A Simple Drinkware Guide

The party season is here. Now it’s time to get a drink and enjoy it but do you have the right glasses? 

Are you drinking champagne from a cocktail glass or whisky from a wine glass? If so, you may not be enjoying the full flavour or effect that these drinks are renowned for. Here is our guide to drinking glasses:

Why Use Different Types of Glassware?

Different glassware has evolved to make each different drink better. It may be that you have a perfectly measured cocktail, but the size of the mouth can help release the aromas. It may be that you have a wonderful new liquor in your hand, but once in a drinking vessel it can be warmed-up, or stay cool, by the design of the glass. Enhanced aromas and correct temperatures are two key factors for improving the drinking experience.

The Right Glass For The Right Drink

Red Wine Glasses

Red wine glasses and white wine glasses differ in shape and size, driven by the types of wine they are intended to hold. Red wine glass should have a broader opening than a white wine glass. There are two key points to consider when choosing a wine glass. Firstly, make sure it has a stem, your hand transfers less heat to the wine if you hold it by the stem. Secondly, aroma is very important, so make sure you can fit your nose into the glass. 

White Wine Glasses

Similarly to the red wine glass, a white wine glass should have a stem, to prevent the wine becoming warm too quickly. White wine glasses typically have a slightly narrower opening than a red wine glass, therefore a smaller surface area to aerate so that wine does not oxidise too fast. This is to retain the lighter, more delicate notes that white wines will generally have.
Examples: Chardonnay, Sauvignon.

Champagne Flutes

The tall narrow flute encourages the fizz to rise to the top, creating an experience that is sensational in both taste and touch.  

Suitable for Champagne, Sparkling Wine and Champagne cocktails, they need even less surface area, as this will help preserve the bubbles and stop it from going flat too quickly. Hence, the flute glass, with its tall, thin bowl and smallmouth.

Examples: Champagne, Prosecco, Bellini.

Martini Glasses

Whether you have it shaken or stirred, this is the martini glass for you. Once again, the martini glass has a stem to control the temperature of the alcohol. Drinks in this glass are traditionally not served with ice. The cone shape helps to keep all the components of the drink contained and maintains the temperature.

Brandy Glass

The whole idea of the perfect Cognac glass is to give the largest surface area possible, but to then close in at the rim in order to intensify the bouquet and ensures the best flavour. For those who prefer their liquor in its pure and neat form, then you owe it to the beverage to give every opportunity for the best tasting experience possible.

Hiball Glass

Typically known as a water glass, a highball glass is a glass tumbler used to serve ‘tall’ cocktails and other mixed drinks that contain a large proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, and are poured over ice. These glasses are good for gin-and-tonics, water, beer, vodka and club sodas, and whiskey and gingers cocktails. An everyday glass in the household.

Tumbler Glass

Tumbler glasses are suitable for anything neat, and any spirit on the "rocks", though it could also be used for stirred, chilled, spirituous cocktails served chilled, but in a glass without a stem.
These are the glasses where you most likely have a drink that will take some time to drink.  You do not sit back in a comfy leather chair with an up drink and sit there for 45 minutes with it, but you will if it is something nice and stirred on a big piece of ice. So it’s worthwhile to splurge on a heavy-bottomed tumbler glass that feels balanced and good in your hand. 

Now its time to enjoy your favourite drink (in the right glassware of course😉), Cheers! 

 Source: Bottleneck Management