What is a balanced Waiters Friend Corkscrew?

The other day I saw my waitress was having a hard time opening a wine bottle. After she inserted the corkscrew into the cork, she seemed to have a little trouble to put the extended arm against the lip of the bottle. It looked as if the corkscrew was a bit too stiff for her to tilt upward. She was using a single hinge Waiter’s friend Corkscrew or Sommelier Knife.

Waiter’s Friend Corkscrew, as implied by its name, is an easy tool to use and can fit into a pocket. It is constructed with a folding body, an extended arm, a worm (the part that goes into the cork), and a foil cutter knife. This tool allows a person to pull the cork out of a wine bottle in one motion. Now, this is where the design plays a major factor since there is no standard.

A balance Waiter’s friend corkscrew allows the user to easily put the extended arm on the lip and pull the cork out with ease. There are two styles of waiter’s friend corkscrew: single hinge and hinged double-lever system. Rosle waiter’s friend represents the single hinge style, while Alessi Parrot is a good example for hinged double-lever style or double hinged corkscrew. As described by their names, hinged double-lever style’s extended arm consists of two sections hinged together, while single hinge is one single extended arm. Therefore, double hinged corkscrew provides a more versatile and easier accommodation to different types of cork and wine bottle shapes. I could imagine my waitress pulled the cork out with ease if she used a balanced waiters friend corkscrew. It is worth spending a little more on a well-balanced corkscrew.