The Great Big Glassware Encyclopedia
🍻🥂🍷🫗🥃🍸🍹
Glassware is a gift; it can be imperfect, mismatched, whimsical, useless, useful, inventive, multipurpose. At its best, it sits inside a cabinet waiting to be used - a cherished mug picked up daily, a martini glass broken out to impress the occasional guest, a water glass that just makes things more crisp. Ahhhhhh.
Today’s topic is glass. Specifically: drinking glasses. Mugs, cups, martini glasses, champagne flutes. What are the best ways to fill your bar cart and cabinets?
Good glasses enhance the taste of anything put into them, bad glasses can make a sip less satisfying. Here, I'll share some of my partly empirical, partly anecdotal tips for choosing the finest glassware and ceramics to help make sure your liquids are always at peak performance.
A few jumping-off points…
Below are a handful of places you can click around for all different types of glassware.
Kinto: My new favorite travel tumbler is from here, I’d trust their glassware
Mociun: Whimsical, can be very expensive, good for gifts and one-offs
CB2: Maybe obvious, but I’m always surprised about how affordable + high quality, it seems, lots of their glassware is
SSENSE: A great jumping-off point for small/medium-sized glassware designers and ceramicists. Start your search here and allow yourself down many rabbit holes. Buy directly from artists where you can!
Etsy: Let yourself go down a rabbit hole here too
Fishs Eddy: A 36-year-old shop selling some of the best dishes in the city
Jono Pandolfi: Their dishes are in the fanciest places you can think of, I have not been to most of them. They have studio sales… go to them for big discounts on beautiful dishes!
Estelle Colored Glass: Hand-blown colored glass from Poland, as wonderful as they sound
Simple Drinking Glasses
Marta Cooler Glasses - $16.80 (set of 6)
One single-star review called these literally the most fragile drinking glasses I've ever owned. After reading that—I ordered 12. At $17 for a set of 6, you can’t go wrong. That’s less than $2 per shatter. They have a ribbed version, too.
Luigi Bormioli Sublime Drinking Glasses - $39 (set of 4)
Ripple Long Drink Glasses - $79 (set of 4)'
Ichendorf Milano Cilindro Longdrink Glass - $120 (set of 6)
Something about these glasses screams ELITE. Maybe it’s the price point, maybe it’s the fact that they were designed by a guy named Marco Sironi who apparently also designs yachts(?) They’re "hand blown from light glass made of clear and fine crystal" and part of the glassware brand’s “extra light collection” which makes me think mmmm crisp, cold water.
Funky Water Glass Sets - $$$ Depends!
IMO, your best bet for a good glass is to go mismatched. You can find a glorious selection on Etsy, at your local thrift, or anywhere you don’t have to buy in a set.
Hot Beverages
SIUP STUDIO Big Ear Mug - $40/ea
Despite having a cabinet full of other mugs, the Big Ears are the ones Aaron and I always reach for. Scientifically speaking, something about the gigantic handle makes everything taste better.
HAY Borosilicate Mug - $35 (set of 2)
I’m writing this newsletter from a plane, and before being in the actual place, was stranded at the airport in Iceland. It turns out they have a beautiful selection of home goods from HAY there, including these glass spoons which are on sale. Their stuff is always simple but pretty, and very reliable.
Marimekko Oiva Tiiliskivi Large Mug - $35/ea
Mug from your favorite coffee shop - $$$ depends!
This is an easy way to have a favorite mug.
Mocktails, Cocktails and Wine Glasses
Crystal Stemless Wine Glass Sets - $30.40 (set of 4)
~crystal~
Handmade Ceramic Tulip Goblet - $134.85/ea
The price point for these ceramic goblets is hefty, but they were too beautiful not to include.
Mismatched Colored Glassware - $$$ depends!
If you’re not interested in slowly building up your mismatched glass collection, Etsy is a safe way to go.
Vintage French Martini Glasses (Set of 6)
Martini s'il vous plaît!
Glass Pimento Olives - $21.60/ea
I actually don’t like martinis, but I would have these glass olives around just to feel a bit fancy. $21 for a single olive is highway robbery, but again, they are very cute.
Fantasia Animal Tumblers - $19.99/ea
These are what I would call a necessity.
Fun selection! The glass olives are so unusual and beautiful. I was obsessed with Kinto for a while.