Stocking up your home bar doesn’t only involve getting in all the right spirits, liqueurs, mixers, and other liquid ingredients. It also means getting your hands on the right equipment. While basic bar equipment set including items like jiggers, a shaker tin, a cocktail spoon, and a muddler isn’t extensive and needn’t be expensive, there is one area where you can find almost endless variety and opportunities to collect, and that’s glassware.
The right kind of glassware is important for your home bar, not only for making your drinks look good when you serve them but also for enhancing the drinking experience through the right combination of scent and maintaining a cool temperature. And there’s one type of glass which is hugely versatile for all sorts of drinks, and which I think should form that backbone of your glassware collection — the coupe glass.
This shallow, broad-bowled glass is typically much wider than it is deep, with a slender stem to hold and a wider foot for stability. The glass should be thick enough that you can handle it without worry of chipping or breakage, but thin enough to be pleasant to sip from. It’s a glass type with a long history, and it’s stuck around thanks to its easy elegance and its wide range of uses for cocktail makers.
What is a coupe glass for?
Coupe glasses were originally intended to drink Champagne or other sparkling wines, and you’ll often see them in illustrations of fashionable flappers from the 1920s being used to drink bubbly. But today, the coupe is handy for all sorts of cocktails.
The coupe is particularly suited to drinks with a striking color, such as the pale green of a Gin Gimlet or the bright orange of the Sidecar. The shape shows off the colors without being too flashy or tacky, and the rounded shape is easier to drink from and more understated than the V-shaped martini glass. I like to use coupes for drinks with a medium volume — meaning not a tiny little shot sized drink, but also not a long drink like a Tom Collins.
I use coupe glass to serve drinks like The Last Word, an Aviation, a Gin Basil Smash, or really any other drink that doesn’t need to be on ice. I’m currently using a coupe to enjoy a Lillet Spritz, a drink more often seen in a wine glass, just for a touch of fun and whimsy.
Even though they have their origin as Champagne glasses, and it can certainly be enjoyable to use them for that (especially at 1930s themed party), I actually wouldn’t recommend the coupe as a wine glass. They don’t hold much liquid, and to my mind a full serving of Champagne is a little too easy to slop around and make a mess with in a coupe glass. I’d stick with a flute for sparkling wines, and save the coupes for the cocktails.
What is the benefit of a coupe glass?
The coupe’s main use is for any drink which is first shaken or stirred, and is then served without ice. Ice would be impractical and ugly in this shallow glass, so this is not the vessel to use for your whiskey on the rocks. Instead, use it for drinks that you want to remain chilled but are served without ice, as the long stem means you can hold it without heat from your hand getting into the drink.
The other great benefit of the coupe glass is its very wide mouth. This means that when you got to take a sip of your drink, you get a powerful scent of whatever you’re about to enjoy on the nose. This really enhances the drinking experience, especially if you add a dash of bitters or other tincture to your drinks just before serving.
That makes the coupe perfect for a drink like a Pisco Sour, which has a frothy head which is often finished with a few dots of Angostura bitters on top. The bowl shape shows off the froth on top, while you get a whiff of spicy cinnamon from the bitters just before you taste the drink.
What is the history of the coupe glass?
The legend goes that the shape of the coupe glass was inspired by the breast of Marie Antionette, chosen by her husband, King Louis XVI of France. Whether or not that is actually true, the glasses have certainly been popular in France and England since the 17th Century, though they really peaked in popularity in the U.S. during the 1920s to the 1970s.
They were mostly forgotten for a few decades, when the striking martini glass became more popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but since the interest in craft cocktails and cocktail history picked up again in the 2000s, they have returned to many bars.
Today, you can buy coupe glasses ranging from cheap and cheerful options from Ikea (which have served me well in my home bar) up to expensive sets of pristine vintage pieces. Vintage glassware is a whole world unto itself, and certainly there’s something tempting about these often stunning relics of the past — but they aren’t essential! Any decently made glass with the right shape will do just fine.
I’d recommend picking up a set of four to six for your home bar, and using them whenever you’re in doubt as to which glass you should pick for your cocktail.
