by EMERSON SLOANE
Of the many objects used for home entertaining, glassware is among the most traditional. For the properly stocked home bar, you'll need the following basics in as many a number as you wish for entertaining. You can find all of these glasses in varying levels of quality and price from the highest-end stores down to department stores like Target.
BEER GLASSES
Mugs and pilsner. We like the pilsner because of its statuesque proportions. They're used for many types of light beers. The slender glass will reveal the color and carbonation of the beer. The broad top will help maintain a beer head. Keep with tradition and use the pilsner only for beer. Beer mugs, however, can also be used for iced coffee, ice cream sodas, and the like. Some mugs have tops on them--believed to be a holdover from the days of the plague when they were meant to keep diseased flies out.
SNIFTERS
These are more about about shape than size for trapping the aroma in the bowl. This glass is used to serve aged brown spirits such as brandy or whisky. You can put a fun spin on the snifter by using it at your next luncheon or dinner party with apple cider (in the fall) or lemonade (in summer.) The large surface area of the glass helps evaporate the liquid. The rounded bottom allows the glass to be cupped in the palm of the hand, warming the liquor. Also used for serving cognac.
SPARKLING WINE (CHAMPAGNE) GLASSES
We prefer the classic coupe. The flute still makes lovely music, but when you sip from the wide glass bowl of a coupe glass, you'll feel like you're in an old Hollywood movie. The stem allows the drinker to hold the glass without affecting the temperature of the drink. The bowl is designed to retain the carbonation. The flute has largely taken over in popularity from the champagne coupe, a larger, shallow, broad-bowled stemmed glass. Rumor has it that the shape of the coupe glass was modeled after the breast of Marie Antoinette although this is probably not at all true. Yet, it still makes for interesting chatter at a cocktail party.
COLLINS GLASSES
These are thinner than a highball, and a natural for a Tom or Rum Collins. This is a tumbler used to serve mixed drinks. You can also use it to serve Bloody Marys. The Collins glass is between 8 and 14 ounces, but look for a 12 ounce glass as the perfect size. They may be frosted or clear.
CORDIALS
Also known as "pony" glasses, these smaller, stemmed glasses are often used to serve after-dinner liqueurs, although a true "cordial" contains no alcohol at all and is a fruity drink diluted with water to achieve the desired level of sweetness. But, in the US, especially, they are used to serve alcohol, sometimes even wine, when a restaurant or bar is looking to make a little more money per glass.
HIGHBALL GLASSES
At 8-12 ounces, these glasses are meant to accommodate everything from gin and tonics to bloody marys and sometimes even beer. The highball glass is taller than an old fashioned glass and shorter and wider than a collins glass. The highball glass is an elegant necessity for your bar since it is the most commonly used for all your mixed drinks.
MARTINI GLASSES
It seems like these days, martini glasses are filled with everything but soup. Why mess with a classic? Only a martini belongs in a martini glass. A proper martini glass is a stemmed glass with a cone-shaped bowl and a flat base. Its form derives from the fact that all cocktails are traditionally served chilled and contain an aromatic element. Thus, the stem allows the drinker to hold the glass without affecting the temperature of the drink, and the wide bowl places the surface of the drink directly under the drinker's nose, ensuring that the aromatic element has the desired effect. I once had someone at a club serve me a martini in an old-fashioned or "rocks" glass on the rocks and I sent it back for a proper glass, minus the ice.
ROCKS GLASSES
Also known as a lowball glass or old-fashioned glass, these glasses are between 4 and 10 ounces. It's a short tumbler for drinks such as whiskey with ice ("on the rocks"). They typically have a wide brim, thus releasing the flavours of the drink. They also typically have a thick base (or tunc), so that the non-liquid ingredients of a cocktail can be 'muddled' (mashed using a muddler) before the main liquid ingredients are added.
SHOT GLASSES
This one-sip only 2-ounce glass is not just for pouring and measuring. You can use these glasses for serving your best whiskey neat or your tequila fast. The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for the term "shot glass" is in The New York Times during the 1940s, but several examples exist from the 1930s. However, although it was used by some, the term apparently did not come into common usage until much later.
WINE GLASSES
For good reasons, red wine is best in a balloon-shaped glass and white wine is best served in a smaller glass typically with a narrower nose. Red wine glasses measure 8-14 ounces; white wine glasses measure 6-8 ounces. High quality wine glasses are often made of lead crystal. Lead crystal glasses' advantages are not only primarily aesthetic. One factor of lead crystal is it is generally considered to have a higher index of refraction, thus changing the angle of the light passing through the material. Lead crystal is also rougher than glass on a microscopic level, allowing wine in the glass to breathe more efficiently when swirled in the bowl. Glasses for red wine are characterized by their rounder, wider bowl, which increases the rate of oxidation. As oxygen from the air chemically interacts with the wine, flavour and aroma are believed to be subtly altered. This process of oxidation is generally considered more compatible with red wines, whose complex flavours are said to be smoothed out after being exposed to air. We recommend skipping the wine glasses that are without their stems. The purpose of the stem is to hold the glass without having the hand alter the temperature of the wine by touching the bowl.
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