Vehicles for drinking

Americans have once again got it all wrong.

Those who have gone out with me should already be well-acquainted to this subject from my frequent and long rants. Drinks are so much more satisfying out of thin glasses, with thin bottoms, rather than the chunky behemoths Americans are so fond of.

The most stark difference that illustrates what I am talking about is between the British pint and the American pint. The characteristic difference between the two is the British one will have a bead on the top, the bulge you so often see. However, while the bead is aesthetically pleasing, the true difference and superiority lies in the average thickness of the British pint glass, and importantly, the thickness of the bottom of the pint glass. While American pint glasses will be thick on the sides and even thicker on the bottom, British pint glasses will have a basically uniform thickness on the sides and the bottom. The British pint glass is pictured on the left, and American on the right.

"Why is this so desired?" you might ask. It plays an incredible difference in the satisfaction in taking sips, and gulps. I am basically just completely postulating as to why—I just know I vastly prefer it, but I think it has to do with three things. First, I want to put the minimum amount of effort into consuming my beer, and having the glass weigh the minimum amount possible makes the effort of lifting the glass that much easier and that much less of something you have to think about. Second, I find one of the main differences is in the satisfaction I get after taking a swig out of the glass. I think this may have to do with the noticeability of difference in weight before and after the swig. If the glass that the beer is poured in is lighter, the beer takes up more of the total weight of the drink, so when there is a reduction of the amount of beer in the glass, it is more noticeable. Also, I think the contact your lips makes with the glass when taking a sip is more comfortable with thinner glasses. Again, this is all just hypothesis based on my own observation.

I also noticed the prevalence of thin glasses in Spain. When ordering cañas, they would come in these thin, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow glasses that I loved. Vermouths would also be served in them.

The ultimate when it comes to this drinking experience can be found in Japanese highball glasses. Although, there is a popular brutish mug type glass that highballs will be served in in izakayas, in higher end places I believe it is common to see these ultra-thin glasses. These are as thin as possible, so they achieve the peak experience of drinking for all of the aforementioned reasons. The satisfaction of drinking out of these is well depicted by this popular tiktoker.

All in all, I'm just tryna get like this.