About Barware

We are giving away our daughter in marriage to a fine young man, whom we are happy to welcome into the family. Aside from helping them with their wedding preparations, we decided to give them another gift that they can use in their new home. At first we wanted to gift them with appliances that they could use. But we were concerned about having them shipped over to their new home.

Instead, we decided to buy them glass wine sets for when they start entertaining guests. Our new couple is an upwardly mobile one, so we are sure they will be entertaining important friends and business contacts quite soon. We also added a bottle of really good vintage to go with our set. They are getting hitched in a few weeks and we are all so excited for the big event. I know that they will be happy to be surrounded by loving friends and relatives who all wish them well.

With the upcoming holiday season there is always a wide variety of Christmas barware items that you can add to your own bar for entertaining. Or some very nice bar items that would make great gifts. One of these are glass wine charms like those shown on this blog. The round stem snaps over the stem of a wine glass or other types of glassware that have stems on them. This makes it easy to identify your glass when it is left on the table with all of your other party friends.

There are of course other party items such as coasters, swizzle sticks, pics, etc. that have Christmas themes with them. Many of these items are very reasonable in price so you can stock your bar and give as gifts also. There are a vast number of websites on the internet that have these items available, especially at this time of the year. Happy shopping.

Cocktail pics are small beverage utensils that are used to spear garnishes such as olives to place in your drink. They may also be used as appetizer spears for hor doeuvres. When placing olives or other garnishes in a drink, the cocktail pic lets you eat the garnish without having to place your fingers inside of the glass. And since some appetizers, such as meatballs or weiners, are difficult to handle without using a fork or spoon, the pic lets you eat these items in a delicate manner and avoid carrying around a large utensil.  One advantage to cocktail pics is they are inexpensive, and can be used to creat a theme for your party. Such as pics with a Halloween or Christmas theme figure on the head. Many pics are made of plastic, glass or stainless steel. And they come in a large variety of styles. Cocktail pics are an important part of any home bar.

A stir stick or swizzle stick is a tool to stir mixed drinks, cocktails or other beverages to thoroughly combine the various liquids in a glass. Sitting at your local bar you will almost always get the little plastic stick or short straw to stir your drink with. A high rollers bar may give you a plastic stir stick with a flat end that has the bar logo or name.

Typically a home bar will have drink stirrers made of glass, heavy grade plastic or metal. With a topper that presents a theme, ie. golf or other sports, nautical, holiday time, etc. Most stirrers have a topper on one end and a slightly round bulb on the other to mix contents of your drink. Some even have a pointed end to spear olives, fruit or other garnishes in your drink.     

Once in a while a really neat product comes along. I like this glass slipper coaster. It is made of embroidered material and slips around the foot of your stem glass ware. This is one coaster that your actually carry with your glass. Enabling you to mingle with party friends and just set your wine glass down, not having to worry about finding a coaster nearby.

I have seen a few variations of this type of coaster including some made of a 2 piece cloth product with slits cut into it. This allows the base of the wine glass to slip into the slits, and then serve the same function as the item shown in the above picture. As one drinker whose mother taught him not to leave wet rings on the furniture, I like the concept of carrying my coaster with me.

Pictured above is a cork coaster with a image printed on it. You often see these coasters in use. They are inexpensive and durable, with the cork doing a very respectble job of soaking up droplets from the sides or bottom of a glass. Cork itself comes from the cork oak tree which grows mostly in the Mediterranean area of the world. Cork is harvested from the bark of the tree. One unique and environmentally friendly tidbit about cork is that this product comes from live trees and will regrow back to be harvested again.

The honey-comb like molecular structure of cork is easy to compress, shape and mold. Giving it a large variety of uses in our every day lives an home. Of course all you have to do is glue a piece of heavy carboard paper to it. Print an image on the paper, and springing onto your home bar is a great looking coaster for your friends to use under their favorite beverage.  

There are numerous varieties of coasters that can be used at your next party or just to have sitting on your coffee table. I have seen coasters made from plastic, polycarbonate, rope, pewter and paper, just to name a few. The main function of a coaster is to prevent water or liquid damage to your furniture. When a drink glass with ice is at room temperature, condensate from the cold glass mixed with warm air on the exterior, forms liquid droplets. And as we have all observed the droplets of water run down the glass onto your furniture surface. Causing unsightly water streaks on your furniture at the least, and a permanent water ring if not wiped off immediately.

On the opposite side of your favorite iced drink is the hot drink, which also leaves the same condensate water mark from a hot liquid inside the cup, to the cooler exterior room air. And now that I have explained the function of why a coaster should be used, it is up to the reader to decide which coaster fits the look of the party theme. Or goes with the everyday surroundings of your particular room decor.