I saw these in Fine Cooking (Nov. 2005), thought they were neat and started doing a little more research. The drinking glasses are made from borosilicate glass, which is used to make scientific lab glass, so it can stand up to extreme temperatures.
Borosilicate glass substitutes boron oxide in place of the soda and lime used in traditional glassware. The boron oxide acts as a glue holding the silicate together and due to the small size of boron particles, the glass is held together tighter, resulting in a stronger glass. They stress this a lot - it must be very important.
(Believe me, I know from experience not all lab glass can stand up to extreme temperatures. I taught freshman biology labs my senior year - let's just say the smell of bunsens burning doesn't leave you for a while.)
But not these glasses, of course. They are double-walled and can retain heat or cold (so go ahead and use them for your iced cappuccino or your steaming-hot cafe au lait).
Think about it. You can get rid of half of your glass cabinet. Dishwasher and microwave safe.
But then the more I read, the more familiar it sounded. (This is the bad thing about remembering everything but retaining nothing.) Sure enough, Joe wrote about it in December of 2004. It's bad enough to get scooped - but by almost a year. I am really falling down on the job.
I apologize. Please forgive me.
(But at least I beat him on the Napoleon Dynamite pen - and I threw in the talking bobble-head doll free of charge.)
