On special occasions, people often like to drink shots. Ideally, they should be consumed from engraved shot glasses.
Shots and slammers
A shot is a small serving of a spirit often mixed with a fruit flavor, and is traditionally drunk down in one gulp. Usually enjoyed from small glasses known as shot glasses, shots can be based on a number of spirits – the most popular ones include tequila and vodka.
A slammer is a type of shot that gets its name from the way it is drunk. About a fifth of the glass is left empty and the hand held on top of the glass. The glass is then slammed hard on the table and this releases gas bubbles and is then drunk swiftly in one gulp. The slammer process makes the drinker feel intoxicated more quickly than if they had drunk more slowly. Perhaps the most popular of these is the Tequila Slammer.
The history
Though shots became popular in the 1970s, people have been knocking back spirits quickly for hundreds of years. A common image in Western movies is the hero cowboy ordering a whiskey at a bar then drinking it in one go. This may not be a true representation of how cowboys normally drank whiskey in 19th-Century America, but it does reflect that shot drinking has a long history.
Dave Wondrich, a historian of cocktails, says that the heyday of cocktail drinking was in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but after the late sixties, cocktails had become unpopular for young people. At a time of teenage rebellion, cocktails represented the drinks their parents made. In the early 1970s, the drink companies responded by inventing spirits mixed with sweet fruit flavours, which they branded to appeal to young people who did not like the taste of straight spirits or the image and expense of cocktails. These were to be drunk quickly and soon became known as shots.
Of course, the quickfire nature of shots means it’s easy to get carried away with them, but when used responsibly, there is a place for these types of drinks.
The engraved shot glass
Engraved shot glasses are ideal presents for people who like short drinks. Of course, their use does not have to be restricted to shots, since any spirits can be drunk out of them. For non-drinkers, there has been a rise in the availability of alcohol-free craft spirits, which are ideal for drinking from engraved shot glasses.
Often, shots are drunk at special occasions, including stag and hen nights, where people drink from shot glasses engraved with the name of the occasion, and they can take home with them as a reminder of the good time they had.
As well as text engraved on the glass, images can be etched on them. They make ideal personalised gifts for people who like to drink spirits, and are a luxury gift that is very affordable. Choose from plain glass or crystal glass, and buy engraved shot glasses in cardboard tubes ready to be gift wrapped.
