I started off with the cabernet glasses and was so happy with them I ended up getting the champagne, sauvignon blanc, whiskey and martini glasses as well. In my advanced age of 37, I have developed this silly idea my glassware should match for some reason. Sigh, this can't portend well. Anyway, I am liable to gush about these things if I don't watch myself. So in the interest of keeping my decorum around friends and family while using these glasses, I thought I would get a few things off my chest here. So from what I have read, technically only leaded crystal can be defined as crystal, everything else is just glass with various compounds (like lead in the case with crystal) added to it to change its characteristics. Adding lead to glass makes it softer which allows it to be cut more easily. It also makes it clearer and adds heft to the glass. Blown crystal glassware also tends to have a thinner section at the mouth of the glass compared to that of standard soda glass. Once you develop an appreciation for the characteristics of crystal, it is hard to go back to just plain glassware. But this Tritan stuff is not "crystal". My understanding, which could be wrong, is that instead of lead it uses titanium as the compound of choice to modify the glass. This gives the glassware the basic characteristics of leaded crystal, but makes it a bit more durable and a bit less heavy. Riedels, which are leaded crystal and quite nice I might add, unfortunately have a tendency to break on you if you look at them crosswise. With these Tritan glasses, you don't have to worry so much about them breaking on you, which allows you to use them as everyday glassware as well as a special occasion glassware. I like that. Life is too short to use inferior glassware. What I like most about this glassware though, is its form and balance. The glassware is just pleasant to hold and drink from. However, there are a few quibbles I have that I feel I must divulge: The glass is machine blown/made. As a result, one can feel a small seam on the stems of some of the glassware. It isn't a big seam, like one would have on a normal glass, but it is there. However, it isn't a big enough issue that I would not wholeheartedly recommend this glassware to others. Plus, there is always a few glasses out of the box that will have their seams minor and smooth enough that it isn't an issue at all. The champagne glasses seem to be a slight bit thicker and more clunky than the other glasses. Some of the champagne glasses were not perfectly symmetric either, and would have a very slight wobble when rotated. All the other glasses with stems are symmetric to my naked eye, so I don't know why the champagne glasses would be different. Maybe I just got a bad batch. Still not a big enough deal that I wouldn't recommend them. The martini glasses are a bit on the large size. More in the size category of a margarita glass, not small like a champagne coup. This is a bit bigger than I would prefer for cocktail glasses. My standard martini recipe which consists of 1 oz. of vermouth to 2 oz. of gin, when properly stirred, still only goes up to the bend in the glass. On the other hand, for my pisco sour recipe, the glass allows room for up to an half inch of foam. All in all, it comes out a wash, but if you like your cocktail glasses on the small side, it might be best to look elsewhere. As for the whiskey, cabernet and sauvignon glasses, they are great, no issues. The whiskey glasses have the basic proportions of a small brandy snifter with a bit wider mouth, which works well enough for those occasions for when you just want to drink whiskey and not nose the hell out of it. All in all, I can most enthusiastically recommend these glasses to others who want to consolidate their glassware to one theme of grace and beauty.
