New Concept: Diffusing Ethanol to Improve Test Results
New Concept: Diffusing Ethanol to Improve Test Results
Engineers at Arsilica Inc. have discovered how diffusing ethanol releases more intense aromas and flavors from any spirit. Furthermore, this discovery will change spirit evaluations and test results drastically. As a result. evaluations will be more accurate, repeatable, and complete. Those subtle aromas previously hidden by nose-numbing ethanol will now appear.
State of the Art of Spirits Evaluation
Within the spirits industry, particularly in scotch whisky, game-changing personalities emerged. They made major contributions to the tasting and evaluation of spirits. Michael Jackson and Jim Murray may be the most definitive early pioneers in scotch. Moreover, Richard Paterson leads in scotch whisky education. Much of the present state of evaluation for all spirits comes from their publications and seminars.
These pioneers had no exposure to sensory science. It later evolved into an established discipline used by many companies to validate their spirits products. Their intuition and judgment have guided the spirits industry for decades. The industry owes them for their profound influence on public taste preferences.
Their spirit vessel of choice was the copita. The copita was borrowed from Spanish sherry, a fortified wine, in the late 1700s. Later came the Glencairn, an admitted derivative of the copita. It is now considered a standard tool among spirits drinkers. However, this view rests on its iconic identification badge for spirit enthusiasts. None of them would appreciate the concept of diffusing ethanol.
New Concepts to Improve Test Results
Our presentations cover how common spirits glass designs function. They will likely provoke those entrenched in the tulip and snifter camps. Additionally, the goal is to inform, not inflame. Diffusing ethanol is not a new issue among evaluators. Pointing to glassware as the major source is bold and unprecedented. It will upset those who resist change, doubt science, or prefer their current glass. Eighteen years of research confirm glassware design contributes to ethanol anesthesia (nose-blindness). We can engineer glass shapes into a solution.
A discovery in 2002 changed the dynamics of glass design for spirits evaluation. Applying engineering and physics to modify glass design eliminates ethanol nose burn and anesthesia. Adding a neck to the glass forces the molecules to converge rapidly. This is the same occurrence for all tulips, copitas, and snifters with convergent sides and small rim plane areas. The congestion of molecular collisions at a copita rim is about the same as at the neck of the engineered glass. However, what happens after the molecules diffuse out of the neck concentration is the game changer.
Designing a controlled expansion space above the neck regulates containment. As aromas diffuse through the neck, they align by molecular weight and dispersion velocity. They also reflect molecular complexity, such as long-chain esters. In addition, a large flared, straight rim horizontally constrains the expansion space.
Diffusing Ethanol is Key to Aroma Detection
Arsilica, Inc perfected this discovery over 10 years of research. The result was the NEAT glass release in 2012. Introducing a controlled, gradual expansion into the diffusion space manipulates aroma diffusion. Correspondingly, this provides a distinct advantage for spirits evaluators by reducing nose-numbing ethanol exposure. In fact, diffusing ethanol molecules moves them away from the aroma detection area.
Since 2013, over 30 major competitions use NEAT as their official judging glass. There has not been any ethanol anesthesia, olfactory fatigue, or nose-blindness during fast-paced competition judging. As of mid-2020, over 120,000 spirits have been judged in official spirits competitions, and over 30,000 quality medals have been awarded to spirits judged and evaluated in the NEAT glass. NEAT has proven to be a viable alternative to the three common glass shapes by detecting and identifying more aromas, significantly reducing ethanol concentration, and placing the nose in a position to begin orderly aroma detection.
How Diffusing Ethanol Improves Aroma
Small rim areas concentrate ethanol, especially if those areas are smaller than the area of the liquid surface in the bowl. Evaporating aromas are forced upward by the constant evaporation of more molecules, and the lighter aromas move the quickest, crowding the tiny rim area and filling any available space to escape the glass through the narrow opening.
Two Glass Shapes Come Together
By taking the most useful portion of each design (convergent sides and divergent sides), we created a new shape with a large bowl for swirling and a neck to concentrate the abundant aromas released through swirling. The neck concentrates and stimulates molecular collisions which increases molecular velocities. Instead of dissipating molecules into the atmosphere randomly (as with tulip, copita, and snifter shapes), we add a large divergent rim, similar to a cocktail glass to control dispersions as the molecules continue their upward direction.
In the space between the neck and the top rim, the controlled expansion provides a path for lighter ethanol to quickly make its way to the rim edge, and the heavier character aromas dissipate slower, to be detected by the nose without the presence of nose-numbing ethanol. A key design relationship is the neck cross-sectional area, to the upper rim edge cross-sectional area, as this ratio, as well as the rim plane height above the neck, controls the exact dissipation of available aromas.
Short and Fat is Better than Tall and Skinny
In a previous presentation, we determined that shorter glasses pick up more aromas. Using a typical evaporation curve of a heavier aroma, we can see that shorter heights can increase the opportunity to detect character aromas. In this instance, the area of highest concentration is at the rim of the tulip glass, and the neck of the NEAT glass. The reduction in height allows more aromas to reach the neck for further dissipation to the rim plane.
A major complaint of tulip glasses is the restricted, small area rim which prevents the nose from entering the aroma cloud. Designing the rim plane large enough to allow the nostrils to access the center of the expanded aroma cloud maximizes the opportunity to pick up more aromas. By designing the glass to fit the average nose, we find that placing the lips on the glass rim positions the nose automatically in the center of the rim plane. Short and fat improve test results over tall and skinny.
Who Gets the Most Aromas and Improves Evaluation Test Results?
When all of these issues are dealt with, the result is a short glass to pick up more aromas, a fat and wide bowl to enhance swirling, a large area to accommodate the nose, and ethanol is separated from the character aromas and dispersed from detection while analyzing character aromas.
A little engineering, common sense, and focused attention to the laws of physics can go a long way toward enhancing personal satisfaction and improving spirits buying and collecting. Do we think this is the ultimate in glassware design? For now, it is by far the superior tasting, nosing, and evaluation glass, but we never underestimate the power of science-based discovery as we continue to encourage new ideas and search for better ways to improve the evaluation and enjoyment of all spirits.
Accepting New Concepts
For decades after the introduction of refrigerators, automobiles, and the cooking range, doubters and those who cling to tradition chose to be loyal to the iceman, horses, and woodstoves. Getting used to new ideas is hard for some, and no doubt the NEAT glass is experiencing the same resistance from those unwilling to quickly embrace change. It is all part of the process of evolution as science and discovery replace the myths and all contrived devices of the past which left room for improvement.
Why Diffusing Ethanol may not be Very Popular
The spirits consumer-drinker loves his ethanol. He paid for it. The pungent smell of ethanol tells him it is there. That conditioned acceptance of ethanol automatically places the spirit aromas and flavors in a distant second place in his mind. He may never discover what is hiding in his drink and that bottle he paid dearly for.
Summary
Diffusing ethanol away from the nose exposes all aromas, both good and bad, and puts the evaluator in the driver’s seat by prioritizing aromas and personal quality assessment over-reliance on suggestive advertising. Nothing can hide from approval or disapproval, placing the evaluator in control to discover and choose personal flavor nuances using an engineered glass as a decision-making tool. See how independent research shows the NEAT glass is superior to all others.
