FOOD NEWS
The Unique Origin Story Behind Neat Bourbon Glasses
BY LISA CURRAN MATTE
The NEAT glass, standing for naturally engineered aroma technology, is a unique whiskey glass that was the unlikely, accidental creation of engineer George Manska.
In the early 2000s, Manska realized he had no clean dishes available and reached for a funky "mistake" glass he had made while learning how to blow glass.
Manska used the "mistake" glass to hold a few fingers of whiskey and quickly discovered that it enabled him to taste depths of the spirit he had never experienced before.
With the help of specialists, Manska discovered that the glass’s tulip rim allowed drinkers to get their noses closer to the whiskey while redirecting the alcoholic ethanol smell.
It took a decade to get the uniquely shaped glass to market, and it's still a rarity in bars and restaurants, but it's made a definite impression in the world of the bourbon elite.