Martini glass
The stem protects a cold up drink from your hand; the open V-shaped bowl presents its aroma immediately.
- Capacity
- 150–240 ml5–8 oz
- Typical pour
- 95 ml3¼ oz
- How it’s served
- Served up — no ice in the glass
- In this collection
- 14 cocktails
Why this shape
The V is a compromise between two things a stirred-down drink needs: a wide surface so the aromatics reach you, and a shape that keeps the last mouthful as cold as the first. It does the second badly — which is exactly why the modern answer is to pour a smaller measure and pour it twice.
Getting it cold
Freezer, always. There is no ice in the glass to correct for a warm one.
The usual mistake
The oversized 300ml novelty martini glass. The drink is warm by the halfway point and the wide cone spills at the slightest angle.
Where it comes from
The cone is a 1920s–30s design; before it, a martini came in a small coupe like everything else.
No martini glass? Use this instead
Use a coupe or another small stemmed cocktail glass.
Cocktails served in it
14 in all, pouring between 70–165 ml2¼–5½ oz.
