A cocktail glass is a stemmed

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve straight-up

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

s. The term ''cocktail glass'' is often used interchangeably with ''martini glass'', despite their differing slightly. Today, the glass is used to serve a variety of cocktails, such as the martini and its variations ( French martini,

vodka martini The martini is a cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Over the years, the martini has become one of the best-known mixed alcoholic beverages. A popular variation, the vodka martini, uses vodka inste ...

espresso martini The espresso martini is a cold caffeinated alcoholic drink made with espresso, coffee liqueur, and vodka. It is not a true martini as it contains neither gin nor vermouth, but is one of many drinks that incorporate the term ''martini'' into th ...

appletini An apple martini (appletini for short) is a cocktail containing vodka and one or more of apple juice, apple cider, apple liqueur, or apple brandy. It is not a true martini, but is one of many drinks that incorporate the term ''martini'' int ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, Brandy Alexander,

pisco sour A pisco sour is an alcoholic cocktail of Peruvian origin that is typical of Peruvian cuisine. The drink's name comes from ''pisco'', which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term ''sour'', about sour citrus juice and sweetener components. The ...

, Negroni,

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

, gimlet, and the

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

History

Invented in the late 19th century, its form derives from the fact that all

s 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, an important aspect due to the lack of added

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

which in other drinks serves to cool the drink, and the wide bowl places the surface of the drink directly under the drinker's nose, ensuring the aromatic element has the desired effect. In the modern day cocktail glasses without stems are common, however, these glasses warm very quickly, a phenomenon the original stem addressed.

Martini glass

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Although the terms ''cocktail glass'' and ''martini glass'' are often used interchangeably, the former is slightly smaller, more rounded (in contrast with the latter's purely conical shape), features a shorter stem, and a narrower rim. Despite a popular story that says the martini glass was invented during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

so that in the case of a raid on a speakeasy, the large rim allowed the drink to be easily disposed of, the martini glass was formally introduced in the 1925

Paris Exhibition Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

as a modernist take on the

Champagne coupe A champagne glass is stemware designed for champagne and other sparkling wines. The two most common forms are the flute and coupe, both stemmed; holding the glass by the stem prevents warming the drink. Champagne can also be drunk from a normal ...

, and wasn't originally used as it is today: in films of the 1920s it is shown to be used to hold champagne, like the coupe. However, despite the design taking influence from the geometric aesthetics of the era's architecture, interiors and furnishings, it was designed less for aesthetics and more for functionality – with the longer stem reducing the warming effect of body heat upon the contents of the glass, and the widened brim increasing surface area, supposedly allowing the gin, the main ingredient in martinis, to release its bouquet. Steeply sloping sides prevent ingredients separating, and also serve to support a toothpick or olives on a cocktail skewer. The martini glass has somewhat fallen out of favour in modern times due to its tendency to spill drinks, and the coupe is sometimes used instead.

Sizes

A standard cocktail glass contains , though originally they were around in size. Oversized cocktail glasses, ranging in capacity from to large glasses of or more are available.

References

{{Cocktails Cocktails Drinking glasses

History

Martini glass

Sizes

See also

References