The conspiracy against big glasses

[jsmeeker]

Hmmm...

I guess because I have been on a cocktail kick lately, I would have almost the opposite view. Glasses seem too big. But a cocktail is not a glass of water or soda or iced tea.

Mason jars?? They just feel "weird" when I bring them to my lips.

[alanamoana]

Deli containers: these seem to be the standard for professional cooks. They can't shatter, their pliable construction and the little ridge around the top means you can get grip them even with greasy hands, they're cost-free, and their wide flat bottoms make them hard to tip over. For home use, though, they sort of fall below the lowest acceptable aesthetic cutoff line.

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I had to respond off topic to this...coming from a man who wears chili pepper chef pants, I'm a little reluctant to accept your judgment of acceptable aesthetic cutoff lines .

[Fat Guy]

Fish pants. One of many trends I'm trying, and failing, to start.

[Dianabanana]

Anyone else ever notice how water seems to taste . . . well, wetter when you drink it out of a Mason jar? I'm not sure what it is, but those jars somehow make water taste like you just filled them from a hand pump. Go ahead, laugh--but I'm serious!

[annecros]

Mason jars: they're attractive bits of Americana, and these days you can even buy them with handles. They also come in the 28-ounce size, which is the size I really prefer (food-service plastic tumblers seem mostly jump from 24 to 32). But, I find them really unpleasant to drink from. There's a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in New York City called Hill Country that opened this year, and they use these "drinking jars" for lemonade and such. I love to look at them and hate to drink from them.

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Thus, you purchase the "wide mouth" version. The one's that take the standard lid are too narrow at the top. Twelve bucks a case at Big Lots and that sort of place. We kind of make fun of yankees who try to drink from the standard. Much fun. I understand why you hate them, but please understand that you are an infinite source of levity. Kind of like we nudge one another and whisper - "Watch that Fat Guy try to drink from that Mason Jar!" We love ya though, but you can be amusing. Dribbling - when it happens to another, is just pure clean fun.

That's what you get for going to a "Texas Style" place in New York. A lot of scenery, not much substance.

Who needs a handle? Sheesh, you can't hold onto a glass?

Anyone else ever notice how water seems to taste . . . well, wetter when you drink it out of a Mason jar? I'm not sure what it is, but those jars somehow make water taste like you just filled them from a hand pump. Go ahead, laugh--but I'm serious!

Yep, it does. A great way to describe it - "wetter" and colder and all the good things you want from a cool drink of water.

[Fat Guy]

The wide-mouth jars are only slightly less unpleasant to drink out of than the regular ones. You still have all those threads to contend with. I don't like all that hardware in my mouth. Jars are only good as drinking vessels if you're drinking with a straw.

Much better: sawed-off wine bottles. I know a few people who've made sets of glasses from 750ml wine bottles cut off at the shoulders and sanded down to have a smooth lip. Depending on the type of bottle (Bordeaux-style, Burgundy-style, Alsace-style) and where you make the cut you can various capacities. The most you can do is, if memory serves, about 23 ounces with a high-shouldered Bordeaux-style bottle cut as high up as possible, but that's still respectable. It would be nice to try that trick with, for example, some 1-liter olive-oil bottles.

[Doodad]

I have had great luck with traditional pint and larger beer glasses. I finally found some that must be about a pint and a half as it will hold those large beers. I just measured it at 22 oz. I find them at good beer shops.

[annecros]

The wide-mouth jars are only slightly less unpleasant to drink out of than the regular ones. You still have all those threads to contend with. I don't like all that hardware in my mouth. Jars are only good as drinking vessels if you're drinking with a straw.

Much better: sawed-off wine bottles. I know a few people who've made sets of glasses from 750ml wine bottles cut off at the shoulders and sanded down to have a smooth lip. Depending on the type of bottle (Bordeaux-style, Burgundy-style, Alsace-style) and where you make the cut you can various capacities. The most you can do is, if memory serves, about 23 ounces with a high-shouldered Bordeaux-style bottle cut as high up as possible, but that's still respectable. It would be nice to try that trick with, for example, some 1-liter olive-oil bottles.

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What? You can't handle threads on the lip? So tender. You must not be thirsty. We really are lucky to live in these times.

hehe, you really should market something in the same volume range. Or somebody should. Maybe an eG Gulleter?

When hubby gets out the mouse sander, I hide. Literally. He gets grumpy.

[plk]

Much better: sawed-off wine bottles. I know a few people who've made sets of glasses from 750ml wine bottles cut off at the shoulders and sanded down to have a smooth lip. Depending on the type of bottle (Bordeaux-style, Burgundy-style, Alsace-style) and where you make the cut you can various capacities. The most you can do is, if memory serves, about 23 ounces with a high-shouldered Bordeaux-style bottle cut as high up as possible, but that's still respectable. It would be nice to try that trick with, for example, some 1-liter olive-oil bottles.

