How did you try to mirror the earthly olfactory experience of smelling the aromas of whisky?

Rather than try to control where the liquid goes, we thought about controlling the vessel around the liquid. We allowed the glass to collect the whisky and then the person drinking it can position their nose to where the vapours would have been, so that they can get a sense of the smell of the whisky. So essentially we flipped the thinking upside down. So rather than trying to move the whisky, we moved the glass around the whisky instead.

Astronauts, because of the sterile and mechanical environment in which they live, have insatiable cravings for earth and home. Did this impact your thought-process during the designing of the glass?

We wanted to make sure you could really see the whisky and its colour. Obviously we also wanted to capture the smell of the whisky and to ensure that that was part of the experience, in addition to drinking it. We were creating a sort of ritual in the same way you might open a can of soft drink or take the cork out of a wine bottle; we were essentially creating a ritual around the way whisky is loaded into the glass and then sampled.

What physiological effects could undermine enjoying whisky in zero gravity?

One of the things astronauts describe about space is that it is essentially like being upside down or having a perpetual blocked nose, so there was a broader factor to consider in regards to the whisky drinking experience, including the flavours that are within the whisky blend. In space, the blood rushes to your head and all the fluids in your body get rearranged and fill up your sinuses. It’s a bit like having a cold.

On earth we don’t have this problem because all the fluids are pulled down towards the ground by gravity. However, when you have a cold on earth it’s difficult to eat or enjoy food because your sinuses and your palate are so overwhelmed or full you can’t actually taste or smell. Astronauts are perpetually accustomed to this sensation so they often crave foods which have spicier, evocative flavours of nature and so Sandy [Hyslop] actually formulated a whisky which takes these things into account. The experience of having a cultivated space whisky with Ballantine’s will actually help space travellers feel more at home. They will have this ritual and have this more spicy whisky formulation which takes into account that their sinuses are actually more closed up and it will remind them of earth.

How many different designs and techniques did you look at?

We tried all sorts of different things; we tried centripetal motion and spinning, a little bit like a Ferris wheel at a funfair and using magnetic pellets to pull the liquid to different parts of the glass. We tried creating a glass foam where the drink was actually held in suspension inside micro bubbles. We really explored all types of different techniques. However, if you actually looked at the basic needs; to smell the liquid, observe the liquid and this idea of having some sense of ceremony during whisky drinking, the base-plate solution we ended up with was by far the best one.

What materials is the Space Glass made from?

We used medical grade 3D printed PLA [thermoplastics which become soft and mouldable when heated and return to a solid when cooled], essentially the same materials and process that is used for heart valves that go inside human bodies. The base plate is a stainless steel which is coated in rose gold. We created something that is sterile and nonreactive. Gold is extremely nonreactive, which is one of the reasons it is so valuable.