How to Update Your Cocktail Glassware (+ Recipes)

Wow guests at your next cocktail soirée with these simple glassware tips

Throughout my travels, whether working in France or researching articles in Turkey, I’m always absorbing cultures and collecting design inspiration from places that speak to me. Bringing these travels home with me can be as simple 
as serving a unique cocktail in equally unique glassware, thereby creating an undo ordinary experience for my guests that is both worldly and inspired.

Keep reading for five ways to mix up your glassware as well as two summer cocktail recipes…

Use Different Shapes

Updated and reinvented glassware shapes can be found everywhere now, giving us permission to have a little fun. These are unique diamond-shaped alternatives to streamlined stemware with simple lines that create a touch of interest.

Go untraditional

The easiest way to undo ordinary is to consider using glasses that were never intended for cocktails. Turkish tea cups are elegant, unexpected and the perfect size for a summer sipper.

Found objects

Head to flea markets, garage sales and vintage shops for quirky and beautiful crystal glassware. You may not need a complete set, as mixing and matching different styles creates interest and personality. A tip is to scour Ebay or Craigslist for special vintage finds.

Go simple

Do as the Italians do and drink your wine or wine cocktails in simple glass tumblers. I often use my classic Duralex glasses for casual cocktail parties as they are stylishly simple.

Less is more

Most true cocktail connoisseurs that I know have their own special glass suited for their favourite cocktail. Splurging on one perfect crystal cocktail glass just for your nightcap is luxurious and one of life’s little pleasures.

Kimbucha recipe

Ingredients

• 2 parts Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 parts ginger kombucha
• lemon

Instructions

1. Mix Sauvignon Blanc and ginger kombucha in a Collins glass over ice.
2. Garnish with thin strips of lemon peel and a lemon pinwheel.

Unoaked Palmer cocktail recipe

Ingredients

• 2 parts unoaked Chardonnay
• 1 part lemonade
• 1 part iced tea
• lemon

Instructions

1. Mix unoaked Chardonnay, lemonade and iced tea.
2. Serve in a glass over ice.
3. Stir.
4. Garnish with a lemon-peel knot.