Not so fast! Don’t pour that fine wine or expensive whiskey into any old glass. Each beverage is best appreciated in a specific glass—it’s not just for aesthetic reasons; a glass can actually affect how the beverage tastes. Ask any wine connoisseur and they will tell you that the glass matters. Pour a bottle of your finest wine in a chunky glass and you are certainly going to lose a bit of the experience. The curves of a wine glass help give you the nose, or bouquet, as well as “opening” up the wine itself. Here’s a quick guide to the right glass for your drink of choice.
RED WINE
For big, juicy red wines, you want to get a goblin type of glass—with a large bowl. Rather than filling it to the brim, only fill a 12 or 16-ounce glass with about 4 ounces or 6 ounces of wine, which allows the wine to breathe.
WHITE WINE
For white wines, you want a narrower body, with a slimmer bowl. It’ll keep the nose more intact and the smaller bowl will help the white keep its chill. That said, those stemless wine glasses might be trendy, but without a stem, you’re in danger of warming up the wine too much. Note—for both red and white wines, you can break the wine glass shape down to the nittygritty, picking even more specific shapes for each type (for instance, a Sauvignon Blanc glass is more straight than a Chardonnay glass, which is a little more closed at the mouth).
CHAMPAGNE
A classic flute glass is preferred for champagne because long, tall flutes are the best way to enjoy fizz. Bubbly poured into a long narrow flute provides more of a nose-tingle than when served in a wide and shallow shape. If you want to get fancy, the rougher texture of lead crystal is said to create a bigger nose when you swirl it around.
HIGH BALLS AND LOWBALLS
Whether with whiskey or vodka, a highball, basically hard liquor with a simple mixer and ice, is best served in tall, narrow glass, either 8 or 12 ounces. A lowball, also known as an old fashioned glass, highball’s wider, shorter cousin, is used for 5-6 ounces of whiskey or vodka on the rocks.
BEER
Beer drinkers don’t need to feel left out of the cool glass conversation. Certain beers also belong in a specific type of glassware. An ale? Get a tall, pint glass. Get a goblet and pretend you are in Game of Thrones and fill it with a Belgian IPA. A heavy, thick mug, dubbed a Seidel, is great for German beer like Pilsener, and it’s great for lagers or ales.
It’s fun to serve the right beverage in its most appropriate glass, but however it’s served; the best way to enjoy a drink is with friends.
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