Besides a well-stocked cabinet, an essential ingredient of any home bar is the glassware that is used to serve drinks. From highball glasses to the martini glasses and sniffers, these pieces act as more than just utensils, irrespective of whether you are a professional or an amateur bartender.
While most of us are used to having drinks and cocktails in particular glasses, a few know what goes into choosing the perfect piece of glassware to serve a drink in — and it has to do with more than just the presentation.
Bartenders and brewers historically have employed newer methods to make and serve a drink for the sole intention of making your drinking experience better. Glassware too is no different; the right kind of glass for your drink will not only enhance the presentation, but also the taste and smell of it.
Let’s take the martini glass for example. The conical shape is not just iconic for being the preferred choice of glass for super sleuth James Bond, but is also the most identifiable container for any cocktail menu or bar.
The long stem of the glass ensures that the temperature of your drink remains unaffected when you hold your drink. This is the classic, traditional cocktail glass, for it allows your nose to be close to the opening of the glass, to take in the aromas of your tipple. A longer stemmed version of this bowl is used to serve the cosmopolitan too.
Besides the martini’s “shaken, not stirred” reputation, another glass that can be recognised simply from the terminology is the rocks glass. An “on-the-rocks” order will get you your tipple in a lowball or old-fashioned glass, a short tumbler that has a heavy base and a wide top so you can breathe in the aromas before you take a sip. This glass is your best bet when it comes to having your drink straight off the rocks or even a White Russian, as made famous by The Dude, of The Big Lebowski fame.
The all-time favourite, margarita, has a glass specially designed for the drink too. Quite like the martini glass, the margarita glass is conical as well, albeit stepped. The drink can be served shaken, with ice or as a frozen margarita. While it has become popular to serve a margarita in anything from a highball to an old-fashioned, the best way to have it still remains with the specially designated glass.
Most often, the drink needs to be served with salt lining the rim of the glass, so it touches the lips of the drinker, but does not inadvertently touch the actual drink. With its wide mouth, the glass serves exactly that purpose.
New age bars would believe mason jars, jam jars or long tubes can be repurposed to serve a variety of cocktails — classic and new — but the designated glasses, which have been used historically, are charming and help open up the flavours of your drink. So the next time you pour yourself a cocktail, you know exactly why the container looks the way it does.
Elina Pinto is a mixologist
