TIL There's Such A Thing As "Pasta Straws"

The Strategist just clued us in to the existence of pasta-based beverage straws, and I'm wondering why I've never heard of this feat of ingenuity before. Obviously, I'm a little behind on restaurant trends since last year's hiatus on going out, but I've never seen them in person. I've definitely used paper straws before, but I generally haven't had a great experience with them; all the ones I've ever tried get soggy within the span of a few minutes. We have some metal straws at home, but they're sort of a pain to clean out (especially if you misplace the thin wire brush like we did).

I do suppose that bucatini would work in a pinch, as Insider suggested a while back. Hollow pasta varieties are the perfect candidate for that sort of thing, but now there are a few companies strictly dedicated to the product, and yes, some of those straws are gluten-free. There's the Amazing Pasta Straw, Pasta Life, and the company with the best name, Stroodles.

Pasta Life's straws are made of rice and tapioca flour, and they're actually dyed interesting colors like blue, green, and red, which is probably a good way to distract you from the fact that you're drinking through what is essentially dried flour. Though there was initially some concern that the pasta straws would impart a raw flour flavor to drinks, The Strategist was happy to report that this was a non-issue in cold drinks. But, as you might imagine, they do have a relatively shorter lifespan than plastic straws: they will get soggy, bend, and split open within 30-45 minutes or so.

Of course, then there's the matter of eating them: Yes, they're edible, but they can develop sharp edges that you might want to avoid if you're a habitual straw chewer. Plus, I mean, it's raw pasta. That's left me wondering if it might taste best in a marinara cocktail, but that's an investigation for another day.