Technically speaking, you can drink a martini out of any glass. But having a great martini in a perfect martini glass is a specific kind of delight. No matter how you like your martini — with gin or vodka, with a twist or an olive (or both), bracingly dry or with a more generous pour of vermouth — the best martini glass is one that looks great, keeps your martini cold for as long as possible, and is a pleasure to hold and drink from.
Martini glassware has evolved beyond the ubiquitous ’80s-style cone glasses — though those have their retro charms — into many different designs. There’s even an insulated and portable version for all your outdoor martini needs. A martini glass isn’t limited to just serving martinis. You can use it for all manner of cocktails, from a classic Manhattan to a Vesper to a Cosmopolitan.
To find the best martini glasses, I talked to beverage directors, bartenders, and cocktail experts, who all had picks for their favorite vessel. If you’re looking for more cocktail paraphernalia, we also have recommendations for coupe glasses, which are preferred for martinis by many cocktail experts, as well as guides to highball glasses and cocktail picks.
“My favorite glass for a classic martini has got to be a Nick and Nora, straight from the freezer,” says Tony Abou-Ganim, author of The Modern Mixologist. He’s not the only one. A Nick and Nora, with its elegant profile, is a favorite of several cocktail professionals that I spoke to, including the creator of Hendricks Gin and owner of Tamworth Distilling, Steven Grasse, whose “at-home go-to glassware is a vintage Nick and Nora glass.”
Abou-Ganim prefers this Minners glass from Steelite International, and it’s available in bulk from many online restaurant-supply stores. “The size and feel of the glass is both elegant and functional with a touch of style and nostalgia,” Abou-Ganim says. “I love to serve it with a small carafe on the side over crushed ice, which keeps my martini ice cold without any added dilution from the first sip to the last.”
Paul MacDonald, bartender at Friday Saturday Sunday, loves a coupe more than a traditional triangular martini glass. “I’m happy that we’ve managed to reclaim both style and function in a martini with properly round-bottomed, tapered coupes that facilitate drinking rather than spilling,” he says. His favorite is this etched version.
Coupes are also a favorite of My Loup bartender Jillian Moore, who prefers to use them when drinking at home to “avoid breakage.” Her vote is for a martini glass on the larger side. “To me, larger glasses are by default easier to maneuver and require less dexterity than a smaller glass,” Moore says. These Libbey coupe glasses, at nine ounces each, offer a little bit more room and heft, if you worry about spilling.
John Winterman, the owner-operator of Francie, where there’s a mean martini on the menu, also loves a coupe, though he admits, “I will quaff a martini out of almost anything that holds four ounces of liquid.” For his at-home libations, however, “only one glass is perfect for me.” He reaches for the exquisite Lobmeyr Patrician Champagne Coupe, made by a company founded in Vienna in 1823 that provided glassware to the Imperial Court. “The glasses are hand blown, and careful inspection reveals subtle differences from one coupe to another. There is an ethereal lightness to them, as though one had captured the air itself,” Winterman says.
If you, like the Cocktail Snob’s Camille Wilson, prefer a thicker, sturdier stem on your martini glass, these Rialto glasses are a perfect option. “I know it’s not the traditional martini glass with a long, skinny stem, but that’s exactly why I love it,” Wilson says. “It’s lightweight but doesn’t feel flimsy, and I love the fluted design on the base.”
[Editor’s note: These glasses are currently out of stock, but we’ll keep an eye out and update this story when they’re back in stock.]
For a more traditional martini glass, particularly if you like one with a bit of flair, Wilson recommends these Estelle glasses. “The extra-long stem is beautiful and looks and feels so elegant. I have the amber-smoke color, and I think the color is stunning,” she says.
If your heart is set on the conical, old-fashioned martini glasses popular in the ’80s and ’90s, look no further than the Rona. Moore votes for reclaiming the shape: “I would like to bring back punch-bowl, Sex and the City-size martini glasses,” she says. “There is something so ridiculous about them that I think the visual is almost as important as the drink in the glass. That and the fact that I would never have to worry about spilling the drink on myself.” They’re also a favorite of Elle Gourmet Canada editorial director Erin McLaughlin, who thinks the shape makes you slow down and sip the martini. Plus you need “core strength to lift it,” says McLaughlin.
If you want a martini in the great outdoors — by the pool or in the park, say — this insulated, martini-glass-shaped tumbler is a cheeky, fun option recommended by retired bartender and beverage consultant Kylie Flett. “I love a long-stemmed sexy martini glass that must be precariously balanced in order to take that first sip without spilling a drop, but I am also a firm believer that the martini shouldn’t be all prim and proper. When the occasion calls for it, I am a big fan of the Brumate MargTini tumbler,” Flett says. “This spill-proof martini-shaped number is the perfect vessel for keeping a classic Gibson perfectly cold from first to last sip at a backyard party in Philly’s oppressive summer heat, and it also allows me to bring batched espresso martinis to the beach! And who doesn’t love a to-go ’tini?”
This martini glass, recommended by Sam Clark, the creative director of beverage at Fairmont Banff Springs, is midway between a Nick and Nora glass and a classic coupe. Clark calls the LSA Borough Martini glass’s curved shape “perfect for aerating a martini or cocktail to enjoy the flavor of the spirit with a subtle shape difference from the classic V.” He particularly likes the rim of the glass, which is thin and delicate, “creating a seamless liquid-to-mouth experience that thicker glassware simply cannot,” alongside the long stem which ensures that the warmth of your hand won’t interfere with the temperature of the cocktail. But the best part is that despite looking elegant and fragile, these glasses are dishwasher safe.
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