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Artist's Mugs Make Fracking Debate Easier to Grasp

Peter Crimmins / WHYY

Jennie Shanker's Shale mug


A Philadelphia potter trekked through shale country to dig up her own Marcellus Shale, turn it into clay and then made coffee mugs.
Jennie Shanker says her Marcellus mugs are safe to drink out of, but the clay has a slightly higher reading on the Geiger counter than her cell phone.
Here’s one thought: Use the mug to down your next “Fractini.”
What’s a Fractini?  It’s a mixed drink developed by Patriot-News reporter Don Gilliland, who has covered a fracking story or two.

The Fractini is a really, really dirty martini with extra salt along the rim.
Gilliland says the gin has to be accompanied by large quantities of olive juice to raise the level of total dissolved solids enough to make State Impact-Pa. reporter Scott Detrow run to the nearest non-flammable water tap.
It sort of tastes like a gulp of the ocean from the Jersey shore. And it just may be the perfect beverage for the Marcellus mug.
You can check out a longer report on the shale cups from WHYY’s arts and culture reporter, Peter Crimmins, here. 

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