how do you wash your glasses?

[fogfrog]

I was stunned by the difference in taste between Old Fitz 1849 and Four Roses Yellow Label..... It made me realize you need a fresh glass for each bourbon! now as I sit before the tube... I have a glass of Britta Filtered water and I douched out my whiskey glass and drank it down. I reckon that purified my glass.... did I just invent something? before I was using new glasses. Now I am washing the glass out with drinking water to get it ready for the next pour. Granted, I normally don't have more than two, but for some reason today demands more.... am curious how you all deal with glasses when sampling a variety of bourbons......?

[ILLfarmboy]

Though I have on occasion, I generally don't sample different bourbons at the same time. When I do, I always prepare the glass the same way I would when drinking a single pour from a single bottle. I wash the glass with scalding hot water and hand dry with a clean paper towel. I wash the glass beforehand because I want to avoid any aromas from the air in my cabinet. The cabinets are old but they still contain a slight wood varnish smell. when I am done with the glass I wash with scalding hot water again. Sometimes If I have left a glass out over night and it has that red/brown stain in the bottom, I use a bit of Palmolive and follow up with a more than adequate rinse and hand dry.

[NickAtMartinis]

how do you wash your glasses?

Now I am washing the glass out with drinking water to get it ready for the next pour. Granted, I normally don't have more than two, but for some reason today demands more.... am curious how you all deal with glasses when sampling a variety of bourbons......?

Piss and vinegar work best for me.:grin:

Seriously though, between pours I drink a glass of water from the same glass I'm drinking bourbon. Once I'm finished drinking my water, I fill that very same glass with my next bourbon choice. Works fine for me.

Also, we use the dishwasher for cleaning out glasses. Usually, before I drink out of a dish-washered glass, I give it a rinse.

Mark

[TNbourbon]

...between pours I drink a glass of water from the same glass I'm drinking bourbon. Once I'm finished drinking my water, I fill that very same glass with my next bourbon choice. Works fine for me.

Also, we use the dishwasher for cleaning out glasses. Usually, before I drink out of a dish-washered glass, I give it a rinse.

Mark

This is a good routine. Doesn't hurt, either, if, occasionally, you hand-wash some in the sink, using a solution of 10:1, or so, water:chlorine bleach. Rinse thoroughly.

[NickAtMartinis]

This is a good routine. Doesn't hurt, either, if, occasionally, you hand-wash some in the sink, using a solution of 10:1, or so, water:chlorine bleach. Rinse thoroughly.

Sound idea. I'll will give it a try.

By the way, as much as I am OCD (I'm not joking, by the way), I don't have a certain pre-bourbon/glass prep routine I go through. For example, tonight, instead of rinsing of my glass prior to my first pour, I grabbed my tulip glass from the cabinet and tossed some EC 12 in it. Go figure.:grin:

[spun_cookie]

i wash my glasses by hand and when I have multi pours, I always use my reidels... and make them neat to start, then add equal parts H2O in the same phase... always a clean glass to start for comparisons... if I am drinking... no rules.. I drink

[cigarnv]

As mentioned above I also find glasses pick up a varnish aroma when held in cabinets. As such I keep my boubon glasses next to my bourbons... outside of an enclosed cabinet.

I find a quick rinse with water between pours is all that it takes. When finished a quick hand wash with hot water works great.

[gothbat]

For the first pour I'll wash the glass with the hottest water I can stand and whatever detergent we have and then rinse it out really good, I probably spend more time rinsing than scrubbing because I don't want the smell of the soap to interfere, it never has. After that I usually just pour either filtered water or Perrier water in the glass, swish it around, drink, and then go pour another. That's what they do at Whiskyfest but there they use Fiji water, I figure the Perrier might work a little better because of the carbonation but there probably is no difference. Occasionally I'll go and wash it by hand between pours but normally I'm too lazy.

[jburlowski]

In the dishwasher with everything else.

Am I missing something or do some of the other folks here need to get real?

[jbaker]

In the dishwasher with everything else.

Am I missing something or do some of the other folks here need to get real?

John,

The reason most folks don't rely on the dishwasher is that detergents and soaps can leave a residue on your dishes. Although this won't harm you, it can add/interfere with aromas, flavors, and carbonation (in the case of beer or sparkling wine). The problem is especially bad if you use a "drying agent" in your dishwasher. Although the glasses sparkle nicely, there's a coating on them that will dissolve into your beverage. So although lavender is a pleasant smell in some red wines, lemon is nice in zippy whites, and vanilla is great in bourbon, it's best if it comes from the grapes/whisk(e)y and not the soap.

[jburlowski]

Yeah I understand all that... but at the end of the day, after factoring in the many changes in taste sensation from moment to moment, etc., I'm not convinced that it makes a huge difference.

On the other hand (and this is entirely possible), I may just be lazy.

Maybe my point (tortured as it may be) is that all the efforts to having just the right (and perfectly clean) glass; the right atmosphere (no perfumes, colognes, litter boxes, etc.); the right company (no right wing-nuts, tax-loving liberals, or tree-hugging / global warming environmental apostles, etc, etc.); ---- may just get in the way of simply enjoying the bourbon.

