Why we clink glasses: poison, devils and eye contact

A few weeks back I watched two customers in a small bar in Cork raise their pints, clink the glasses with a sharp knock, and drink without breaking eye contact. The gesture lasted two seconds. But if you'd asked them why they did it—beyond "because you do"—you'd have opened a door onto centuries of legends about poisoners, demons, and gestures of trust that we still repeat today without thinking.

The legend of poison and the spill

The best-known story places the toast in medieval Europe. According to the legend, nobles mistrusted one another so deeply that clinking glasses hard enough to spill a little wine from one cup into the other became a safeguard. If your host had poisoned your drink, he'd now be drinking some of it too. The gesture became a sign of mutual trust: "I drink what you drink."

It's a marvellous story. The trouble is there's no solid documentary evidence to support it. Historians haven't found texts from the period that describe this ritual as a defence against poison. What we do know is that poisoning was a real fear—and occasionally a real event—in European courts, and that anxiety gave rise to all sorts of precautions: food tasters, unicorn cups (narwhal horn, actually), and rings that supposedly changed colour. The toast may have been woven into that web of mistrust, but presenting it as verified fact is a leap.

Devils in the glass and the five senses

Another legend holds that the devil or bad spirits could hide in your cup. The chime of crystal, according to this belief, drove them out. Versions of this story appear in different cultures, though the dates and places vary so much it's hard to trace a single origin.

There's a third explanation sometimes presented with more foundation: the toast as a ritual of the five senses. Before drinking you'd already seen the wine (sight), smelled its aroma (smell), and tasted its flavour (taste). Clinking the glasses added sound (hearing). Looking each other in the eye as you toasted completed the symbolic touch, a human connection. It's an elegant idea and appears in some European etiquette writing, but pinning down when and where it was first formulated is difficult. What is clear is that many table customs—from the order of cutlery to the moment you sit down—were codified in Europe between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and the toast likely travelled the same road.

Superstitions that survive

Some beliefs about toasting persist today. In several European countries people say that toasting with water brings bad luck; versions vary, but the general idea is that water is associated with death (perhaps from funeral toasts beside rivers or wells, though the exact origin isn't documented). In the navy there's an old superstition about not toasting on dry land before sailing. And almost everywhere, breaking eye contact during a toast is considered rude or, depending who's telling the story, seven years of bad luck in bed.

Historical truth or folklore polished over time? Probably the latter. But legends endure because they touch something real: the human need to turn an everyday act—drinking together—into a moment of shared trust.

What a small food business can take from this

The legends of the toast remind us of three practical things for any food or drink business, however small.

First: trust is built with visible gestures. Just as clinking glasses said "there's no poison here," showing how you work reassures customers. If you have an open kitchen, use it. If you prep trays in view, better still. In the UK and Ireland, displaying your food-hygiene rating—mandatory in Wales and the Republic of Ireland, voluntary but recommended in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland—does the same job: it's a public signal that you're hiding nothing. The Food Standards Agency scheme runs 0 to 5; a 4 or 5 deserves to be on the door.

Second: small rituals matter. A toast lasts two seconds, but it sets the tone for the meal. In a bar or restaurant, the details—how you present a drink, whether you wipe the table between courses, whether you ask about allergies before serving—play the same role. Under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 44, allergen information is mandatory for non-prepacked food too (restaurants, cafes, takeaway); each Member State decides how it is given. In the UK, since 1 October 2021 ("Natasha's Law"), food prepacked for direct sale must carry a full ingredient list with the 14 major allergens emphasised. Around two million people in the UK live with food allergies. Asking and labelling correctly isn't just compliance: it's your version of "I drink what you drink."

Third: tell the story. People remember legends better than bare facts. If you're serving a local wine, a gin from a nearby distillery, or a cask beer from a small brewery in Manchester or Dublin, say something about where it comes from. A line on the menu or a word as you serve turns a glass into a story. You don't need to invent anything—real stories are better—but giving them a voice makes a drink more than a product.

If you want to work out what each glass or dish actually costs you, Pricora helps you break down the numbers and compare with market data.

Frequently asked questions

How long has the custom of clinking glasses existed?
There are written references to toasts and ceremonies with drink in many ancient cultures—Greek, Roman, Norse—but the specific custom of clinking glasses and the chime of crystal appears more clearly documented in European texts from the early modern period onwards. Pinning down an exact date is difficult; the most honest answer is that the practice as we know it today likely consolidated between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.

Is it true that toasting with water brings bad luck?
It's a widespread belief in several European countries, though the details and reasons vary. There's no single verifiable historical origin for the superstition; it's part of the folklore that surrounds the toast. In practice, many people follow the custom out of tradition, not real fear.

Source cited: Food Standards Scotland, 2021 (on Natasha's Law and food allergies).