Traditional Bottle Tops Soon To Be No More
The design of bottle caps and wine bottle corks have changed very little over the last 50 years and they have done their job very well indeed. Indeed they are an iconic image to the seasoned drinker, scattered about the floor and table after a heavy night on the liquor. However, with the insurgence of the screw top wine and beer bottle, the old designs are being pushed out, and are soon to be an extinct.
Steel is the material that has been used for most bottle caps and these caps are attached to the rim of the bottle by clamping their 21 teeth around it using a special machine. Whilst they were great at keeping the contents of a bottle fresh, they are a nightmare to get off and unless you have teeth made from granite, you have to use a bottle opener to stand any chance of quenching your thirst. This is the main reason that screw top bottle caps have increased in popularity, as they allow people easy access to the content, without the need to have a bottle open to hand at all times.
It’s a similar story with wine bottles, although ease of entry is not the only reason wine makers are moving away from corks. A corkscrew used to be a staple part of any tableware set, but its usefulness is dwindling as screw top wine bottles become more popular. In the same way as beer bottles need a bottle opener, wine bottles always required a corkscrew to be close by, and that’s just not always practical. Additionally, when it comes to storing wine for any length of time, screw tops are far superior to corks. Air can breach the cork as it expands and contracts with different moisture levels in its surroundings, and air can very easily turn a wine bad. Also, it has a tendency to break up over time if the wine is stored horizontally, as it often is on a wine rack, resulting in the wine sometimes being ‘corked’ when served. So whilst it may be sad to say good bye to the bottle tops we have been so fond of, at least they are being made redundant by better products.
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