Why Drinking Glasses Matter

When it comes to buying drinking glasses, many people make pragmatic choices. They pick glasses that are plastic, or made of cheap glass, so that either they don’t break or are easy and cheap to replace when they (inevitably) do. In households with pets or young kids, such considerations matter a lot. However, it may also make sense to think beyond the function to the beauty and style.

While you may purchase cheap mass-produced glasses for everyday use, it is a lovely idea to invest in some upmarket glasses for special occasions. Handmade drinking glasses are great for dinner parties and celebrations. Not only do they elevate the experience for your guests, but they also help create memories and make a topic of conversation long after the party is over. And if you find you love drinking from a beautiful glass, nothing is stopping you from using them regularly.

To choose drinking glasses that you will enjoy and treasure for many years to come, consider the style and shape of the glass you want, as well as color and overall design. Maybe you want Murano drinking glasses with their vibrant colors and intricate designs, or perhaps you would like crystal, which refracts light beautifully, producing a rainbow effect.

How to Pick the Right Glass for Each Type of Drink
There are different styles of glasses to enjoy drinks to the fullest. The shape of the glass allows us to savor the aroma and the taste of a particular drink, as well as to drink it at the right temperature.

Highball glasses are a must-have for any home bar. They are both versatile and practical, and are ideal for serving mixed drinks, such as gin and tonic or Bacardi and Coke. They are tall and straight, and will also hold water and juice.

Lowball glasses, also known as rocks glasses or tumblers, are shorter and sturdier than highball glasses. They are perfect for whiskey, bourbon, and other “on the rocks’ spirits. They have a heavy base, which reduces the chance of spills.

Martini glasses have a conical bowl and a long stem. You should hold the glass by the stem to avoid warming the bowl with your hands. These glasses are suitable for shaken or stirred cocktails without ice.

Coupe glasses have vintage charm with their rounded bowls and short stems. Created originally for champagne, they are now also used for craft cocktails like daiquiris and sidecars. The design is useful as it prevents splashing.

Brandy snifters have wide, rounded bowls, tapering at the top to concentrate the aromas. You hold this glass in the palm of your hand, allowing the warmth to raise the temperature of the spirit and thus to bring out the flavors. These glasses are best suited for cognac, brandy, calvados, and similar spirits.

Last but not least, a wine glass is one of the most important glasses in any home bar. Each type of wine requires a specific design of glass to fully bring out the complex flavors and aromas of the wine. Red wine glasses have larger bowls to aerate the wine and enhance the flavor. White wine glasses have narrower bowls so that the wine stays crisp and delicate. The long stem stops you from holding the bowl and warming the wine. Champagne flutes are long and slim so that the sparkling wine stays carbonated for longer.

What To Look For When Shopping For Drinking Glasses
There are many factors to consider when investing in handmade drinking glasses, including design, weight, clarity, and rim thickness. They should feel comfortable in your hands, and you should feel good about actually using them, not just admiring them in your bar case or kitchen cabinet.

Handmade glasses may be heavy or light, depending on the technique used. Crystal ones are typically heavier and harder to break than blown glass ones, but blown glass often looks more sophisticated and elegant.

High-quality Murano drinking glasses may be radiant and colorful, or transparent with elegant designs. Czech, Bohemian, or Italian leaded glass, also known as crystal, has great clarity and transparency due to the lead content, which eliminates impurities and allows light to pass through. It is completely safe for drinking, though, because lead used in craftsmanship is bound to other molecules by a chemical process and never released into the drinks.

Rim thickness is very important as it determines the drinking experience. You usually find a thin rim on a glass with a tapered bowl, such as a white wine glass. It funnels aromas directly into your nose, which is important when the bouquet needs to be highlighted. Thicker rims can usually be found on wider glasses. They allow more intense aromas to spread, giving a softer impression.

Build A Collection Of Drinking Glasses Over Time
Don't rush into buying all your drinking glasses at once. Take a look around. There is a wide choice of styles, brands, and places to look for the best glasses for every purpose. Take your time to find out what you want and what works best for your budget, purpose, and taste. Don't worry about choosing between clear glass and colored glass if you like both. A mixture will add personality to your collection.

You may want to buy factory-made standard transparent glasses for wine, champagne, and water, or soft drinks if you like streamlined forms, and pick crystal tumblers for whiskey or lowball cocktails if you enjoy the way light plays off cut faceted glass. These types of glasses for any budget are sold in many home goods and department stores, as well as from many online retailers.

Or you can choose handmade Italian Murano Glass goblets, wine glasses, or tumblers if you prefer sophisticated shapes and radiant colors. If you prefer new, there are many stores and online shops that sell hand-blown drinking glasses, both Murano Glass and other types. Alternatively, you can purchase antique or vintage glasses. For these, specialized antiques marketplaces, websites selling vintage glassware, auctions, thrift shops, and estate sales are the places to visit. This will give your collection character and make it unique.

Focus on which style of glass you use the most and build your collection from there. You can mix and match glass designs between regular glass, handmade glass, and crystal, or stick to one kind. Whatever you choose, your collection of special handcrafted drinking glasses should be displayed in a cabinet, unlike mass-produced glasses, which can be shut away in a cupboard.

