Cocktail glasses

For the vast majority of recipes, you need three types of glassware. A stemmed glass for cocktails served without ice, because otherwise your hand warms the drink within a minute: martini glasses, coupes, coupette glasses, and Nick & Nora glasses fall into this group. A low, heavy glass for anything served over ice, for which the old fashioned glass is the standard. And a tall glass for anything topped up with tonic, soda, or sparkling water, for which you should look at highball glasses . If you want to expand your collection, move on to the hurricane glass for tropical drinks and the tiki mug for rum.

In terms of capacity, slightly too small is better than too large. A cocktail without ice is usually eight to twelve centiliters, so in a 25 cl glass it will look half-empty and stingy. For drinks served over ice, allow 25 to 35 cl; for long drinks, 30 to 40 cl. Material is the final choice. Tempered glass is thicker at the rim and more forgiving, while lead-free crystal glass is thinner and clearer. And by a pool, on a boat, or at a festival, plastic is the sensible choice: polycarbonate looks like glass from a meter away, but it does not break.

Chill the glass before pouring. Five minutes in the freezer, or a minute with ice and water in it, makes a noticeable difference with anything you serve without ice. Discard the ice water, shake the glass dry, and only then pour. A frosted glass is not only more attractive, it also keeps the cocktail at temperature considerably longer. Then fill your shaker generously with ice, because too little ice melts quickly and dilutes your drink more than vigorous shaking ever will.

The glass is only half the story after that. A negroni is stirred in a mixing glass and strained over a fresh ice cube in the lowball glass. An espresso martini should instead be shaken hard, because without that force you will never get the layer of foam that belongs on top. A mojito is built directly in the highball glass, with the mint at the bottom and crushed ice on top. The difference between stirring and shaking is not a detail: stirred, a cocktail remains clear and silky smooth; shaken, it becomes airy and slightly watery, and the latter is exactly what a sour needs.

Cocktail glasses take more punishment than wine glasses. Citric acid, sticky syrups, ice cubes knocking against the wall and a dishwasher that runs twenty times on a busy evening. So choose glassware with a tempered rim if it stands behind a bar, because that is where breakage begins. Wash on a short glass programme or by hand, rinse well and polish with a lint-free cloth. Limescale marks stand out especially on crystal glass and disappear with a dash of vinegar in the rinse water.

Store glasses with the bowl upright, so the rim rests on nothing, and give coupes some space between them. Most damage happens not while mixing but in the cupboard and in the dishwasher rack, where stems come to lean against each other. That is also why a bar with five glasses of one shape works out cheaper than a bar with five different ones: you can stack, sort and reorder without thinking.

If you already know which shape you're looking for, you can click through immediately. The coupe glasses are listed separately, as are the hurricanes, tiki mugs, margarita glasses, and Nick & Nora glasses, all of which you can find in the menu here. If you're looking for the recipe rather than the glass, each classic on our recipe pages includes the proportions and the glass it's meant to be served in. And if you already have the glassware but are missing the tools, check out the cocktail shakers, which also include bar spoons, jiggers, and strainers. If you're still unsure about the size or material, the frequently asked questions below can help.