The Cocktail Glass, also going by the name Martini Glass, has existed for a number of years and has become ingrained in cocktail societies around the world. The seductive shape, the fashionable form and the stemmed function gives the glass by many names a reason to exist. Martini glasses are a huge factor in cocktail making for both form and function, but most cocktail drinkers just think they’re neat little “V” shaped tumblers.
Most traditional Martini glasses are stemware, they’re cone-shaped containers are held high upon a thin stem for many of the same reasons the wine glass design exists: heat. Unlike an Old-Fashioned glass, Collins or Highball, a Martini glass does not rely upon ice to super charge its contents so the glass is designed to keep the liquid cocktail away from the drinkers warm hands. The long stem also leaves the glass open to creative stem designs and curves!
A cocktail glass will, typically, hold between 4-8 oz. of glorious cocktail liquids. Personally, I love the double Martini glasses (8 oz.) because they hold more liquids; the more complex drinks which require many types of juices still fit in the glass. The larger vessels also allow one to fill the glass without having to balance it carefully to avoid spillage.
Originally, Martini glasses were designed to hold more “simple” cocktails being consumed “neat” (without ice) such as a Manhattan or, by gosh, a Gin Martini. Today, we’ve managed to complicate matters with larger drinks, more colorful arrays of drinks and crazy garnish. The Martini glass plays well with a number of garnishes including a maraschino cherry, lemon twist and the salt/sugar coated rims.
Cherries and olives fall nicely to the bottom cone “point” of the cocktail allowing them to show through brightly and bring a higher level of class to the cocktail. Some cocktails may call for a twist and a cherry or three olives on a stick all of which dress up the drink in fashionable ways. We’ve also seen restaurants using grenadine to color the bottom half of the drink with red and allow it to fade into some other outrageous colors.
Cocktails exist to show off the beauty of the liquids, many top class cocktail recipes mimic that of a parrot in colors. You’ll find martini glasses holding clear white liquid, bright blues, yellows, reds and other stand-out colored techniques. The Martini glass assists in bringing more life and glory to the cocktail creation and will continue to be an important part of cocktail design in the future. Apparently, the cone-shaped container also holds the “structure” of the drink thus avoiding the contents from settling without separating over time. My question, who’s cocktail stays full long enough for the contents to separate?
Always keep a few cocktails on hand for parties and events. You can checkout a few great selections at Awesomedrinks.com.
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