A shot glass is a glass originally designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either imbibed straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail ("a drink"). An alcoholic beverage served in a shot glass and typically consumed quickly, in one gulp, may also be known as a "shooter".
Shot glasses decorated with a wide variety of toasts, advertisements, humorous pictures, or other decorations and words are popular souvenirs and collectibles, especially as merchandise of a brewery.[1]
Contents
1 Name origin
2 Earliest shot glasses
3 Sizes
4 Types of shot glasses
4.1 Cheater glass
4.2 Single glass
4.3 Fluted glass
4.4 Pony glass
4.5 Tall shot glass
4.6 Rounded glass
5 Shot-measuring tools
5.1 Jigger
5.2 Measuring shot glass
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Name origin
The word "shot", meaning a drink of alcohol, has been used since at least the 17th century, while reference to a shot specifically as a small drink of spirits is known in the U.S. since at least the 1920s.[2] The phrase "shot glass" has been in use since at least the 1940s.[3][4]
Earliest shot glasses
Some of the earliest whiskey glasses in America from the late 1700s to early 1800s were called "whiskey tasters" or "whiskey tumblers" and were hand blown. They are thick, similar to today's shot glasses, but will show a pontil mark or scar on the bottom, or a cupped area on the bottom where the pontil mark was ground and polished off. Some of these glasses even have hand-applied handles and decorations hand crafted using a grinding wheel.
In the early to mid-1800s, glass blowers began to use molds and several different patterns of "whiskey tasters" in several different colors were being made in molds. These glasses are also thick like today's shot glass but they will have rough pontiled bottoms from being hand blown into the mold. By the 1870s to 1890s as glass making technology improved, the rough pontiled bottoms largely disappeared from glasses and bottles.
Just before Prohibition in the U.S. in the late 1800s to early 1900s, thin-sided mass-produced whiskey glasses were common. Many of these glasses feature etched advertising on them. After Prohibition, these were replaced by shot glasses with a thick base and thick sides
Types of shot glasses
Cheater glass
30 ml (1 US fl oz) cheater shot glass.
These glasses are for those wary of heavy drinking. Or, for establishments which want to cheat their patrons into thinking they are being given more than they are in reality. Their bottoms are sturdy and thick so they give the illusion of a plain shot glass when in reality they only hold two-thirds as much liquid.[citation needed]
Single glass
A single shot glass holds a full shot.[citation needed]
Fluted glass
A fluted glass is a type of shot glass with a basic fluting featured on the base of the glass.
Pony glass
Pony glasses can only hold about an ounce of fluid each but are normally used while mixing drinks into a larger glass.[citation needed]
Tall shot glass
Tall shot glasses are taller, but narrower.[citation needed]
Rounded glass
In rounded shot glasses, the walls of the glass curve down leaving a 10 centimeter difference between the lip of the glass and the bottom rim of the glass. They are popular in Europe.[citation needed]