GIVEAWAY: Drinkstuff's Polycarbonate Cocktail Glasses

With summer in full swing, it's the perfect time to venture to the great outdoors (though take a brolly; we are in Britain after all). And what declares summer more than anything else? Cocktails in the garden! Put those shades on, get the picnic blankets out, and prepare to shake up a storm - not literally please.

So, you've invited a group of people over, you've fired up the BBQ, and planned a selection of drinks you'd like to make. But what do you serve them in? Sure, glasses are all well and good, but a boozy night in the garden, with unstable surfaces and a patio that's begging for you to smash something on it, is never going to end with 100% return rate. And from experience, handing out fancy glasses just makes people on edge; nobody wants the responsibility of looking after something - they just want to relax!

That said, sipping out of a flimsy plastic cup is not what you want either. But luckily, Drinkstuff have come up with a solution; Polycarbonate Cocktail Glasses!

If you're not down with your plastics, Polycarbonate is a material that's virtually unbreakable; rigid and reusable, it's super practical and perfect for parties and outdoor events. Pack them with your festival essentials, and it'll feel like you're glamping without the price tag!

The generous folks at Drinkstuff not only sent me a selection of these glasses to try out, but they've also offered us a cocktail bundle to giveaway! You too can have a trouble-free garden party of your own, where all you need is added booze and a few friends! Boom!

So what are they like? Well, to start with there are four types to choose from; hurricane glasses, martini glasses, margarita glasses, and coupes. They're incomparable to the kind of plastic screw together ones that you can pick up at the supermarket - you just have to sigh in the direction of those and they topple over. These have excellent stability and have some weight to them too, mimicking glass just as you'd expect. I'm quite a glass snob, so in all honesty, I was pretty skeptical, but I needn't have been; these are a great idea!

Hurricane glasses are not really my kind of thing, purely down to the fact that I don't ever drink that kind of 'tall cocktail' (that probably says a lot about me, right?). But if you're a Pina Colada or Tequila Sunrise fan, then these are definitely for you! With a short, stylish stem and base, which adds a hint of elegance to your drinks, there's scope for a variety of bevvies in these; even mega milkshakes!... Ok, I might be convinced; Laura's Key Lime Pie Milkshake anyone? Drinkstuff Hurricane Glasses are currently on sale at £14.99 for a pack of 4, RRP £19.99.

The Polycarbonate Martini Cocktail Glasses (currently on sale for £14.99 RRP £17.99) are the go-to guys for your Cosmopolitans, Manhattans and Martinis - obviously - and we've featured quite a few of these recipes in our time so far, so there's no excuse not to get experimental. They're quite large too, so if you don't fancy a strong spirit-heavy cocktail, then you'd be able to lengthen it with room to spare.

Margaritas are one of my faves, I can drink them at any time of day, and could even drink them all day long without getting bored (though my tongue would definitely hate me after all that lime juice!). These Margarita Glasses are perfect for the Mexican Fiesta themed party you might want to throw (or just a Saturday night with some nachos in my case), and at £14.99 for four (RRP £17.99), they're a no brainer. And again, because they're quite big, you could even blend your cocktail with a load of ice in a food processor and have more of a boozy slush!

The Drinkstuff Polycarbonate Coupe Cocktail Glasses are the winners in my eyes, probably because they're my go-to glass at home. You can pretty much serve every kind of cocktail in them - even a simple glass of champers - so the world is your oyster.  I got bought some as a present - identical in size and shape, just made of actual glass - and I use them all the time. However, I'm quite precious about them, and I don't always trust guests with prized glassware, so these are perfect; you still get the fancy aesthetic without the worry that your set of 4 is now an awkward set of 3.

If I were to recommend just one to buy, then the coupes would be it, priced at £11.99 (RRP £14.99)… But hopefully you'll be our winner, in which case you'll get the lot! Here's the details:

GIVEAWAY TIME! 

Win a set of each of the four different glasses mentioned above PLUS a Manhattan cocktail making kit! That's worth over £70 and is the perfect recipe for a cocktail party.

To enter, just do at least one of the following:

• ON THE BLOG: Leave a comment on this blog telling us which cocktail you'd you like to drink out of these glasses, and if you could share a cocktail with one person (dead or alive, celebrity or friend, whatever!) who would you choose?
• ON FACEBOOK: Leave a comment on our Facebook giveaway post answering the same questions above. Sharing is not compulsory to enter but is absolutely welcome by us.
• ON TWITTER: RT our giveaway tweet and follow us and @DrinkStuff on Twitter.

The competition closes at midnight on Friday 21st August and we will announce a winner the following week, so do check back on our Twitter and Facebook pages. 
UK residents only - please see our small print.


Small print: 
1. This giveaway is open to UK residents only (sorry, overseas readers) aged 18 or over and will be sent directly from Drinkstuff to a UK address only. 
2. The prize is as follows: 1 set of Drinkstuff Polycarbonate Hurricane glasses, 1 set of Drinkstuff Polycarbonate Margarita glasses, 1 set of Drinkstuff Polycarbonate Martini glasses, 1 set of Drinkstuff Polycarbonate Coupe glasses and 1 Manhattan cocktail kit. No cash alternative is available.
3. The prizes were donated to us by Drinkstuff and unfortunately none of us Vinspire lot is eligible to win the prize (boo!) 
4. Please make sure we are able to contact you when you enter by blog comment - anonymous entries can't be counted because we don't know who you are... 
5. The giveaway closes at midnight on Friday 21st August and late entries will not be counted under any circumstances. 
6. The winner will be chosen completely at random by an independent individual not involved with Vinspire in any way. Please check your emails/Facebook/Twitter next week to see if you've won.
7. If you have any questions, please email us.