Tasting glasses

With beer, you almost always end up with 15 or 20 centiliters. Fill the glass one-third to halfway. That leaves room for foam and lets you swirl it. If you’re lining up six specialty beers, a set of 15 cl glasses is most practical, because you get a fair sip and can keep going all evening. If a full head of foam is part of your tasting, go for 20 cl.

Whisky and eau-de-vie are best tasted from a 12 to 15 centiliter tulip glass with a distinctly inward-curving rim. Lehmann’s Islay model is one example. You only pour two centiliters into it. The empty space above lets the alcohol vapors rise and disperse. Wine calls for the opposite. You want plenty of room, so you can swirl the wine in a 30 to 35 centiliter bowl without spilling. The standardized wine-tasting glass is deliberately neutral in shape, giving every wine the same chance.

Give each glass the same amount. A half-full glass smells different from one that’s a quarter full. Hold the glass by the stem or base, not the bowl, because the warmth of your hand releases the aromas faster. First, check the color and clarity against a white background. Then swirl briefly and take two short sniffs instead of one long one.

Beer needs its head. Pour into the center of the glass from a height of about ten centimeters, then let the last few centimeters run down the side. Smell whisky neat first. Then add a few drops of water and smell again, because water breaks up the alcohol and brings out the aromas beneath it. Between two samples, rinse the glass with a splash of the next sample, not water.

A tasting glass should have no smell. It sounds obvious, but dish soap residue and cupboard odors ruin more tastings than you might think. So use only a little detergent, rinse thoroughly with hot water, and let the glasses air-dry on a rack.

Give them a quick polish with a lint-free cloth just before use. Then smell the empty glass before you pour. If you smell the cupboard or cloth, rinse it again. Almost all models are dishwasher-safe, just not with greasy plates. Store them upright, not upside down, or musty odors can linger inside.

If you want to serve rather than taste, you can find larger glasses at beer glasses and the right shape for each beer style at specialty beer glasses. Serve whisky neat in whiskey glasses, and find wine glasses at wine glasses. For a drink or a shot, there are shot glasses. In the mood for a classic combination? At kopstoot you can read how to layer beer and gin, and at whiskey sour you’ll find the sour version with lemon.