Buyers guide to vintage glassware

Vintage glassware
Say cheers to vintage glassware
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When you fancy a drink with friends but times are hard, stay in and have fun. If you’d like to put a little more couth into your cocktail and recapture the elegance of entertaining, Tara Gardner from QueensOfVintage.com has this handy guide to vintage glassware – a must–read for all discerning drinkers.

1. Raise your glasses to vintage glassware

Do you know your snifter from your highball? Vintage drinkers certainly made having a tipple into a delicious art form through an appreciation of the importance of drinking from the correct glass. Today’s rushed lifestyle however, sees many of us guilty of swashing our sherry out of shot glasses and glugging our grog out of beakers. Learn your way round vintage glassware to appreciate the finer side of merry-making.

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  • Martini glass

    2. The glamorous cocktail glass

    Affectionately known by some as the ‘Martini’ glass, and well known for being the stylish vessel of the legendary Cosmopolitan cocktail, this glass simply screams elegance. The stem allows the drinker to strike a pose with the glass at their leisure without compromising the temperature of the drink.

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  • Mourne Brandy Balloon

    3. The delightful snifter

    Sometimes known as a balloon, the snifter takes its name from the savouring of the sweet Brandy aroma. By caressing the glass at the tip of the stem your hand gently warms the Brandy, releasing the flavours, and the scent. For maximum sophistication, don't fill your snifter more than 1/3 full.

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  • Vera Wang by Wedgwood Classic Crystal Champagne Flute

    4. Sip elegance with a champagne glass

    A lavish drink representing wealth and style, the narrow top of the Champagne Flute encourages the drinker to sip the drink gently so the flavour is truly savoured. Crystal champagne flutes will have a rougher texture than plain glass versions, and this means more bubbles for longer.

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  • Lismore Essence Saucer Champagne pr

    5. Before the flute was the champagne coupe

    As the lesser known parent of the flute, the coupe rarely puts in an appearance to parties these days. Also known as the champagne saucer, the glass was first created in England in the 17th Century, however the wide-bowled design became unpopular as it lost a lot of the bubbles and so the flute became the champagne connoisseurs’ glass of choice.

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  • Sharon Sherry Glass (pair)

    6. The classic sherry glass

    Making a fashionable comeback, sherry is the tipple of choice for many discerning drinkers, and is an elegant glass to caress between the fingers. Just like the snifter, the sherry glass is designed to capture the aroma of the drink, and allows the drinker to warm the base of the bowl.

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  • LSA - Boris Vodka Shot Glass

    7. Down it one with a shot glass

    The shot glass is a relatively new member of the glassware family, being thought to have been first named in the 1940s – if you find a shot glass from before this time, you are certainly in luck! Before that, in America it was known as a ‘jigger’. The origin of the name ‘shot’ is widely disputed, with rumours of it being named after a place to rest the quill pen, a buck shot holder, or after the noise it makes when it’s slammed on a wooden bar.

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  • High recycled glass tumbler

    8. Do you drink from a highball?

    Highball glasses take their name from the highball family of drinks – which is an alcoholic base spirit, combined with a non-alcoholic mixer. So if you indulge in the odd Rum and Coke or Vodka Cranberry, you are drinking a highball.

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  • 2pce 20cl Whiskey Tumbler Set (Gift Boxed)

    9. Whisky in the lowball

    Also known as the old fashioned glass, or the rocks glass, the lowball is a short tumbler used to serve liqueurs and spirits such as Whiskey quite simply, ‘on the rocks’ (over ice), or will contain a cocktail with few ingredients. With a classic straight-up tumbler shape, the 'owball is often characterised by the cut-glass designs on the lower outside of vessel.

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  • Set of Six Black Martini Glasses

    10. Vintage gets a revamp

    If you are keen on vintage beverages but aren't so hot for the old fashioned glassware, there are many modern takes on the classic glassware styles available, including colourful and sleek art deco designs that are perfect for dinner parties.

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