January 29th,
2010
Posted by
Doug
under Accessories, Barware
I have a cocktail call to arms! It is time for all good culinary and cocktail enthusiasts to flex their consumer muscle to try to bring back a truly essential product.
Via the comments in a thread at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, I learned that OXO has decided to discontinue what is perhaps the most essential bar accessory out there, the OXO 2 oz. mini measuring cup!
This little measuring cup is simply the best jigger out there. If you are making cocktails that require precision, or you are cooking and use small amounts of ingredients, these little cups, with markings as low as 1/4 oz. or 10 ml, are a very valuable tool. Tiara asks in her post what everyone’s favorite jigger is, and the hands down winner is the OXO. But Jim of Vessel alerts us in the comments that OXO has discontinued them!
I immediately called OXO to confirm this. The lady I spoke to had no explanation but did confirm that OXO no longer makes the mini measure. She also said that they had received a surprisingly large number of complaints, especially from bartenders and other cocktailians, about the move.
I think we need to encourage everyone we know to contact OXO and ask that they return the cups to production. They are tracking the response they get.
To contact OXO, you can email them at info@oxo.com, call them at (800) 545-4411, or use their web contact page.
There are still some of the cups out there in the supply chain. Amazon has two links to the plastic version (here
Welcome Bostonist readers! While you are here, please look around. It is Tiki Month here at the Pegu Blog (thus the weird theme), and I have some more thoughts here about the Cocktail Apocalypse as well.
More: Down in the comments, I am reminded that these mini measures really are useful for cooking, too. And for those with dexterity issues, they may be easier to manipulate than standard measuring spoons. Why then are they being discontinued? One, I think OXO missed the boat on marketing the cocktail angle, and two, I think they are just too darn cute to be taken seriously by a lot of cooks.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Oh my goodness! This is crazytown. This is the entire Crazytown Metropolitan Area. Thanks for the heads-up, I’ve sent my email.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Thanks Humuhumu,
With Tiki Month coming up, I’ll probably have an excuse to revisit this. These OXOs are even more valuable for Tiki drinks, with all their fifty tiny ingredients than they are for regular cocktails!
January 29th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
AND they should put in a 3/4 line while we’re at it!
January 29th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I just got those news this morning, i have sent them my e-mail.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Thanks for the heads up! I ordered some spares and sent them an email. It would be a shame to see these go away.
-R
January 29th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I sent my email in. Hope they bring it back.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Email sent in!
January 30th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Doug, I want to post about this too. Can I use your pic?
January 30th, 2010 at 9:53 am
I sent my email. I notice as I get older I use them more often – especially if doubling or cutting recipes.
I got my oldest daughter a set – she has MS and these little goodies really help her continue to cook and bake for her family – no trying to balance measuring spoons and fill them!
January 30th, 2010 at 10:11 am
DJHS,
Well, since I just stole it from Amazon, I’d have to say, “No! It’s mine! All mine! Not for you!”
Than I’d sober up. Use it for sure, just post on this. I’ve been getting monster traffic on this, I’d love to see if a reasonable fraction of the readers actually hit one of the links or use the phone.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Fanciesmom,
Thanks. They are just as valuable for cooking as cocktails.
My first thought about why these were discontinued was that OXO never noticed the cocktail angle, and should have directed a few dollars that way.
The more I think of it, given how useful they are for cooking too, the problem may simply have been that they are so darn cute. Lots of cooks and drinkers who could use one or two may dismiss them as a toy on sight.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I have 3 of them and wish I had 3 more, we’d never even thought of using them at the bar! Hmmmmmm.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:30 am
This is something I posted on Facebook too.
I actually have a knock-off one in development right now that is 3 ounces. This way it can save a step by combining the main spirit and the modifier. Or gives you just a bit more room for other uses.
My experience with the OXO 2 ounce is inconsistency. I have a photo of several (I think 20) lined up and each one measures differently. Each were filled with the exact same amount of water…and only one matched the same measure that was poured in. Hope that made sense.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:39 am
No way! Say it ain’t so…this is an absolute essential. I’m going to go out and buy as many as I can find. It is especially important for those just getting into the cocktail culture. A true shame.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Email Sent!
January 31st, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Email accomplished!
January 31st, 2010 at 3:09 pm
sent in my e-mail, posted on facebook… thank you for alerting us to this!!
January 31st, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Well, I’ve certainly mentioned these on my blog more than once. I’ll do what I can to spread the word and encourage people to speak up!
January 31st, 2010 at 6:17 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by toots11, brittany, DrinkPlanner, Stevi Deter, Michael Dietsch and others. Michael Dietsch said: RT @mbrowley: Cocktail folk: OXO 2oz jigger discontinued. Pegu Doug wants you to protest. http://tinyurl.com/ycxmg2s /// NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 2:23 am
[...] measuring cup, I have no idea if I just poured a 1/4oz of Benedictine or not. The Pegu Blog has a post rallying supporters of this great tool and I hope it is successful. That said, I bought an extra [...]
February 1st, 2010 at 10:04 am
Here are the test results from 20 random OXO jiggers.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35763&id=682519552&saved#/photo.php?pid=4565599&id=682519552
February 1st, 2010 at 12:00 pm
email sent!
February 1st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Email sent. (And I agree with Blair that they need to add a 3/4 line.)
February 1st, 2010 at 2:19 pm
3/4 line is a must.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:39 am
Cheryl, how much were your measures off by? Standard labware that is not calibrated always says +/- 5% so being off by 10% at some of the lower increments would not be that surprising. It would be interesting to re-do the experiment by acquiring a decent scale and filling up each cup to 1 or 2 ounces and determining the weight of the water (30 grams of water per fluid ounce).
Unless measuring devices are hand calibrated (i.e.: lines etched by a technician), I’d expect some level of variance between item to item.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
guys l read with interst all your comments…and thanks to Tiara for the wonderful comments on our ProJig(tm) jigger on a Mountain of Crushed Ice…the US from our experience has rather different accuracy requiremnts from the rest of the world where accuracy is paramount(sometimes fines imposed)..hats off to OXO for developing a different angle on jiggers…its hard to innovate and make a difference…there are blatatnt imatators out there, ready to copy the hard work of others. As a community we must look to work together to INNOVATE not imatate!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hey Michael. I need to take back the words, knock off from my post. I used it incorrectly. I most def meant improve. That’s what I mean because the OXO, at least from my perspective needs it. I really don’t think they ever meant for the cocktail community to latch on to it like they have. Well at least the community that is more in the enthusiast category and not the working in the real world trenches for a living. The design doesn’t make sense for that. I talked about this on facebook. I wouldn’t ever or want to copy-cat anything including oXO measuring cup ( it’s official name given by OXO). I consider myself an artist and creative thinker and give away lots of my ideas all the time, so to knock off/copy cat something isn’t in me so sorry again. I used the wrong words. Didn’t mean to confuse.
But yes, improvement…that’s up my alley. And agree with you.
Sent from my iPhone.
Sent from my iPhone.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Stop the presses!!!! This is OXO. Seriously…OXO. I want to clarify that the Mini Measuring Cups are NOT discontinued! They are currently only available at retail (and I saw them on Amazon – just type in “OXO Mini Measuring Cups”), however we are working on a configuration to make both the stainless steel and plastic versions available on our website, http://www.oxo.com, very (very) shortly. Stay tuned!
February 10th, 2010 at 10:57 am
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