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I don't think you'd have to go to quite that much trouble. Why not try a 23 oz pilsner glass? If you're willing to go down one ounce to 22, there are a few more glass styles to choose from.

[Fat Guy]

On account of their inefficient shapes, I don't think hourglass beer glasses are particularly desirable as general-use drinking glasses. Those 23-ounce pilsner glasses tend to be more imposing than an efficiently shaped 32-ounce tumbler. They can also be a bit tippy.

[Pam R]

Libbey makes a 24 oz. (glass) Ice Tea glass. It's the Chivalry line, which isn't the most beautiful, but. . . They also have a 24 oz. jumbo tumbler (panel).

[Katie Meadow]

I'm in the minority camp: for the most part I find glasses are too large. The style for wine glasses seem to be enormous now; until I found the basic small size red wine glasses at Ikea (which are halfway to being white wine glasses in shape) I despaired. Now I usually use those for red and white--no need to worry if they get broken during a raucous dinner party, since the cost of replacement is less than $1 per glass. I also take comfort in knowing the wine I am drinking costs more that the stemware.

As for large drinking glasses for beer, soda, quenchers with ice, etc., try Crate & Barrel. Every time I go there I get annoyed at how big most of them are. They have a variety of 16 and 24 oz glasses--and possibly bigger.

[Fat Guy]

Libbey makes a 24 oz. (glass) Ice Tea glass. It's the Chivalry line, which isn't the most beautiful, but. . .  They also have a 24 oz. jumbo tumbler (panel).

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Interesting. Do you know who sells the 24oz Chivalry glass? I wasn't able to turn it up with Google.

[Dante]

I've never gotten that either. Me, I have some blood sugar issues, which result in my being almost constantly thirsty, So I love having big glasses around. I've resorted to using a milk-shake tin as a glass (the metal helps keep the drink colder too) and I also have one of the plastic mugs that Surf Side Spuds served their fries in, which is about the same size as the tin.

As to reasons why large glasses are hard to find, I haven't the foggiest.

Sincerely,

Dante

[Pam R]

Libbey makes a 24 oz. (glass) Ice Tea glass. It's the Chivalry line, which isn't the most beautiful, but. . .  They also have a 24 oz. jumbo tumbler (panel).

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Interesting. Do you know who sells the 24oz Chivalry glass? I wasn't able to turn it up with Google.

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Restaurant suppliers. It's listed on the Russell Food Equipment online catalogue. (They're my main equipment supplier.)

[Joisey]

In one kitchen I worked at, I used to consume 3-4 of those ridged plastic pitchers of water a night. I just drank it right out of the pitcher, harkening back to my "2 for 1 pitcher nights" at my favorite bar. At home I like having those big fast food cups around, my favorite is the 64 oz one from 7-11, perfect size for mixing iced tea or crystal light. I agree that there aren't many nicer options for larger glasses and I'm writing these suggestions down for future purchase.

[slkinsey]

Libbey makes a 24 oz. (glass) Ice Tea glass. It's the Chivalry line, which isn't the most beautiful, but. . .  They also have a 24 oz. jumbo tumbler (panel).

Interesting. Do you know who sells the 24oz Chivalry glass? I wasn't able to turn it up with Google.

I don't know about the Chivalry glass, but if you google something like "buy libbey glass" you'll find plenty of places selling it. In general, since many of these glasses are intended for business, you'll have to buy a case. The size of a case will vary depending on the glass (12 to a case seems the usual for large tumblers -- cases of small cocktail glasses are much larger).

Here is a case of twelve 24 ounce Libbey glasses for 40 bucks.

Here is a case of 23 ounce Chivalry beer glasses for 28 bucks.

Here is a case of 24 ounce paneled jumbo coolers for 36 bucks.

In general, this seems like a pretty good site for Libbey glasses. Poke around in the various categories of glass down towards the bottom of the page.

Edited December 27, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[Hest88]

I like large glasses--even though I'm a petite woman who doesn't drink all that much liquid--because I'm a klutz. I like being able to fill my glass part way and know I can clomp around without worrying about spillage.

[Fat Guy]

Exactly. Excess capacity is important. That's why, while a 24-ounce glass will do in a pinch, I prefer a 28-ounce glass. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found glasses in that size, so I use plastic.

By the way, here's a measuring experiment with three tumblers I had around the kitchen. Here they are:

As you can see, there's not a huge difference in appearance of size. We know the plastic tumbler on the left is the biggest and the actual glass tumbler on the right is the smallest, but here are their actual capacities:

This is a US postal scale so it measures in ounces and pounds. This first glass is 1 pound and .09 ounces after zeroing the scale for the weight of the glass. In other words, 16.9 ounces of water if you fill it to absolute capacity. (It's advertised as a 16-ounce glass).

This lovely green acrylic tumbler weight in at 1 pound and 6.1 ounces after the tare adjustment. In other words, 22.1 ounces of water.

And, this clear plastic tumbler holds 2 pounds of water -- that's 32 ounces aka 1 quart. About double what the first glass holds.