How A Bartender Uses Every Cocktail Glass—And Why

I'm Tim Sweeney, I'm head bartender

here at Pebble Bar in Manhattan.

I've been bartending for a century or two, give or take.

And today we are gonna be talking

about glassware for your cocktails.

So glassware, when it comes to your experience at a bar,

is going to affect, at the very least,

four of your five senses.

It's gonna affect your taste, it's gonna affect your smell,

it's gonna affect touch, and obviously,

the visual is important.

The most basic use for a stemmed glass

is to keep your drink that's supposed to be cold,

cold without the use of ice.

Here we have probably the most recognizable glass

out there, the martini glass.

It has one of the most iconic shapes here.

The way that the glass comes down at the side,

it keeps ingredients from separating.

There's less of a bottom to sink to,

as it goes down into a point, so that's one of the benefits.

Now, it's named after the drink that's most commonly known

for being served in it, but it can serve other drinks,

such as your Cosmopolitan or your Manhattan.

Now, I'm picking it up by the stem here.

I'm not having my hand, which according

to medical professionals is 98.6 degrees, on the drink.

Now this glass, it was invented in the late 1800's,

but it kind of found its heyday during the prohibition era,

where it was the be-all, end-all glass.

Moving on from the martini glass,

we have basically its replacement in society, the coupe,

originally known as the champagne saucer.

That was its original purpose, but over time,

it was much more receptive for craft cocktails.

Just like the martini glass, it has the same purpose

of having the stem keeping your drinks cold.

So, it's basic function is the same.

Unlike the martini glass, though, there's a bunch

of cocktails that I would serve in this glass,

which I would not serve in another one.

A daiquiri might be one, an Aviation would be one,

egg white cocktails that are served

up will look beautiful in a coupe glass.

As opposed to the daintiness, maybe, of drinking a martini,

you can move it around much, much easier

without anything spilling over there.

And the last thing you want is an egg white cocktail

all over your lap.

The brim is not as wide as a martini,

but the bowl allows for the cocktail to become more aromatic

because of the surface area, and therefore,

your cocktails end up coming out a lot better

in this, in my opinion.

Because the brim's not so wide, much easier to garnish.

Set that right there, unable to do that in a martini glass.

So, it gives you so many more options in that regard.

If you're talking about just three glasses

that can make a bar function, a cocktail bar,

this is going to be one of those three for me.

All right, now we're moving on to the Nick and Nora.

This glass was based on what was found

by Nick and Nora Charles in an old film noir called

The Thin Man, Dale DeGroff,

father of modern cocktail movement, saw this, wanted it.

He tried to order it and realized they don't exist,

at least not anymore.

He was given a catalog of old molds from the 1930's

for glassware, and he, for his bar,

had the modern Nick and Nora made.

This glass would not exist without him.

I would say that this glass is not as much known

for drinks that have citrus in them.

They're known for dark and boozy that has less

than five ounces of volume to them.

And for the reason that it's two ounces less,

you might serve even stronger cocktails, and yes,

there are stronger cocktails than martinis in this.

If you have less than five ounces, it doesn't really look

that good in a martini glass.

It looks like you're only getting part of a drink.

However, if you wanna make a full martini,

you can also serve it in this glass

but there's a special step in that process.

Your second cocktail comes in this little carafe right here

that stays on the ice and you can fill it as you go.

Your basic definition for a tumbler is a glass

that's flat to the ground.

It's called a tumbler, which seems somewhat ironic to me

because these glasses are less likely to take a tumble.

First one we're doing, the highball glass,

also known as the Collins glass.

Technically, a Collins is thinner and taller

and would have a little bit more volume per se,

but we use them interchangeably, or as people who come

to the bar will call it, could I get it in a tall glass?

The number one thing that a highball's gonna be used for

is a cocktail that has a mixer added to it.

Club soda, tonic, ginger ale, ginger beer.

It's got a more narrow brim than a lot of other glassware,

so you're not gonna lose your carbonation as fast.

So a highball's almost always gonna use ice.

The more ice you put, the slower it's gonna dilute.

The less ice, the quicker it's gonna dilute.

Also, if you come to the bar and you ask for this

with very little ice, you're not going to get

a stronger drink, just a more diluted one.

Now obviously, there's no stem on this glass.

You hold it with your hand.

Yes, that can tend to make the ice melt at a quicker pace.

If you let it sit forever, yes, you're gonna have

a watery grave for your drink but as it works,

it opens up the cocktail nicely.

It's not my favorite tumbler.

It's probably the most popular tumbler, though.

