Please help find silver drinking straw!

April 8, 2009 9:27 AM

I need help finding a silver drinking straw for a friend.

I really want to get my friend a fancy silver drinking straw as a going away gift, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding something adequately fancy and attractive.

My ideal straw would be this silver monkey straw from Tiffany's, but clearly, they're no longer sold. (I've also checked eBay, to no avail.)

I've googled a fair amount and I've only found this site, which is so far my only somewhat reasonable option.

The gift will be needed by the end of the month, or roughly within three weeks.

A gift set of silver straws or even attractive glass straws would also be of interest.

I am located in the DC area, if anyone knows of a brick and mortar store that offers something like this.

Thanks for any help you can give!

posted by Flamingo to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

You may want to search for bombillas. They are traditionally used for drinking Yerba Mate out of a gourd, but the image you posted reminded me of it.
posted by o0dano0o at 9:33 AM on April 8, 2009 [2 favorites]

These straws aren't silver -- they're stainless steel -- but I think they're really charming. They're $12 for a set of four.
posted by kate blank at 9:55 AM on April 8, 2009

I've found this silver straw and also some nice glass straws that come in a variety of sizes [the ones all the way on the bottom of the pages have colored glass dots on them].
posted by alynnk at 9:57 AM on April 8, 2009

You could also order a set of custom glass straws here. It looks like they're about $10 each.
posted by kate blank at 9:58 AM on April 8, 2009

I'd watch out for the plain glass straws. I looked at them and my first thought was "woah, those are crackpipes."

You may want something more elaborate just to avoid it having that effect if your friend leaves it on a desk or whatever.
posted by Kellydamnit at 10:04 AM on April 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

Christofle has sliver straws ... at $165 a pair. Search for "straws".
posted by gyusan at 10:08 AM on April 8, 2009

A quick google search says sterling silver round tubing is easily available online. If you want a plain straw, you could get some of that in whatever diameter, thickness, and length you want. Then smooth/round the ends so they're nice and friendly to lips (you can just use sandpaper), polish it up (use Brasso and old socks if you don't have a buffer), and clean it carefully.
posted by fritley at 11:16 AM on April 8, 2009

Response by poster: Hm... It did not occur to me that glass straws do, indeed, look like crack pipes. Obviously, I would like to avoid that.

Thanks for all the help so far. I am thinking my goal is sub-$100, but gyusan's link will give me more guidance for eBay (etc.) search terms.
posted by Flamingo at 11:41 AM on April 8, 2009

Check antique shops for Victorian era 'iced tea spoons' or 'julep straws'. Both names are used to describe an ornate spoon/straw combination, often made of sterling. Ebay has a few listed currently.
posted by X4ster at 1:49 PM on April 8, 2009

Ebay sample here
posted by X4ster at 1:53 PM on April 8, 2009

Sorry, try - here
posted by X4ster at 1:54 PM on April 8, 2009