We’d like to welcome a new writer to the fold. Allow us to introduce the man behind the excellent site Simple Cocktails, who reached out to our editor at least partially for one simple reason.
You’re not seeing double: welcome Mr. Mays to the Truly family, a single letter removed from our editor Gregory May. Based in Albuquerque, Mr. Mays is a long-time journalist and podcaster, and we’ve been enjoying his cocktail recipes immensely.
In the world of spirits, there are a few manufacturers (like Glencairn) who create glassware specifically to prioritize tasting a liquor above all else. The NEAT Glass is one such glass, short and stout with a long, flared lip that claims to dissipate the alcohol smell of a spirit so that all you will taste is the actual flavor.
NEAT, which stands for Naturally Engineered Aroma Technology, seems to work. Tasting vodka, gin, and bourbon with it, and there was very little alcohol vapor in our nose as we sipped. The design of the NEAT Glass allows a few “hand placement” options, too – first, you can hold it in your palm, like a snifter, which warms the liquor with your body temperature, great for brandy or whiskeys. You can also hold the neck of the glass between your thumb and forefinger to prevent this warming, which is better for tasting gins or vodkas.
As folks who taste liquor on a regular basis, we’ll be using the NEAT regularly. The NEAT Glass is hand-made from mouth-blown glass in the U.S. which leads to some potential downsides. The glasses themselves run about $19 apiece, and you can purchase them in multi-packs at theNEATglass.com. According to the manufacturer, the NEAT should only be hand washed, should not be stacked together (this is particularly tempting because they spoon each other perfectly), and you should not “click” the rims of two NEATs together (in a “cheers” action). While these glasses feel very sturdy, particularly the solid bases, these warnings make us a bit nervous about their durability.
