Guide to Types of Cocktail Glasses

The right cocktail always requires the appropriate cocktail glass...but it's not all for aesthetic. There is reason behind the decision to use each glass. The coupe glass for the wide berth and wide mouth of the glass since the goal is to drink the cocktail quickly. The Martini glass like the coupe glass was designed to help you drink the cocktail as fast as possible. Each olive in the glass signifying how many sips.

1. Coupe Glass

2. Martini Glass

3. Whiskey Rocks Glass

4. Collins Glass

5. Champagne glasses

6. Margarita glasses

7. Moscow Mule

We will dive deep into each of the cocktail glasses and recommend the perfect cocktail to go alongside.

What are the Classic Cocktail Glasses?

The Coupe Glass

The Champagne Coupe has rounded edges to keep the liquid inside while you cheers another patron. The glass was designed with a longer stem in order to prevent your hand from warming up the cocktail. The glass is designed to be served for cocktails up or a drink without ice. The shape behind the coupe glass is up to much debate as well. The French say it was designed with Marie Antionette's breast in mind or perhaps modeled after the ancient greek ceramic bowl.

Recommended Cocktail : Manhattan.

The Martini Glass

Paris. 1925. The cobblestone streets of the french capital are filled with literary and artistic luminaries like Hemingway ... F. Scott Fitzgerald ... Picasso. Yet, for all their fame and talent, they pale in comparison to another icon.

The Martini Glass.

The Parisian's decided the traditional cocktail glass couldn't quite cut it. They needed a glass that could keep a stirred drink chilled for as long as possible. So they elongated the stem to keep your hand from warming the drink. Then created a wider and more conical face to help you drink faster. The steeply sloped edges also allow for the spirits to breath quicker.

Recommended Cocktail : Dirty Martini

Whiskey Rocks Glass

Ahh...when men were men. Bartenders decided they would no longer serve whiskey in a stemmed glass any longer...After all the customers kept breaking them! The rocks glass or old fashioned glass became a hit across the country. Beloved for its ability to hold large amounts of ice or a large cube it was the perfect glass to serve whiskey cocktails in. The old fashioned glass was perfect for muddling sugar and other ingredients so it took off like a rocket...maybe more so than the shot glass or martini glasses. Mixed drinks were all the rage.

Recommended Cocktail : Old Fashioned

Champagne Flutes

The champagne flute was a variation on the wine glasses of the previous era. All wine or sparkling wine was served in the same types of cocktail glasses or wine glasses. But sometime around the 1700s champagne glasses and champagne flutes in particular began to surge in popularity amongst the French aristocracy. Wine glasses we're out and a new style was in.

Collins Glass

Wouldn't it be nice to have a cocktail named after you? Not only that, but also a cocktail glass? Why yes...I would like an "AFewCocktails" in a "AFewCocktails" glass please. On the hop...good sir. Well the Collins glass is named after the Tom Collins cocktail. The collins glass is a version of the highball glass. It's essentially a tall slender glass that primarily used for a Bloody Marys. The Collins glass is slightly taller than a traditional highball glass.

Margarita Glasses

At first glance you might notice the Margarita glass is quite similar to the Coupe glasses mentioned earlier. Well...aside from there only being so many ways to craft a glass...you would be ride. Known as the coupette, this variation of the coupe glass became popular in the 1950's and 60's in the United States as a distinct way to serve a margarita. The types of cocktail glasses has only grown and the Margarita glass is a welcome new addition.

Recommended Cocktail : Spicy Margarita

Moscow Mule Glass

Despite the name Moscow Mule, this cocktail glass is uniquely American...well kind of. What? How? Around the turn of the century, Sophie Berezinski was working at her father's copper factory in Moscow. Sophie designed the original copper mug but ran into a major sales problem. No one is Russia wanted the mugs! Sophie, like many others, embarked on the immigrant journey and left her home in Russia. Before she left Russia, her father put over 2000 copper mugs on the ship and the story begins.

Recommended Cocktail : Moscow Mule