Glassware

Plus other random stuff, like Putin and the Apartment Bombs, Last One Laughing - the perfect antidote to these days of days and my Kitchen Disco Record of the Week.

Photo is from a magazine clipping - so unable to give a photographer credit - aren’t they beautiful?

I want to talk about my love of beautiful glassware today. It’s bordering on an obsession, to add to my list of those, which I wrote about here. My late father was also a bit fanatical about glass so it always feels like a nice connection to him.

I am quite the fusspot about glasses. I prefer my drinking vessel to feel heavy in the hand and unless it’s for water, I need something ‘thin lipped’, I’m just not happy with a heavy rim, plus I have distinct requirements for different drinks. If I’m drinking wine it depends on the colour; red I like to drink from a fat bottomed (or large-bowled I believe is the term) balloon shaped glass, white in a slimmer style. For something sparkling I’m happy with a flute or coupe, as long as it’s heavy and thin (quite the contradiction). I don’t want to drink wine out of a coloured glass. I don’t mind a coloured stem; green is my preference. I also like the occasional bit of etching.

Just as you’re starting to think, Jeez I wouldn’t want to invite her over for dinner, I do need to stress this is solely my approach to glassware in my own home. It’s just a quirk. I’m not a lunatic about it. I’ll politely sup from anything when out and about.

Also, I will happily quaff water from anything coloured or with a heavier rim.

These exacting requirements make it difficult for me to shop for glasses online. It’s difficult to establish how heavy they will feel, crystal will generally mean heavier, lead crystal, as the name suggests heavier still, but it’s still hard to get any an idea of the rim situation. So, unless the manufacturer is familiar to me, an in-person purchase from a glass shop is required.

Some online retailers provide helpful online images.

These have potential from Rowan and Wren

Oof! Nice flutes but I don’t like to see glasses transported in this way however heavy and thin-lipped.

Some more with potential. These from Graham and Green though an idea of the glass capacity would be helpful

These are from a John Lewis collab with Sanderson (thought they just did fabrics and wallpaper, obviously not).

John Lewis providing some help to the fussy fine rim buyer here with a good photo selection that makes this one a possibility.

Overhead photographs of the rims is not a service JL are able to provide across their whole range, but I guess sometimes the name of the manufacturer is enough to go on, Waterford being a good example. These look beautiful but a fearful price for the cack-handed user.

NOT for the butterfingered.

Quite naturally, for me it seems anyway, the more expensive an item is, the most likely it will meet my requirements, but I am a clumsy person, so I cannot afford to get too spendy when it comes to glassware, however, clearly cheap robust glasses won’t really do it for me unless for water.

These from Villeroy & Boch look a similar shape to the Waterford and cheaper, but way less capacity…

TK Maxx used to be my go to and whilst I have found the La Divina glasses by Villeroy and Boch on their website for less than half price, it’s not often decent makes find their way to the shelves in-store these days, which is a shame as it used to be a fabulous source of quality glassware. They had a regular stock of ‘slightly imperfect’ rejects from some very reputable manufacturers that were so slightly flawed you could barely notice, but I haven’t had any retail triumphs like that for a while now. I do still check out their stock if I find myself in a store. It is a demanding shopping experience as it does require a lot of box opening to check rim and weight, with the added tension of risking a break before purchase.

You might be making the link of broken wine glasses to too much alcohol, but I drink a lot less alcohol these days and I’m still having a smashing time - literally. There are so many good alternatives to alcohol that feel grown up and simple tonic water has always been a refreshing alternative. A little trick to reduce alcohol consumption that I learned many years ago from the mother of a friend, is to pour a Hi-ball tumbler full of tonic, all iced and sliced and then just add a splash of your spirit of choice gin/vodka, whatever. The first sip provides a full on blast of flavour and you simply don’t notice that it’s not very alcoholic as you progress down the glass.

I’ll tell you what it was that prompted this reduction in my alcohol consumption. I use the Voice Memo app on my iPhone to record things I need to remember, from ideas for my Substack, random things to add to my to do list, something I’ve seen on TV, a programme on the radio, a book I’ve heard about, or a music track that I want to add to playlist; anything and everything basically. One evening, I don’t know how many glasses down, not many I felt at the time, I recorded a ‘note to self’ and when I came to play it back… oh my word! My speech was slurred. It made me utterly cringe. I felt ashamed. I don’t want to sound like that. I’m not going to say ever again, the chances are there will be the odd occasion where a little too much has been imbibed, but they will be rare. I have mentioned in a previous post that I have adopted a drink one water one approach to alcohol; it works for me.

The History Bureau – Putin and the Apartment Bombs

The joy of having Radio 4 rambling on in my background most days and when I’m driving means that I am introduced to many subjects I wouldn’t necessarily seek out. I came across this Radio 4 series half-way through and it really pulled me in. I was gripped by it and so went back to listen from the start.

It’s an investigation of the Russian apartment bombings back in 1999, I’m ashamed to admit I had no recollection of these events. It looks at how the crisis fuelled Putin’s rise and examines the possibility of FSB (formerly the KGB) involvement; Chechen militants had been blamed. It covers the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko who had been investigating the bombings, two further suspicious deaths of a lawyer and a journalist connected with a quest for the truth and the intimidation of many others.

The story unfolds like a dark Conspiracy/Spy thriller novel and is all the more absorbing and shocking as we know this is not fiction.

It’s balanced and provides counter opinions and unlike a gripping thriller/ murder mystery, there is no definite conclusion. The enigma remains and any further investigation unsurprisingly suppressed by Russian authorities.

Last one Laughing

It’s back on our screens hoorah! I wrote about the first series here. The ever-lovable Bob Mortimer is back alongside some familiar faces and some comedians new to me. Two episodes in and already I’ve had tears of laughter running down my face. Couldn’t be more welcome. Pure joy.

Kitchen Disco Record of the Week

Here’s one that would definitely make it to my Desert Island Discs list. We’ve all done one haven’t we?

Revolution - Kelly Jones and Jools Holland Big Band

Bearing in mind you can only take 8 discs to the desert island, this one track provides me with my beloved boogie-woogie piano playing from Jools Holland, the magnificent voice of the impossibly gorgeous Kelly Jones and it’s a Beatles track. Win, win, win.

Filmed in 2001, pre smoking ban. Catch Kate Moss, with a fabulous hair cut having a gasp.

That’s it for this week. Thank you for reading and as ever if you’d be so kind to press the ❤️ button, I‘d be most grateful.

Thanks again.