Hi everyone! Happy Easter and Happy Passover! I hope everybody has a great Easter (or had a great Passover). Spring is the best time; it brightens everybody's mood. The sun comes out and it gets warmer. The days get easier.

I wanted to talk in this post about some basic types of glassware that you might want to have in a home bar. These are just some of the basics; I'll go a little further with this topic tomorrow.


This obviously is an ordinary, long stemmed wineglass. Generally suitable for any red or white wine--good for a fairly simple table at Easter or Thanksgiving. Not ostentatious, not overdone, just very basic, simple, and classy. You can't really go wrong with serving any kind of wine in this glass; it's the basic element.





This is called a rocks glass--it's really a half-tumbler. It's called a rocks glass because it's what's used for drinks with ice--in drinking parlance, "rocks". It's also called an "Old Fashioned" glass, because the Old Fashioned and all its many varieties go in it. This glass is the *opposite* of a highball glass. A highball glass is twice the size of this glass and is used for highballs--usually two liquors, mixed quickly, served neat, and drunk quickly. This glass is for sipping--Scotch on the rocks, vodka and ginger, and so on.





This glass is your classic Brandy Snifter. Big on the bottom and sort of bowl shaped. You pour brandy, cognac, or Armagnac into a glass like this--your Remy Martin, Hennessey, Cardinal Mendoza. The glass is meant to be gripped with the stem between your fingers and the bowl resting in your palm so your body heat warms the brandy--giving it a good "nose"--a gentle, almost cologne like odor that should please the senses and warm the heart.





Two champagne flutes, and very nice ones at that. For drinking bubbly, proposing to your girlfriend, celebrating a college graduation, toasting a success or the camaraderie of friends. Champagne flutes are the civilized way to drink champagne--chilled, always. There are some who put mimosas--champagne and orange juice--in these glasses and serve them at brunch, and there are some who recoil in horror at the idea of mixing good champagne with orange juice. If you want an eye opener with your morning/lunch meal, wherefore the orange juice? Drink champagne! Why be silly?


In any case, those are some basic glasses you might have in your home to serve liquor and wine. Tomorrow, we'll look at possible ways you might serve beer. Did you know some beers are meant to be served warm? Oatmeal porter! Guinness Stout! Tune in tomorrow...