Review on 🍾 Set of 6, 16oz Otis Classic Swing Top Glass Bottles with Marker & Labels - Clear Bottles with Caps for Juice, Water, Kombucha, Wine, Beer Brewing, Kefir Milk or Eggnog by Brenda Finlinson

I like to drink effervescent kombucha! I have ordered these bottles twice, I had high hopes for them. The first package was very well packed, nothing was wrinkled. A few months later, the second batch was NOT packaged. One bottle was completely broken, all others had cracks. It became a lesson in what to look for and where to inspect these bottles for cracks. If you absolutely must order them, please make sure they come with nothing so they can be packed better. The second box I ordered was placed in a large box along with other items I've ordered from Revain, with very little packaging material, just a couple of air bags. The outside of the bottle carton was marked "Fragile" but the outside of the box it was placed in for shipping was NOT marked as Fragile. No special science is required to understand why they broke and cracked. Cracks in bottles make me nervous, and rightly so, when bottling at home. Cracked bottles are more prone to pressure rupture of natural carbonated kombucha and the last thing we need are dangerous exploding bottles on our hands. When I had to go back and check ALL the Otis bottles for cracks, I found where cracks most commonly occur. Unfortunately, most of the bottles from that first batch also had cracks, some tiny, some not so bad. What to look for: You can see two glass mold seams running the length of the bottle; For the most part, at least on my bottles, they seemed (almost) normal. The caps are attached to the neck of the bottle with a strong metal wire that is passed through holes in the glass. To be on the safe side, there are two holes in the middle between the two seams. Unfortunately most Otis bottles had cracks, some larger than one, just above the drill holes (see photo). and the top of the bottle. Bottles with longer cracks were recycled. They are checked again after each batch. However, after just a few uses, one bottle developed an alarmingly long tear almost parallel to the seam (see photo). I highly doubt it's my fault as my bottles aren't dishwasher safe. They are hand washed and then carefully placed on a dry surface. They are expected to be strong enough to withstand such handling. Cracks aren't the only problem with these Otis Classic bottles. They are not the same fat. I hope the photo shows a bulge about 2/3 the length of the bottle. Maybe there's an acceptable tolerance for that, but I don't know what exactly, so such obviously obvious changes in the thickness of the bottles don't inspire confidence. I wonder if they knew these bottles were defective and tried to sweeten the deal with attractive extras? I wanted to like them but the white marker they come with is pretty much useless as it's not thick enough, too translucent and rubs off too easily. While the labels that come with it are nice, I've never had the chance to use them (I don't want to give away a broken bottle). Unfortunately the extra orange rubbers they also offer as replacement seals are never used either as it seems the bottles will wear out much sooner than the caps. I'm currently looking for the best source for quality bottles - if anyone knows one please comment! This is a difficult task as I spent some time doing a good research of the sources before ordering, but obviously not good enough. Can't recommend these bottles. Attention buyers! Update - February 28th 2021: It's been a year and a half now, I wanted to update this review as I've used bottles that passed the first test, about 8-10 out of 24. These bottles have been ok so far, I'm happy accept. The uneven glass withstood my constant attempts to cram as many fizzy drinks as possible into one serving of fizzy kombucha! So my rating went from 1 to 2 stars. I still think the manufacturer should include a caveat. However, as long as you sort them carefully and check them regularly, have no fear.