Additionally to what else was said, I’ve seen them used in beergardens to cover the drink to prevent bugs from drowning themselves in your drink. I guess then the coasters don’t serve to protect the table anymore.
That’s the possibly apocryphal origin story of Spanish tapas, too: a slice of bread to cover the wine glass between sips (hence the name “tapa,” which means a “cover”), then a few things to dress up that slice of bread, maybe a piece of meat or cheese. So traditionally a single tapa is served for each glass of wine you order.
I didn’t even think about the German word, which is Bierdeckel - literally beer cover. Well the boring word for it would be Untersetzer, which is the substantive of “to place underneath”.
Additionally to what else was said, I’ve seen them used in beergardens to cover the drink to prevent bugs from drowning themselves in your drink. I guess then the coasters don’t serve to protect the table anymore.
That’s the possibly apocryphal origin story of Spanish tapas, too: a slice of bread to cover the wine glass between sips (hence the name “tapa,” which means a “cover”), then a few things to dress up that slice of bread, maybe a piece of meat or cheese. So traditionally a single tapa is served for each glass of wine you order.
I didn’t even think about the German word, which is Bierdeckel - literally beer cover. Well the boring word for it would be Untersetzer, which is the substantive of “to place underneath”.