13. The bottle

It's a bottle with a womb. The womb opens from outside. That's where the ice goes. So, it doesn't dilute the sake and ruin the taste. I pour the sake in a small shot glass, the choko. The ice melts but it doesn't disturb the sake. And the sake stays chilled. The science behind it is that ice takes the heat off the glass, and the glass takes the heat off the sake. Yet the water stays off the sake. Hence, the sake stays a little sweet, a little bitter, it's spirit staying consistent with every shot. What kind of artisan could think of such an imaginative contraption? Was he a glass maker or simply a lover of sake seeking to solve this age old problem -- how to chill the sake? Did the idea come to him in trickles as he pondered on the problem; perhaps, it came to him by accident or in a dream? Why shape it like a womb? I stare at the sake as it rests quietly chilling inside this bottle, It would work for wine or beer. Brilliant execution of an idea. Like the sake it's supposed to chill.