The art of choosing the perfect glass for your craft cocktails

By Bonnie McCarthy

Jan. 3, 2017 11 AM PT

Does a cocktail in any glass taste as sweet? According to experts in Los Angeles’ thriving cocktail community the answer is, well, yeah.

That’s not to say fancy glasses don’t play a role at the bar.

“The first judgment is with the eyes,” says Vincenzo Marianella, universally acknowledged as one of the first bartenders to elevate the cocktail scene in L.A., and head barman at Copa d’Oro in Santa Monica. “And the second judgement is not with the palate but through the nose… bring the glass up, take a breath and sip.”

Cocktails are as much about the ingredients as they are about the experience.

And a big part of that is the glass.

“It makes me laugh when people ask if we have a Moscow mule in a copper mug,” says Marianella. “No, we don’t, because it doesn’t change the flavor. If it changed the flavor, that would mean you are tasting copper.”

What copper does best, however, is maintain even temperature. And, in the case of the Moscow mule, keep things cold. The same can be said of stemware.

“The reason a martini is in stemware,” says Gabriella Mlynarczyk, bar director at Birch on Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles, “is because it stays colder longer. If you put it in a glass without a stem, your hand will start warming that drink up pretty fast.” The shape of the stemware, however, makes no difference. Except when it comes to image.

We’re talking swagger.

Tobin Shea, bar director for Redbird in downtown Los Angeles, says he loves serving the classic coupe but it can be a tough sell. “Sometimes there’s a stigma,” he says. “You’ll give a guy a coupe drink and they look at you like, ‘What did I do wrong to get this glass?’ I honestly believe that’s why old fashioneds became so popular because there’s this Don Draper masculinity about them. I have this drink in my hand, with this big piece of ice...”

Testosterone aside, Shea says, “The reason martini glasses, coupes, or ‘Nick and Noras’ work well for stirred drinks like martinis and Manhattans, is because you look at them and think, ‘There really isn’t much in them, so I need to take my time, savor this drink.’ ”

In spite of the glamour, even cocktails are subject to practicality: A bar can’t physically stock a unique set of glasses for every recipe. The short, squat double old fashioned glass is a workhorse. “It does anything on the rocks,” says Shea, “and it will also do stirred old fashioneds, and all the riffs on them. And on top of that, be used for margaritas and whiskey sours.”

Thirsty yet?

Here are a few general rules to follow when matching a glass to a drink.

Start by considering the texture and decorative ingredients in your cocktail, said Brynn Smith, bar director of Sotto on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles.

“If [a drink] is frothy because of eggs or cream… it will likely be served ‘up’ in a coupe, coupette, or Nick and Nora,” says Smith.

Although citrusy cocktails would taste the same in stemware, drinks with herbs and fruit are usually poured in rocks or Collins glasses. “You want people to see all the ingredients,” she explains, “like mint, for example, it displays better in a double old fashioned or Collins glass.”

Along the same lines, drinks made with soda water will be served in a tall, tubular glass, so the bubbles will be on display.

For aromatic drinks with spritzes of hyrdrosol or citrus oils, consider a snifter. “So the aroma is trapped inside and becomes an integral part of the experience,” Mlynarczyk says.

But remember that “rules” were made to be broken.

At Sotto, Smith takes a different approach, choosing stemware: “Serving an aromatic ‘up’ is more gangsta,” she explains, “and you have to be sure it is diluted to perfection. When it is, there is nothing sexier.”

Cocktails close-up

They may not get screen credit or an Oscar nod, but cocktails and signature drinks play an important supporting role in TV and film in Hollywood.

Just ask Bond, James Bond. Or Marilyn Monroe. “I don’t want you to think I’m a drinker,” cooed the blond bombshell in “Some Like It Hot,” “I can stop if I want to, only I don’t want to.” What she was drinking in the film, a Manhattan, inspired countless cocktail hours. And the cachet of cinematic mixology doesn’t stop there.

In the spirit of Hollywood’s award season, see if you can match up the cocktail to the movie or TV show that helped make it famous.

“Mad Men”..... Double old fashioned served in a double old fashioned glass

“The Big Lebowski”.... A white Russian served in an old fashioned glass

“Cocktail”...... Red eye served in a beer mug

“Some Like It Hot”...... A Manhattan served in a martini glass

“Sideways”...... A pinot noir served in a red wine glass

“Silence of the Lambs”..... Chianti served in a red wine glass

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” ... Chardonnay served in a Chardonnay wine glass

“The Thin Man”.... A dry martini served in a “Nick and Nora glass,” like a small martini

“Casino Royale”... Vesper martini served in a martini glass

“Sex & the City… Cosmo served in a martini glass

“Casablanca”...A French 75 served in a Champagne flute