Welcome to Further Details, a series dedicated to ubiquitous but overlooked elements hidden on your favorite products. This week: an investigation into your beer glass's curious shape.
The Teku is still the industry standard beer glass you’ll find at nearly every craft brewery due to its versatility, but no beer vessel is as iconic as the English pub glass. While "pub glass" can refer to a number of different glass styles, the most ubiquitous may be the cylindrical, tapered glass with the odd bulge just below the lip. That pint glass with a bulge has a name: the nonic (or nonik) pint glass. But what is the nonic's bulge for anyway?
Better grips & protected tips
A standard at British pubs, the nonic pint glass reigns supreme for its durability and utility. The glass's bulge was devised as an improvement to the more streamlined shaker, or conical glass. While the shaker's sides are straight, the nonic's sides are interrupted by a bump around an inch below the lip. Shaker glasses become slippery once condensation accumulates on the outside and its design makes it easy to slip out of one's hands. The nonic's ridge, on the other hand, gives the drinker a place to securely hold their beverage so the glass doesn't slip from their grip. Additionally, the ridge acts as a bumper if the glass is tipped over. If your drink falls on its side, the bulge prevents damage to the rim of the glass — hence the nonic name, a play on "no-nick."
Stack 'em if you got 'em
Which came first: the clumsy beer drinker or the overwhelmed bartender? As well as the nonic performs in the hands of a beer drinker, the design is also beneficial to the bartender managing the lot of them. Shaker glasses, when stacked, create a vacuum-like seal that causes them to get stuck inside each other — not the best scenario for those looking to quickly pour draft after draft. The nonic's bulge prevents said seal so it's easier to remove glasses from a stack, which prevents stacks from tipping over, which prevents bars from buying as many glasses as they might otherwise.
Chug, chug, chug
The nonic glass has a wide opening that allows a lot of the beer's aroma to dissipate. But that design also makes it easy to chug a pint (~19 ounces in the UK and 16 ounces in the US). Most beer styles will work in a nonic glass, but stick to tradition and top it off with a stout or British brown ale. While craft beer drinkers will reach for a Teku over anything else, there may be nothing better than drinking a few brews from the iconic nonic glass when you want to keep things classic.
