I've been selling martini glasses for 8 years now. I've got my favourites, like the Gamma from Schott Swiezel, but even with those I sometimes hear the familiar tune sung by so many bartenders around the world. The tune is called “My martini glasses are chipping too much”.
The next line of the tune is usually “have you got anything
stronger”.
Well the answer – at last – is yes!.
We used to go through the process of presenting a more durable glass to the barman who looked it over, and then rejected it because it was either too chunky and/or the rim had a gigantic lip on it. Then with several hours of our lives lost and gone for ever, we ended up back at square one with the bartender sticking with his original glass, and tolerating the weekly stock and revenue losses. But no longer.....
American stalwart Libbey is so sure of the durability of their
manufacturing process, they've even gone so far as to guarantee the glass
against chipping! This guarantee has been around for a while, but is
surprisingly unknown by most in the industry. That is partly down to distributors
not researching their products enough, and partly down to other distributors
not passing on the info about the guarantee because it will effect their
re-orders. Any distributor worth its salt will want to provide their
customer with the best value product, and when it comes to martini glasses, one
that is guaranteed against chipping represents by far the best value.
So, back to my earlier point about the
more durable glasses being chunky and a bit crap. Well, that is no longer the
case. Manufacturing techniques have improved, and while some of the rims
are still chunky compared to a hand blown crystal piece (and who can afford
those anyway!), they are sleek enough to keep all but the most fussy of
drinkers perfectly satisfied!
Check out these beauties that all carry the Libbey Safedge Rim Guarantee!
And for double protection, the
following carry the Safedge Rim &
Foot Guarantee!
Not to be outdone, Arcoroc have also produced a fully tempered martini glass!
This carries no guarantee, but coming out of the Arcoroc factory, it doesn't
need one. Their fully tempered glasses are so tough that you really have
to try quite hard to break them. And don't forget the safety benefits of
fully tempered glassware.
By Thom Robertson
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