cup, or a Hurricane with no its hourglass curves? We consume with our eyes initial, and a standout glass—no subject how delightfully stupid—brings just a little added joy to the night time.


But the same runaway visual instincts that have resulted in Instagram-first traits like outlandish rims and popcorn garnishes have also brought cocktails served in each imaginable vessel. You can drink out of a conch shell at ROKC, or unearth your cocktail from beneath a lavender smoke bubble at the Velveteen Rabbit or out of a milk bottle at Keefer Bar. These are about a lot more than just building a guest cackle it’s evident that they exist to be photographed. But to me, they also convey a perception of awareness to element. It is not your typical bar that decides to inventory a dozen flamingo-formed eyeglasses or Santa teapots.

Confident, it is in all probability deeply aggravating for a bartender to consider to pressure a cocktail into a flamingo on repeat, and usually it is troublesome to contort one’s mouth about… what ever this is. But I’m a lover of whimsy and ridiculousness when it is clear the creators aren’t taking by themselves also very seriously. So a great deal of what seems as whimsy in the bar and restaurant entire world is really bartenders and cooks as well impressed by their personal cleverness, all but demanding you give them a gold star for their creativeness. But a miniature bathtub entire of liquor is not intelligent. It is just exciting, and that’s purpose sufficient.

Besides, at residence, I have coupes and rocks glasses, a great shaker set and some strong recipe books that have allowed me to develop the repertoire of what I’m eager to combine for myself. In these austere days, if I’m likely to be investing cash out of the property, I want it to be a little something I can not encounter any place else. And one particular matter I really do not have at dwelling is a established of hollow glass mushrooms.
