# One Glass to Rule Them Alll **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044 "2010-10-13T20:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/21 "2010-10-14T17:06:16Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > > [@Procrustus](#): > > > > The reason you might want a stem for champagne is to avoid hold the glass with your hands and warming it up too fast. > > > > Not an issue for me, I drink it before it has a chance to warm up. > > Yes - but the champagne set up is just a stem. It was no base. It looks cool, until you consider that you might want to put your glass down sometime. Hadn’t noticed that. Bizarre. Again, for me, not an issue. I don’t put it down til the bottle’s empty. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/22 "2010-10-14T17:12:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > > > Yes - but the champagne set up is just a stem. It was no base. It looks cool, until you consider that you might want to put your glass down sometime. > > Hadn’t noticed that. Bizarre. Again, for me, not an issue. I don’t put it down til the bottle’s empty. Then you don’t really need a glass at all. The bottle should do nicely. And the glass seems designed so you don’t put it down… ever. Or perhaps you can hold it until the dregs dry out, since the only way it will stay in one place is if you put it down completely upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/23 "2010-10-14T17:15:26Z")
Thinking of how champagne is typically used, the lack of a base might not be a problem during the _drinking_–people usually aren’t eating at champagne moments, and bubbly can be downed pretty quickly–but think of before and after. How do you pour a champagne toast for a group with these? Must everyone hold their glasses waiting for the pouring to be completed? And after–pile them up or dismantle them? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/24 "2010-10-14T17:22:41Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > How do you pour a champagne toast for a group with these? Must everyone hold their glasses waiting for the pouring to be completed? It’s never come up - nobody who’s purchased these has any friends. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/25 "2010-10-14T17:26:29Z")
Sure looks like a pet thermometer… which would make it great for saki. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/26 "2010-10-14T17:30:55Z")
At first glance, this seems kinda cool. But after a moment’s thought, the whole gimmick would work for one drink, max, before you got tired of it all. The stemware (or lack thereof) is really just a very small component of what makes a good drink glass. You can have wine from a stemmed glass. You can have wine from a no stemmed glass. You can have wine that’s been balanced on a ten foot pole. The point isn’t the stem. The point is the curvature of the glass, the curvature of the lip, the way the smell of the wine swirls around the cup and fills your nose as you drink. Wine glasses are designed to be different from champagne for very specific purposes to each drink and to have them both in the same glass while throwing on a different stem completely misses the point. It’s like putting new tires on my Aston Martin and saying it’s ready for off-roading. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/27 "2010-10-14T17:35:15Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > How do you pour a champagne toast for a group with these? Must everyone hold their glasses waiting for the pouring to be completed? > > It’s never come up - nobody who’s purchased these has any friends. Bit they are likely to have blowup dolls, and set them around a dinner table. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/28 "2010-10-14T18:37:40Z")
Seems like the cognac base could have been incorporated into the basic design of the water glass thereby reducing the number of components. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/29 "2010-10-14T18:54:39Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > The point is the curvature of the glass, the curvature of the lip, the way the smell of the wine swirls around the cup and fills your nose as you drink. **Wine glasses are designed to be different from champagne for very specific purposes to each drink and to have them both in the same glass while throwing on a different stem completely misses the point.** Yup. Champagne glasses are much more than just the elongated stem. Its the fluted shape that gives it its purpose and distinction, which is not to have as large a surface area as a wine glass in order to slow the dissipation of the carbonation in the drink. And since this glass uses the same glass for each type of drink…eh, not so great. It is cool-looking though, and I actually like the egg-shape it has as a stemless water glass. Oh, and the tilt on the cognac glass thing: not too terribly long ago many fine dining establishments would serve snifters of brandy in a stand that would tilt it like that and the stand also served as a tea candle holder. You’d light the tea candle and place the snifter at an angle like that over the flame to warm the brandy. This was supposed to enhance the release of the bouquet of the cognac and was allegedly the mark of a coinoisseur but is now largely thought to be bunk and may actually “muddle” the aromas of the cognac (by heating it). ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/30 "2010-10-15T06:28:30Z")
Flame is way too hot for brandy. There you want the largest practical ratio of the _drink’s_ surface to the _glass’s_ mouth. Fill to the widest point (less than halfway up), then cup the bowl below that point closely in the hand, and give it a little time to develop. The aromas rise off that broad surface and the narrower mouth keeps them from slipping away. And you have to pretty much stick your nose in it. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/31 "2010-10-16T06:59:37Z")
I assume the no base to the champagne version is so you can stick it in the ground when picnicking etc - but it ignores the fact that the flutes were designed to be narrow and tall for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/32 "2010-10-16T21:49:43Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > How do you pour a champagne toast for a group with these? Must everyone hold their glasses waiting for the pouring to be completed? > > It’s never come up - nobody who’s purchased these has any friends. Heh. I believe we have a winner. Seriously, how anyone could pretend it’s a good idea to have a glass of any kind that cannot be set down, ever, is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/33 "2010-10-16T22:46:07Z")
Practical or not, they’re ugly as hell anyways. (BTW, what’s the whole tradition behind smashing your champagne glasses against the fireplace?) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044/34 "2010-10-16T23:31:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Practical or not, they’re ugly as hell anyways. (BTW, what’s the whole tradition behind smashing your champagne glasses against the fireplace?) So that these glasses will never be used in a lesser toast or in lesser company! Huzzah! [Breaks glass] [Awkwardly looks at host] [Leaves] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-glass-to-rule-them-alll/557044.md?page=1)