Types of Liquor Glasses

Liquor and mixed drinks are served in glasses of various sizes and shapes.

Although alcoholic beverages can be served in any type of container, bars and restaurants normally use particular glasses to serve beer, wine and mixed drinks.

Beer and Wine Glasses

Mugs and pint glasses are the traditional type of glassware for beer service and typically hold 16 ounces. Red wine glasses hold eight ounces and have a round bowl attached to a thin, glass stem. Glasses for white wine are also stemmed, hold around 12 ounces and have an oval shaped bowl.

Mixed Drink Glasses

Cocktails with multiple ingredients and ample amounts of ice are usually served in tall glasses. Highball glasses can hold eight to 12 ounces and traditionally larger drinks like Collins drinks and Mai Tais are served in a 14-ounce Collins glass. For drinks mixed in a cocktail shaker and strained before serving, like martinis and Cosmopolitans, a stemmed cocktail glass with a triangularly shaped four to 12 ounce bowl is commonly used. For drinkers who prefer straight alcohol served over a few cubes of ice, a short, round eight to ten ounce old-fashioned or rocks glass is used.

Dessert Drink Glassware

Sweet fortified wines, liqueurs and alcoholic mixed drinks are sometimes served for dessert in unique glasses. A cordial glass resembles a miniature wine glass and holds up to two ounces of liqueur or other sweet liquor. If an alcoholic dessert drink contains fruit or ice cream, it is typically served in a parfait glass -- a 12 ounce container with a large bowled bottom and a flared rim. A six-ounce pousse-café glass nicely displays layered dessert drinks.

Specialty Drink Glasses

Some liquors are so special that glasses have been specially designed just for them. A brandy snifter is a large, bulbous wine-type glass with a 17.5-ounce capacity. It is normally partially filled so the aroma of the brandy can waft upwards and the drinker's hands can warm the liquid by holding the bowl. A six-ounce Champagne flute is shaped like a tulip and artfully displays the bubbles in the liquid. Colorful tropical drinks are conventionally served in hurricane glasses, tall 15-ounce vessels shaped like hurricane lamps. Margarita or coupette glasses have large bowls with oversized rims often dipped in salt before filling them with liquid and typically hold 12 ounces. Sherry or port is often served in a tiny, two-ounce stemmed glass.

References

• Drinksmixer: Glasses and Containers
• Boozl: Bar Glassware