From Bristol, that great city of brewing excellence, we learn that we quite likely drink beer faster from curve-sided glasses than straight-sided ones.
In a University of Bristol study, 159 male and female social drinkers consumed either lager or soft drink from a curved or straight glass. The researchers also asked participants to pick the half-full point of the glasses.
The experimenters concluded, “Participants were 60% slower to consume an alcoholic beverage from a straight glass compared to a curved glass. This effect was only observed for a full glass and not a half-full glass, and was not observed for a non-alcoholic beverage. Participants also misjudged the half-way point of a curved glass to a greater degree than that of a straight glass”.
I’m not sure what we’re to do with this insight. But I notice 99 per cent of Schloss Shanahan’s beer glasses are curved. Oh dear.
Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2012
First published 19 September 2012 in The Canberra Times