Screw it! Corks, that is…

Jul 19 2009

What do you use to get into your favorite bottle of grapes? A wing? A twin-prong? A waiter’s friend? Have I confused you yet?

Those are all types or styles of corkscrew, a tool used for drawing a cork from a bottle. There have been hundreds if not thousands of different variations but many still have one common trait, the screw. The screw MAY have been derived from a device from the 1630’s called a “gun worm,” which was a tool used to remove unspent charges from a musket barrel. Sources say that the earliest reference to an actual corkscrew is from 1681 describing it as “steel worm used for the drawing of corks out of bottles”.

Getting back to modern day, there are 4 main types of commonly used corkscrews. There are also thousands of contraptions designed to make the task of removing a cork from a bottle “easier” however, I find most more difficult to use than my toaster.

First, there is the basic corkscrew. A simple tool that does the job, but relies on you pulling the cork as hard and straight as you can from the bottle. Now, it is basic and cheap, but usually leaves me with a sample of whatever I was opening down the front of my shirt.

Second, we have the twin-prong cork puller. While not technically a corkscrew it does the same job by the user sliding two prongs – one long, one short – down opposite sides of a cork in a bottle, then using a rocking motion to pull it out. This can be a handy tool as it can allow a skilled user to replace a cork, undamaged, back into a bottle. The downside of this model, however, is that if you come across a cork that’s wedged a little tight, it’s as easy to push the cork into the bottle as it is to removing it.

Next, we come to the wing corkscrew, also referred to as the butterfly or angel corkscrew. The wing is great, and something I see used a lot especially in the home. It has a basic screw in the center and two levers on the side resembling arms, or wings. The center screw is turned via handle into the bottle which in turn raises the wings. When the wings are pressed down the cork is easily lifted from the bottle.

Lastly, we come to the waiter’s friend, or a sommelier knife. This is a corkscrew in a folded design which usually also houses a small straight edge knife to assist in removing the foil from the top of bottles quickly. The screw is twisted using the body of the tool then an arm is extended to brace against the lip of the bottle giving the user leverage to pull the cork smoothly out. This is most commonly used by bartenders or servers in restaurants as it’s an all in one solution and fits easily in a pocket or apron.

My personal “weapon of choice” is the waiter’s friend. I picked up the habit from many years as a server but have remained faithful to it because of its all-in-one convenience. As for the many other contraptions that people use to break into their favorite bottle, look for a video on that soon…it should be fun.