Serious Eats
In Gear: New Uses for Insulated Glasses
As soon as we saw Bodum’s elegant insulated drinking glasses a few years back, my husband was convinced that he’d found the perfect rocks glass for his evening whisky indulgences. When he finally got around to trying out a few of the Pavina tumblers last Christmas, he wasn’t disappointed. The delicate, clear glasses (right) showed off the honeyed tones of his whisky beautifully, and their double-walled construction insulated the contents from the warmth of his hands, prolonging the life of his ice cubes and his enjoyment.
Because my mind always runs to dessert, I soon repurposed the tumblers for serving sundaes and trifles, for which they worked rather well. We have also used the glasses as stand-ins for coffee mugs, which they outperform—insulating our hands from hot contents and keeping those contents hotter longer.
The bulbous little nine-ounce version that we have has been a fantastic match for all of our uses, but there is an extensive range of shapes and sizes available through Bodum’s website, where they’ve even added lovely insulated carafes.
Further expanding on this style, an unrelated Dutch designer, AMT, has introduced the Inside Out Collection (right) cleverly incorporating the sensuous iconic forms of traditional cordial and wine glasses into lovely, double-walled barware.
Note: Thinking that their insulation would ensure gentle, even cooking, I’ve also dabbled with using our glasses in the oven, in place of ramekins, for custards and bread puddings. Unfortunately, they insulate so well that their contents take much longer to cook than they would in a traditional ceramic dish, and since the nether regions of most recipes requiring this type of cooking don’t tend to look so enticing through glass, it’s been a fairly fruitless investigation.
About the author: Amanda Clarke is a recovering restaurant pastry chef with a background in architecture. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she writes, tests, and develops recipes and works on freelance food-styling gigs between walkings and feedings of her two dogs and husband.