Quaff in Style: Must-Have Types of Glassware for Your Home Bar

Even though indoor hospitality venues are open again, the limit of 1 or 2 persons per square metres makes it hard to have a drink with your friends. So why not build your own home bar so you can drink safely in the privacy of your abode?

But social distance aside, there are lots of benefits to having your own bar. You don’t have to leave the house to have a good drink, you can be dressed up or down as you’d like, and you don’t have to worry about getting home safely. Let’s not forget to mention that you’ll also save some cash (drinking out isn’t exactly cheap).

When it comes to setting up a bar, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You can repurpose furniture like a console table or a side table. You can also simply set up a stylish tray stocked with your favourite spirits and tool on your kitchen counter. If you have the space and budget, you can invest in a bar cart or trolley that fits your design taste. The important thing is to have your drinking equipment in one easily accessible area. And out of the different drinking equipment, the glassware is perhaps the most crucial element.

Why Is It Important to Use Correct Glassware?

Using the right glassware for the drinks makes a difference between being able to smell the aroma and taste every note or only experiencing half of the pleasure. Each glass is designed to do a particular job for a spirit. It will have the right size opening for your nose to enjoy the aromatic notes and it’ll also be designed to eliminate or increase evaporation, or to show off the colour of your drink. In other words, the glass chosen will alter the way a drink is enjoyed.

There is a range of styles and types of drinking glasses available on the market. How do I choose the right glasses you may ask? By considering your use and requirements. Let’s take a look at some types of glassware you may want to have in your home bar.

The Highball

This type of glassware is a must-have in any home bar – it’s used for all “tall” drinks. Whether you prepare a long island iced tea or mix up various juices to make a large mocktail, you’ll need a highball to serve your tall drinks.

The Lowball

Ask any expert and they’ll tell you that drinking and serving cocktails is a matter of presentation. You can use the lowball glasses for drinks like The Old Fashioned, scotch or brandy served on the rocks. Since you’ll always have that one person who loves their drink on the rocks, the lowball is another must-have in your home bar.

The Martine Glass

This glass is well known for its flared conical bowl and a slender, elegant stem that keeps your hand from warming your drink. In addition to martinis, you can also use this glass for other classic cocktails like cosmopolitans and gimlets. Easily available on the market, they’re a great way to impress your friends.

Margarita Glass

This type of glassware has a wide, shallow bowl and thick rims to hold the sea salt garnish. It can be used to serve margaritas blended, straight-up or on the rocks.

Gin Balloons

Aside from tasting good, gin has health benefits as well so make sure to include this kind of spirits in your home bar and get the appropriate drinking glasses for it too. The large, bulbous bowl of gin balloons allow all the aromas of your favourite gin to breathe while offering plenty of room for ice and garnishes such as lemon, line or even springs of fresh herbs.

Beer Mugs, Pilsner

You’ll need a few of these in your bar for those relaxed nights with the boys or girls. If you want to get classier, go for Pilsner glasses. Thanks to their tall design, they make a more stylish choice for a beer, setting a more formal evening or a casual get-together.

White Wine Glass

White wines are meant to be served in a tulip-shaped glass with a smaller bowl and a taller stem so that the warmth of the hands doesn’t reach the drink. This’s because white wine is best enjoyed when chilled. So, if you are a white wine lover, or have a friend who is, the tulip glass is a must.

Red Wine Glass

Red wines need to be served in glasses with a bowl that is large enough for it to be filled one-third of the capacity so that the wine can be swirled around to let it breathe, letting the full flavour out. This explains why the typical red wine glass has a larger bowl and a comparatively small stem. So, get a set of red wine glasses to enjoy the true flavour of your reds.

Shot Glass

You will certainly want to have a collection of these drinking glasses in your home bar. Available in various shapes and sizes, you will want these around for a hard night of parting.

Invest in the Best Glassware You Can Afford

No matter which type of glass you choose, you will want to make sure they’re high quality. Glass quality matters for two reasons: due to brilliance and clarity and due to durability. The clarity of the glass is quite important as it allows drinks to show their authentic colour without discolouration. As you may have guessed, the best clarity is visible in crystal glass. Crystal glasses are considered to be the most luxurious glasses. They are valued by their strength, transparency, clarity and brightness. Regular glass may be more affordable and more durable, but it doesn’t shine the same way as crystal.