Friday, July 31, 2015

How to Choose the Right Wine Glass


A nice set of stemware makes a great gift for wine lovers from experts to newbies.
Buying wine glasses can be surprisingly intimidating if you start looking at the huge variety of sizes and shapes for different wines, but it really doesn’t have to be complicated.  If you’re buying for someone, including yourself, who likes a nice glass of wine, but doesn’t need a dozen different glasses for each varietal, we can help you to simplify the selection process.

There are so many different kinds of glasses for different kinds of wine, but really, you just want to find that favorite glass that you can use every day and feel comfortable using.   This requires a consideration of a few factors:

Quality:  You'll want to choose a glass that's nice enough that it looks and feels good to you, at a price that you’re willing to pay, not only to buy the glasses, but to replace one if it breaks. 

Care:  Crystal stemware is lovely, but the extra care that it requires makes it impractical for many people.  If you’re not into hand washing your stemware right after dinner, it’s probably better to go with glass instead of crystal.

Shape:  The basics include flutes for sparkling wines, small glasses for champagne, and wine glasses.  There are many specific shapes designed for different wines, but we think it is fine to go with one all-purpose wine glass, or perhaps three glasses designed generally for reds, whites or sparklers.




The Anatomy of a Wine Glass

Anatomy of a Wine Glass
Anatomy of a Wine Glass

A couple of key points about wine glasses

The stem allows you to hold your wine glass without warming the wine with the heat from your hands.

The bowl is where you’ll find the most variation between glasses.  Red wine glasses are wide, allowing a large area for the wine to breathe, while white wine glasses tend to be a bit narrower.  Champagne flutes are quite narrow to prevent the bubbles from escaping.









Engraved Balloon Wine Glass
Monogrammed Red Wine Glass


Red Wine Glasses
Red wine glasses have a larger bowl to help aerate the wine as you drink, and to allow to complex aromatics to flow up.  SHOP FOR OUR FAVORITE RED WINE GLASS HERE.

Engraved Large Wine Glass
Monogrammed White Wine Glass


White Wine Glasses
White wine glasses are narrower and smaller to keep the wine cool and to focus the more limited aromatics from a cold glass toward your nose.  SHOP FOR OUR LARGE WHITE WINE GLASS HERE.

Monogrammed Champagne Glasses
Personalized Champagne Flute




Champagne Glasses
The tall narrow shape of a flute preserves the bubbles in sparkling wines and pushes them up the glass, which makes a pretty presentation.  SHOP FOR MONOGRAMMED FLUTES HERE.


Twisted Stem Wine Glass with Monogram
Engraved Wine Glass



All Purpose Glasses
These large, versatile wineglasses are intended for either red or white and are perfect for everyday use, as well as large parties or receptions.  SHOP FOR ALL-PURPOSE WINE GLASSES HERE.










Engravables Plus, our favorite thing to make a nice wine glass nicer is a bit of engraving to personalize it.  Anything from a simple monogram or logo, to a special name or date works well.  Shop our entire selection of glassware HERE.


Friday, July 10, 2015

Our Favorite Summer Glass of Tea

Engraved Glass with a Stem
Monogrammed Iced Tea Glass
On a hot summer day, we love a big glass of Arnold Palmer, which is half iced tea and half lemonade.  We think our Iced Tea Glass is the perfect choice for a big glass of anything cold, preferably personalized with a monogram and a nice fruity decoration.

Rumor has it that Arnold himself prefers his mixed at about 70% iced tea to 30% lemonade, which is a bit less sweet, but we’re going with 50/50 here.

Arnold Palmer Tea

Iced Tea:

4 tea bags
1 tea kettle filled with boiling water


Tea Directions:  Tie the tea bags together attach to the handle of a large pitcher or jar. Pour the hot water over the tea bags and into the pitcher. Set aside for 5 minutes to work its magic.

Lemonade:

1 cup Simple Syrup, (1 cup sugar +1 cup water simmered in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves, then set aside to cool.)
1 cup lemon juice
1 lemon, zest
2 cups water

Lemonade Directions: Mix the Simple Syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest and water.

To make an Arnold Palmer, fill an Iced Tea Glass with ice.  Fill halfway with iced tea, then add lemonade to the top.

Adapted from Tyler Florence, Food Network 2008

You can change the flavors by using different types of tea bags paired with the lemonade.  English Breakfast, Earl Grey or orange pekoe tea will give it a different twist. You can also add strawberries, raspberries, or watermelon for a fruity pop of flavor!

Don't forget to order some monogrammed Iced Tea Glasses.  They really complete the presentation.  A set of 4 or 6 makes a nice personalized gift for your favorite hostess, or wedding couple.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Celebrate with a Glass of Bubby!

Celebrate! 


Whatever the occasion, a glass of bubbly makes is feel a bit more festive. Wedding, anniversary, promotion, any special day. We're big fans of prosecco, and but anything with sparkles works in these lovely Personalized Twisted Stem Champagne Flutes. Best enjoyed in pairs.  See them here.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

July 4th Weekend!

July 4th Weekend!
Gorgeous summer beach weather here in New England.
We offer a very nice personalized bucket that is a starting point for a hostess gift or thank you gift for staying at a friend's beach house. Fill it with local seasonal goodies, a bottle of wine and some cheese and crackers, or just pop a plant into the bucket for a quick gift.  Check out the personalized buckets 
here.