A blog about........straws!

Straws, you say, what on earth is there to say about straws that is blogable?!

So here goes....

I am a fans of straws. I enjoy drinking my go to cocktail of Vodka & Coke Zero through a straw.

However, I am always trying to reduce my use of single use plastic so straws were something that I had on my radar and I knew I was going to either change my straw habit and stop using them or find an alternative to plastic straws.

I found 3 alternatives and you can see my reviews of each below. I also was told of a 4th option by a bartender in the Devlin Hotel. I will tell you about this one at the end of the blog so scroll on to the bottom to see what it is!

1. Paper Straws
The first move I made away from plastic straws was that I bought paper straws. The good thing about paper straws is that they tend to be really pretty in nicely coloured patterns. But the bad things is that they tend to start to go a bit mushy when you are using them. You can slow down the disintegration of the paper straw by taking it out of your drink between sips and balance it on top of your glass - but this is a bit of a pain. Quite honestly, paper straws are not for me, I don't like the feel of them in my mouth when I am partaking in a beverage.

So the search for a plastic straw replacement continued and I went on to try the next one.

2. Metal Straws
I was so happy to receive a gift of a packet of metal straws from my sister. There were four in the pack and they even came with a little skinny brush to wash them with. 
I was really expecting to like the metal straws but it felt a bit too solid when using and I think they could be quite dangerous as you could accidentally stick it in your eye! Take care when drinking through one!!
I think you can buy metal straw with a plastic bung at the end in order to make it both nicer to drink from and also a bit more safe but if you use this you are back using plastic - but at least it is not single use plastic.

And so I am now on to what I am currently drinking my "bevs" through.

3. Bamboo Straw
A bamboo straw!  Yes really!
While on holidays in the USA, I found a packet of bamboo straws for sale in the Key West Custom House Museum Gift Shop for the very reasonable price of $8.95. There was about 10 in the packet and they are all different sizes, some being very skinny and others being quite thick. It really doesn't matter what size one you pop in to your glass - they all feel really nice to drink from. And they have a really cool natural tropical look about them.

So for the moment I am giving top marks to bamboo straws and they get my vote as being a great alternative to plastic straws.

And now if you are still reading this, you get a bonus tip for what to use instead of plastic straws as passed on to me by the bartender in the Devlin Hotel:  

PASTA!

Yes there is such a thing as a pasta straw! 

A quick google leads me to this website.

Pasta straws sound pretty cool - but have you got any other alternatives to plastic straws? Leave a comment below......