The 7 Best Gin Glasses – Plus How To Choose The Perfect Glass For Your Spirit

Gin is having a moment. Craft distilleries are popping up everywhere, and cocktail bars are featuring gin-based drinks on their menus. The best way to enjoy your spirit of choice is with the gin glasses at Garden Street Gin Club.

Tasting is an important part of the drinking process, but you can’t fully appreciate a spirit without the right glass. A good glass enhances the flavor and bouquet of the drink, serving as both an aesthetic complement and a functional tool for releasing aromas.

Trouble deciding between a martini glass or a coupe? Having trouble figuring out which glass is best for your favorite drink? We’ve got the answers you need to make sure that you’re serving your martinis, Manhattans, or Negronis in style.

1. Tall and thin

Highball glasses are a great way to serve chilled gin on the rocks. Tall and thin, this type of glass allows the drinker to get a full taste of the spirit’s flavor. Highball glasses are also a good choice for drinking gin and tonics or other mixed drinks that call for ice. However, highball glasses aren’t the best choice for serving low-proof gins neat because they often lack the weight needed to keep the spirit in place as it is consumed. The thin walls also mean that you won’t get much aroma from the spirit when drinking from a highball glass of gin neat.

2. Short and fat

Old-fashioned glasses are designed with curves on both sides, making them ideal for sipping spirits neat. The shape helps trap aromas while also concentrating the spirit’s flavor. This type of glass is sometimes called sherry glass because it’s frequently used to serve fortified wines like sherry and port wine.

3. The Shaker—Cut-crystal or not

This is the most common type of glass you come across, mainly because it is great for cocktails and works well with most spirits (unless you like chilled whiskey). It has a tall, rounded body and a narrow neck that can sometimes have a bit of a lip on it.

4. Cocktail Glass

Cocktail glasses are designed to be used when drinking cocktails made with both liquor and mixers (like tonic water). These glasses are shorter than wine glasses and stemless, so they can easily fit in your hand. Cocktail glasses must be stemmed because otherwise, the ice would melt too quickly in your hand!

5. Martini glass

The classic cocktail glass is perfect for serving your favorite gin martini on the rocks or with an olive. Just remember that they are not good for serving anything else because they’re too narrow and tall to hold most other spirits.

6. Old-fashioned glass

Also known as an “on the rocks” glass, this style of cocktail glass is shorter than a traditional martini glass and has more surface area making it suitable for use with larger drinks, and it’s also ideal for drinks served on the rocks or with ice cubes.

7. The Highball glass

Highball glasses are the opposite of martini glasses: they’re wide at the middle but narrow opening at the top and bottom. These are great for mixing your drinks as you can fit more ingredients inside and still get a nice mix. As these have larger openings, you’re able to fit ice cubes inside and pour alcohol into them with ease.