If I were to run a bar and only had three cocktail glasses

that I could use, this would be a necessity.

Number two on the list.

All right, moving on to the next tumbler, the rocks glass,

also known as the Old Fashioned glass,

also known as the low ball.

A low ball is a low ball because it's not a highball.

So the shape definitely serves a purpose here.

We can put neat spirits in here

and we can put the booziest cocktails on ice,

which is what I love.

So it's got a wide base, it's the shortest

out of the tumblers, you're gonna notice the top,

much wider than a highball glass.

You're not gonna use as much carbonation,

so you're not gonna lose all that in this,

and it's gonna open up the aromas of the drink

because of the size, complete opposite to the martini.

It invites the heat from your hand.

It's going to loosen the drink up

and it's gonna make it more aromatic.

So this glass does not have as much volume

as the Collins glass or highball glass

because it often uses higher-proof drinks,

so you don't need as much volume for those.

The shape, you can wrap your hand around it,

you pretty much have full control.

I can't knock it over, my favorite spirits

are served in this glass.

Yeah, this glass is pretty much Sweeney-proof.

They were made from precious metals as those came

into the fold and it became kind of a status symbol

if you were drinking out of one of these.

It still can feel pretty classy if you're drinking

out of these one today, but they're fairly inexpensive.

So, pretty much every bar you go to

is going to have some form of this.

Now we're doing the double rocks glass.

I was asked, Is that different enough

from the rocks glass to talk about?

100% it is, any cocktail that I'm shaking, usually,

that does not have any kind of mixer to go with it,

I'm putting in this glass, why?

I don't think there's enough volume

in the rocks glass for a lot of cocktails.

Case in point, our version of a margarita here,

you can serve Penicillins, you can serve gimlets

on the rocks, Billy Mays here, I'm selling you

a double rocks glass, all right.

So it's called a double rocks glass,

but it's only actually two ounces more than a rocks glass.

So, the name's a bit of misnomer.

When it comes to you only need three glasses in your bar,

this is gonna be the third one.

Now we're gonna move on to some miscellaneous glassware

and some that might not even be considered glass.

So, in front of me here is the Moscow mule copper mug.

So a Moscow mule basically is vodka with ginger beer,

I personally like to use ginger syrup and some lime juice.

There are those who believe that the copper right here

is going to mix with the acid of the lime

and the ginger and enhance the flavor.

Often, I have people order a Moscow mule and they go,

Do you have the copper mugs that go with it?

So, it's very beloved.

The story behind this is that three separate people

were trying to shill their wares.

One was Smirnoff vodka, one was ginger beer,

and one was someone with the copper mugs.

So, the copper mug existed before the drink.

So basically, they came together and found out Smirnoff,

ginger beer, and this mug all worked in synergy

and the Moscow mule was born

and the Russian vodka industry really took off.

Right in front of me, we have the Tiki mug.

When it comes to your vessels for Tiki cocktails,

it really is the baseball card, stamp collecting,

action figure, Pog collectibles of the cocktail world.

No genre of cocktails has as much personality

as Tiki cocktails do.

Originally, it was island and Polynesian influence that led

to a whole culture of cocktails, usually rum-based.

There's not a lot of rules to Tiki

and that's what makes it really exciting.

When it comes to bartenders being passionate,

the most passionate I've ever met are people

who are passionate into Tiki.

Now, one of the things about a lot of Tiki cocktails is,

they taste absolutely amazing,

but a lot of them don't look great.

They have this brown, murky color.

One of the benefits to a ceramic mug like this

is that you're actually not going to see the drink.

All you're gonna see is the personality

they want the drink to have.

So, Tiki cocktails so often work great with pebble ice.

The ceramics are gonna give less sweat to the pebble ice

and it's going to keep it insulated and cold,

while your hand's gonna stay warm on the outside.

There may be a question of whether there's some sort

of appropriation with Polynesian culture.

That's not my place to say.

There's some who think they're honoring Polynesian culture.

There might be some who disagree with that.

Tiki doesn't even necessarily have to be Polynesian.

People can have their own themes.

A couple examples from my own collection,

we have Paradise Lost here, coming soon to New York City

by Raymond Sackover, and Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago,

one of the most well-known Tiki bars in the country

and one of the best.

So, Tiki glassware can be whatever theme you want to be.

And now, as far as the drink.

This is not a huge garnish, but it ain't Tiki without one.

It's about the vibe. It's about the music.

Next, we got Irish coffee glasses.

We have the mug and we have the Georgian tulip.

