The Coolest Pieces of Gear We Tested This Week

My cocktail glass collection is just that—a collection. It’s a random smattering. A couple pairs of rocks glasses, some one-off shot glasses, a trio of branded copper mugs, some Collins glasses (or are they simply water glasses?), and large and small coupes from my grandmother, which I don’t take out more than twice a year because I’m pretty sure they’re slightly poisonous. I think a lot about what I drink. The vessels that hold them? Less so. That is, until I learned about the Riedel Bar Drink Specific Glassware Collection. With the help of spirits specialist and bar designer Zane Harris, the famed Austrian glass company sought to make bar wares that are as thoughtfully designed as their wine glasses. So they came out with six designs—highball, rocks, fizz, neat, Nick & Nora, and sour (perfect for daiquiris, too)—plus a mixing glass for stirring drinks. (If you follow proper cocktail recipes, the contents should come to the top part of the glass.) But that’s just a start. The Nick & Nora glasses are historically accurate to the ones featured in the 1934 movie The Thin Man, against which the shape is based. The rocks glasses are big enough to fit a large format ice cube, so you don’t have to chip down the sides of a rock to make it fit the vessel. One of my favorite features is on the 6 1/2 oz neat glasses. The sides are etched so you know exactly how much you’re pouring without using a jigger. And because it’s on the smaller size, the reduced scale means your guests don’t think you’re being stingy on the good booze, which can happen when you’re serving a healthy pour of Jefferson’s Presidential Select into a large rocks glass. Plus, a new set of glasses may just inspire you to make some old-school cocktails, like this Sidecar recipe from 1919:

Stir together 1 1/2 oz Cognac, 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1 oz Orange Curaçao. Strain into a sour glass, spray with a lemon twist, and enjoy. — Marjorie Korn, Senior Editor

[Riedel Drink Specific Glassware Sour, set of two, $29.90; riedel.com]

 

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