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?

  • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
    1·
    30 days ago

    My suspicion is that your stopper isn’t sealing well, possibly from wear or just odd positioning. If you feel like ruining what’s left of that Jim beam in the decanter you can run a little experiment. Clear the condensation out of the decanter and mark the current level. Leave it for a week and see if the level dropped to establish a baseline. After marking the change, coat the stopper in Vaseline and leave it for another week. See if that helped or not. If it helped then you’ve got a leak

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
    0·
    30 days ago

    Not what you’re asking for, but unless you know your decanter is made from lead free crystal (most aren’t), don’t store booze in it for any amount of time. You should be safe to use it to serve a spirit in, but lead leaches into the spirit much quicker than you’d realise

        • SadSadSatellite @lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
          0·
          30 days ago

          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.

          • spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works
            1·
            30 days ago

            So it’s safe for my takeaway from this to be that I CAN get a modern crystal decanter? This conversation had me leaning away hard until your comment 😂

      • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
        1·
        30 days ago

        Yes. Most crystal has lead, it’s just how it works. It’s fine if you’re not a child and you don’t store it in there for long periods.

        I have some and use the glasses regularly. The decanter is and finished in 1-2 days though.

        If it has a deep resounding ring you might want to avoid it.

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    0·
    30 days ago

    Do you live alone? I mean I’ve heard lots of stories where kids, spouses, visitors … help themselves. And some booze just vanishes, or gets replaced.

      • orgrinrt@lemmy.world
        1·
        29 days ago

        Yeah, if only the cheap stuff does this, and there are teens in the household, I would bet that the stuff in its bottle is already plenty cut with water.

        I remember, as a teen, I’d avoid the expensive stuff just because that’d get me into more trouble probably. The cheap stuff? By the time anyone noticed, it was probably 80% water in the bottle 😁