So apologies to all you who love your mimosas

and your Bellinis and your Bloody Marys,

but my favorite drink to wake up to, the Irish coffee.

You're going to have Irish whiskey.

You're gonna have some sugar, usually a dark sugar.

You're gonna have coffee, you're going to have cream,

you're gonna have nutmeg

and you're gonna have a great drink.

So, I'm getting into a little controversy here possibly,

about what's considered an Irish coffee glass.

You're going to find this one at a lot of bars.

It's commonly called a toddy glass.

This one is the Georgian tulip glass.

It is used at the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco,

which takes credit for introducing the Irish coffee

to this country, and Dead Rabbit,

which is the steadfast Irish coffee place

on the Eastern seaboard.

So, Irish coffees are traditionally served

with that layer of cream at the top,

so it's really beneficial that it's glass

so you can see that beautiful transition

from the dark to the light colors.

Your hand will probably take the cocktail

and make it colder in this case.

So here you have the stem, ideally, you're gonna hold it

from the bottom right here.

Here you have the handle, so you're not going to burn

your hand either which way.

Now, the Georgian can serve a dual role.

It can actually use wine or cordials or brandy inside

if that's what you care to drink.

The other one could be used as a toddy,

which is a winter cocktail with whiskey and apple.

If I was going to serve it and have it perfectly layered

at a bar, I would use this glass.

If I was at home on a Saturday

and wasn't gonna leave my house, I'd use this glass.

We're moving on to our spirit neat pour glasses right now.

And starting off right here, we have the snifter.

So, these glasses can range from six to eight ounces.

They're known for serving neat spirits,

usually dark ones, digestifs, very commonly.

If you have one of a bigger size, they can serve beer.

Usually, it'd be a high ABV beer

because there'll be less volume

than you'd find in a pint glass.

So, here we have a whiskey.

Now, whiskey can warm in your hand,

opens it up and releases the aroma.

And if you are drinking a very, very, very, very

very expensive spirit neat, you're gonna wanna smell that.

You're gonna want your olfactory senses to be enticed by it.

And this glass is perfect for it.

The area in here is very bulbous, so it aerates

and then it traps the aroma by having a smaller top to it.

Some of these glasses can actually have like,

a large cork you can put in to keep that smell.

Whiskey and shot glasses have the tumbler effect,

where they go straight up, so it's not gonna aerate

or trap that aroma in here as well.

Second would be the optics and the aesthetic.

How much cooler does it feel to actually just

be holding a glass like this?

Well, snifter, actually, the prefix would be sniff

and all the aromatic things we're talking about,

point A to point B, makes perfect sense.

And if there's one glass that probably needs

no introduction, it would be the shot glass.

One and one-half ounces of liquor sitting in front

of you waiting to be take back easily

because your daughter is getting married

or you're at your friend's bachelor party

or you had a rough day or you bet all your money

on Utah State, it was plus 16 against Boise State

and Boise State scored 14 points in the final minute,

nine seconds, including a 91-yard run

and a pick six on the last play of the game.

That's totally hypothetical, I give you the shot glass.

This is called the give-it-to-me-fast glass.

You're not really admiring the texture.

You don't need to taste all the beautiful notes on this.

You want this in here fast. This is what's been invented.

It's probably the most popular glass in the world.

It is one-and-a-half ounces.

I would not call it a consistent measurement compared

to your tools, but in a fix, yes, it can be used.

This is the glass where, if you're not experienced,

probably will give you the most ugliest face afterwards.

Every other glass that we have shown is somehow meant

to enrich your cocktail experience.

This one, while you can argue it does,

doesn't really serve that purpose.

It's essentially a more classier way than picking

up the bottle and pouring it in your mouth.

Celebration of my 10,000th shot of all time.

Cheers to you. Cheers to the bar.

Ah. Didn't even flinch.

So if you had a cocktail bar,

could you run it with three glasses?

You could, the coupe, the highball, the double rocks glass.

But there's something to be said about having

the perfect vessel for each drink,

about how it improves the cocktail,

about how it improves the taste,

and how it just improves your overall experience.

And therefore, when you're paying your good money,

it's pretty invaluable.

So I hope you've come away with a little more knowledge

on the glasses that you've been sipping on

and hopefully it improves your cocktail experience

in the years to come.

And if you're an expert and already knew this,

I hope you don't judge me too harshly.

It's a shot glass. I'll say, it's a shot glass.

What do you do? You take a shot.

What goes in it? Liquor. Where's it go? Inside of you.

Do you smell it? Not really.

Actually, people will smell it.

If I pour someone a shot and they don't know what it is,

and they'll do this.