The quest for the perfect double old fashioned glass continued today. Yes, more shopping. We drove down to the Prime Outlets mall in Williamsburg, where we knew we'd find a crystal store. We found other things too, like the store selling chocolate dipped slices of cheesecake on a stick. The only thing more mall-American than that might be deep fried, chocolate dipped slices of cheesecake on a stick, but they didn't have that. (We did not partake.)
If Oz gets motivated about his waffle wishes, we know where to get the perfect waffle iron. I looked at overpriced wallets and decided not to buy any of them. I'm picky and I won't have a wallet with a zipper. You'd be amazed how this limits your options.
But the crystal was the main thing. In fact, Oz insisted that we not go into any other stores until we completed the crystal-related part of the mission first.
The basic configuration for the ideal whisky glass is outlined as follows in Bluff Your Way in Whisky: "Whisky should be drunk from a cylindrical glass, preferably cut crystal with a design that reaches at least one-third of the way up (so you know how much whisky to put in) and a heavy bottom (to make that satisfying clunk when you put it down)."
I have a couple additional requirements. The pattern should have a cut at the level to which I'll be pouring my wee drams. This way I can't pour a double and pretend to myself that it's still a wee dram. The glass should also not be too large in diameter for me to hold comfortably. The glass I've been using is a tumbler from Royal Doulton, in the Dorchester pattern. This is a very nice glass and the only reason why I wanted another glass is that I was bored and felt like spending money. And, hey, they sure make that easy at the mall.
We looked in the Waterford and Mikasa outlet stores, where we saw several patterns which met my specifications. The Mikasa patterns were kind of simple, which gave them correspondingly lower prices and you could buy individual glasses instead of sets. At the Waterford store, they had some great fancy glasses from Waterford and Stuart Crystal. The Waterford glasses came in sets of four, however, so I had to pass. The Stuart Crystal glasses had the advantage of being sold in pairs. I ended up with a pair of 9 ounce rummers in the Madison pattern from Stuart Crystal, which doesn't look like much in the pictures, but is really sparkly in person.
A most excellent glass.
444 words | February 26, 2006 08:23 PM | Kitchen