I have a heavy crystal decanter I’ve been using for years. A while back I was having some guests for a week, and thought I’d save some money and grabbed a bottle of Jim beam to put in it, as opposed to the higher end I tend to go for, because none of my guest cared about Bourbon. I noticed the level going down further than I had consumed. This has never been an issue before, so I figured someone had just nipped it while o was asleep. The next day, there was condensation on the inside, and the level had dropped further.
Since I’d been using the decanter for so long, I assumed the frosting on the stopper had rubbed off and it no longer sealed.
When it was empty, I refilled it with larceny, my standard, and to my surprise, it didn’t evaporate at all for weeks.
Last night, I refilled it with beam again, and this morning, it had dropped and there was condensation on the side.
What really confused me, is Jim beam has a lower alcohol content than the Bourbons I usually fill the decanter with, so I would think it would evaporate as readily.
Why does only this one brand evaporate?
Quick searching gave me no results
Tldr: Why does Jim Beam evaporate in my decanter while nothing else does?
No lead. It’s not great quality or antique, I just liked the shape.
That means it’s a glass decanter, as crystal always has lead 😉
In the 1800s absolutely, but since the discontinuation of leaded products, significantly heavy glass with tin, aluminum, titanium or other metals added for strength and sheen has been deemed crystal, with the previous material being designated as leaded crystal.
I’m an avid antique collector and have needed to know the difference for several years.
If you reside in the EU or Britain however, disregard those statements, as they still have legal definitions of crystal on the books.
Edit: I meant UK, not EU, my bad.
Edit again: it is actually the EU. American schools, man.
Well I learned something new today. Although, we have UKers in this household so the formal definitions from both the UK and EU are often stuck to. Don’t get me started on cheese…