Learn More About The Craftsmanship Of Handmade Drinking Glasses

Murano Glass
Murano Glass is handmade glass originating from the island of Murano, Italy. Specially trained master artisans craft this glassware by hand using centuries–old techniques. Because Murano drinking glasses are handmade, each one is unique. This means you will likely see small differences even in glasses that have the same design. These are not imperfections, but signs of authenticity.

A wide variety of drinking glasses is produced on the island, including water glasses, wine glasses, champagne flutes and coupes, tumblers, martini glasses, and cordial glasses. Different techniques are used, such as Cristallo (clear glass), Sommerso (superimposed layers of glass), or Lattimo (opaque white glass). Many glasses are colorful, and these are created by adding minerals and metal oxides to molten glass before blowing and shaping. For striking decorative effects, masters use ancient techniques. Some examples are Millefiori, which produces mosaic patterns, and Filigrana, which creates spiraling or criss-crossing cane patterns. To make the glasses even more extravagant, gold or silver leaf may be added to create accents or glow.

Leaded Glass
Crystal is glass that is made with the addition of lead to a mixture of silica sand, potash, and soda ash. The molten mixture is either blown or pressed into shapes, slowly cooled, and then meticulously cut or polished. Crystal has a brilliant shine and refracts light. These days, some companies are also making lead-free crystal drinking glasses using magnesium and zinc.

Czech/Bohemian Drinking Glasses
Czech or Bohemian glass has evolved over the centuries and is now a UNESCO World Heritage tradition. 16th-century Bohemian glass was lead-free and made using potash and chalk. This created a stable, clear glass that could be cut with a wheel. To compete with Venetian Glass, local masters crafted elaborate forms and decorative motifs and added gold leaf for extravagance. Eventually, these gold leaf and enamel raised decorations added on top of the blown glass became the trademark of Bohemian glassmaking. This is still one of the techniques used by Czech glass masters today.

Eventually, local artisans started to add lead to create brilliant, hard, and clear glass.
Leaded Czech crystal has to contain at least 10% lead to be certified as Czech crystal. However, in general, leaded crystal contains 24% lead or more. Leaded glass is heavier than lead-free glass. It also gives a long, ringing sound when struck, while lead-free glass makes a short, clinking sound.

Czech masters became distinguished in crafting crystal with elaborate designs and amazing brilliance, which worked really well in vases, drinking glasses, and chandeliers. In fact, Czech crystal chandeliers grace many important public places such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, and the Palace of Versailles in France, as well as current and former royal residences such as the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Victorian Glass
While the latter 19th century was defined by the rising popularity of mass production, artisan glassmakers continued to produce handmade glass, championed in the latter half of the century by the Arts & Crafts movement, which rejected industrialization.

Goblets and fine stemware were produced in this era using mouth-blowing and mold-blowing techniques. The Victorians loved ornate, luxurious glasses which had elaborate designs, engraving, and colorful enamelling.

Vintage Drinking Glasses
The 20th century was a golden age for handmade glass, beginning with the Art Deco period in the 1920s and 1930s, leading up to the creation of the Studio Glass Movement in the 1960s, which transformed handmade glass into an art form.

The Art Deco movement brought brightly colored glasses to the fore, such as pink, amber, uranium green, and cobalt blue, as well as glasses gilded with gold leaf. Designs were often geometric or stylized floral. Champagne coupe glasses became popular and were also used for classic cocktails.

In Murano, Venetian maestros continued to produce beautiful glassware. Renowned studios such as Barovier & Toso, and later, Carlo Moretti, created vibrant and colorful designs influenced by the lagoon.

In the U.S., the Blenko Glass Company focused on creating heavy, hand-blown tumblers in vivid colors, while in Scandinavia, brands such as Kosta Boda and Holmegàard have focused on a modernist and natural flow.

Handling and Caring for Your Drinking Glasses
Once you have bought your handmade glasses, you will need to take care of them. They aren't cheap, so you will want to keep them for many years.

Handmade glasses need to be handled gently to prevent thermal shock and physical damage. Don't put them in your dishwasher - the water pressure and detergent can dmage or cloud the glass. Get a soft sponge to wash your glasses, not abrasive scouring pads. Use warm water, not hot, to avoid thermal shock and subsequent cracking of the glass.

When making a drink, pour the liquid in first and then slowly and carefully add the ice cubes. Putting in ice first, or dropping in ice cubes in rapid succession, can create temperature shock and crack the glass. Also, don’t put a handmade glass in the fridge or freezer, nor in a microwave. Any exposure to very low or high temperatures, and any temperature shock, will most likely cause it to break.

Don't hold your glass by the rim, because that is the most fragile part of the glass, not to mention the glass can easily slip from your fingers. Doing this can also transfer bacteria into your drink. In the same way, if you are making a toast, don’t clink glasses at the rim. It may cause them to crack.

Handmade glasses add a touch of class to a dinner party or other social occasion. It doesn't matter if your glasses are new or vintage. In fact, some vintage pieces cost more than new. Take your time to build a collection that you are proud of. Display the glasses in style when you're not using them, and take special care of them so that they can become family heirlooms.