[jbaker]

Yeah I understand all that... but at the end of the day, after factoring in the many changes in taste sensation from moment to moment, etc., I'm not convinced it makes a huge difference.

On the other hand (and this is entirely possible), I may just be lazy.

I wasn't either, to be honest, until I watch a $80 champagne go flat instantly in my glass while bubbling gently in my guests' glasses. Sad.

But most of my rocks glasses go through the dishwasher (laziness) and then get a rinse before use. Champagne glasses no longer get the dishwasher treatment.

[jburlowski]

I agree that champagne (and other sparkling wines... an perhaps wines in general) are more susceptible to the dishwasher residue factor. You're right that a simple risse is all that is needed.

But distilled spirits are strong and hardy enough to be unaffected or (to my simple palette) imperceptibly affected).

[NickAtMartinis]

In the dishwasher with everything else.

Am I missing something or do some of the other folks here need to get real?

:slappin::slappin::slappin::slappin:

[Markoturbo]

Guy's this is sounding more like a wine snob thread, we all want clean glasses free from soap or chemical residue, which is worse than bourbon residue. I am a feak when it comes to cars and vessels (boats), not the glasses I drink from, we all want pure glass to recieve our liquid treasures, but let's not become Pinot Noir Freaks (I am from Oregon). I do not feel the need to sterilize every time I change pours in the same evening.

[gblick]

I only want the pure taste of the whiskey I am pouring, not mixed with remnants of the previous whiskey (if different), and not diluted with any water.

So I simply rinse the glass and dry it with a paper towel.

[brian12069]

So I simply rinse the glass and dry it with a paper towel.

Sounds like a plan, that is about all I do.

[cowdery]

So I'm in this bar, here in Chicago. It's a bit of a dive, but appropriate for the group I'm with. One of my friends comes up to me and hands me her drink. "I ordered Jim Beam and water but it doesn't taste right. What do you think?" I taste it. "It's Jim Beam and water all right, they just didn't rinse the glass." She got a replacement, and I got a nasty look from the bartender.

More than anything else, considering the joint, I was surprised they were using soap.

Regardless of what else you do, thorough rinsing is probably the most important step.

[ILLfarmboy]

I can't count the number of times I've been in a bar and saw the bartender 'wash' glasses by taking one in each hand give them a quick plunge into a sink filled with soapy water and then, just as quickly into a hopefully clean/soap free tub or sink for a quick rinse. Then set them underneath the bar on a rubber mat to air dry. This method is pretty much standard practice at most of the watering holes I frequent. Fancier places, I suppose, have more "conscientious" methods.

[cas]

John,

The reason most folks don't rely on the dishwasher is that detergents and soaps can leave a residue on your dishes.

My understanding is that the visible "film" on glasses that have been run through the dishwasher is not really residue, but an actual etching that occurs from components of the detergent. For that reason I have taken to washing my newer bar glasses by hand. That way they remain sparkly.

Between glasses of differing bourbons I sometimes give a quick rinse under the tap, sometimes I don't bother. I don't think I can discern much effect either way.

Craig

[StraightBoston]

Hmmm... I'm a cross between Mark, Emerald and John B:

When tasting, I always use the Riedels (when just drinking, one of several rocks glasses.) I start neat, then add ice or water. If I'm pouring multiple rounds or variations, I fill the glass with water from the bubbler and drink to "rinse" between rounds.

When I'm done, they go in the dishwasher...

(I used to do a more OCD treatment -- scalding water and salt -- with my pilsener beer glasses because soap residue breaks down the head. If my bourbon pour has a head, I've got bigger problems than soap!)

[NickAtMartinis]

(I used to do a more OCD treatment -- scalding water and salt -- with my pilsener beer glasses because soap residue breaks down the head. If my bourbon pour has a head, I've got bigger problems than soap!)

:lol::lol:

[jburlowski]

So I'm in this bar, here in Chicago. It's a bit of a dive, but appropriate for the group I'm with. One of my friends comes up to me and hands me her drink. "I ordered Jim Beam and water but it doesn't taste right. What do you think?" I taste it. "It's Jim Beam and water all right, they just didn't rinse the glass." She got a replacement, and I got a nasty look from the bartender.

More than anything else, considering the joint, I was surprised they were using soap.

Regardless of what else you do, thorough rinsing is probably the most important step.

Considering the way you described the bar, I'm surprised you ordered something in a glass.

[NickAtMartinis]

Considering the way you described the bar, I'm surprised you ordered something in a glass.

Or, I'm surprised you ordered something and got a glass.

[HipFlask]

Unlucky me doesn't have a dishwasher of the mechcanical kind. But I would treat my Bourbon glasses just like my beer glasses. Washed by hand. Soap on the outside of the glass, nothing but water on the inside. Air dry or towel dry depending on whether I am going to have more. Now if I have a bunch of people over and have many dishes and glasses they would get the quick wash treatment to get them put away and rinse the next time I use them.