Pubware Unbreakable Beer Pint Glasses
The claim: Unbreakable Beer Pint Glasses by PubWare is a new line from SymGlass that looks and feels like real glass, but won't crack, discolor, haze or cloud. PubWare's Pints (16 ounces) “frost up” better than traditional glass with insulation properties that keep beverages colder longer and won't “sweat” on the outside. Beer poured into a PubWare Pint won't foam up too quickly, like it will when poured into most plastic cups. PubWare allowa a beer's head to form exactly like a traditional glass will. Pubware Pints are BPA-free, dishwasher-safe and microwave-safe. The unbreakable Pubware is also available in a Pub Glass (20 ounce), Stemless Wine Glass (12 ounce) and Old Fashioned (10 ounce) sizes.
Cost: $49.99 for a set of four
Where: www.pubware.com
These are the drinking glasses for the aspirational family. Two weeks of use and the Unbreakable Beer Pint Glasses have nary a chip, which is more than I can say for 60 percent of my glassware. My family is hard on glasses. My kindergartner son throws them with authority into the kitchen sink and my pitt bull's penchant for bounding around the house has sent a few crystal flutes to the great display cabinet in the sky.
These held up. They even look convincingly real from a moderate distance, but I wouldn't bring these out for good company. The seam where the two halves join is visible up close, making it look cheap, and they have a dull “clunk” when they touch together instead of the “clink” you'd like to hear during a toast.
Microwave-safe? Got no use for microwaving beer. But if it survives 200 dishwasher loads and looks OK, I'd be willing to add it in the regular rotation.
I like to dine on my deck, and I like to go not-so-primitive camping, so I've been buying “unbreakable” glasses since they first came out. But generally, they either feel plastic-y, or the rims are thick and awkward to drink from, or they chip when you drop them, or they develop the appearance of cracks even if they still hold liquid without leaking. I haven't had any of those problems yet with Pubware's new glasses.
First thing I did when I unwrapped one was drop it — as a test. It landed with a loud thud, but there was no damage. Later in the week, I made a cup of tea in one (Pubware says they are microwave safe). When I inadvertently knocked it over, and it landed, spilling, on its rim, there was no damage. Two trips through the dishwasher were no problem.
There were two things I was a little disappointed over, though. One, the 16-ounce pint glass holds only 16 ounces if you fill it to the rim, so it “comfortably” — not risking spillage — holds more like a 12-ounce bottle's contents. And two, of all the beverages with foam potential I tried in it, only a 12-ounce bottle of cider didn't try to overflow. Several types of beer and soda pop all tried to foam over and required breaks in pouring.
The first thing I did with my set of PubWare glasses was throw them as hard as I could on the ground.
And they didn't break, so the unbreakable pint glasses passed that test.
However, the glasses did fail to look and feel like real glass. They didn't “clink” like a real glass should when toasted. I was not fooled, not even after a few drinks, that the glasses were made of glass.
That being said, these glasses certainly have their place among my barware. We all have that one friend. Prost!
