Glassware - non tiki mug

I like nice drinkware, however I am not inclinded to get any actual "tiki" mugs at the moment

I am more looking more along the lines of nice glassware to server a fancier cocktail (which tiki drinks are) in

Does anyone have any good ideas for a proper glass to server a Mai Tai and Zombie in that would be nice glassware for a dinner party etc. That is where I am going to start out and see where it leads me :)

Thanks

A mai tai should be served in a rocks (lowball) glass. Here's a very basic one:

A zombie should be served in a tall, straight-sided glass often called a zombie glass. Here's another basic example:

Reviving an old thread because I'm looking for ideas on glassware to use rather than the typical tiki mugs I'm accustomed to. I know certain drinks are supposed to be served in particular size and style glasses but besides a couple Hukilau snifters and odd Ikea or Target highballs, I don't really have any appropriate cocktail glasses to use. Being that I have a mid century home decked out in MCM furnishings, I would prefer to stick with something of a 50s or 60s vintage. I've contemplated getting Dorothy Thorpe roly poly's, Briard high balls or Fred Press old fashioneds but just haven't found the designs I truly love yet. Curious what everyone on here drinks out of that is not a tiki mug. Maybe a little show and tell...

I get what you're saying. When I'm home alone I drink from glassware that feels comfortable in my hand -- usually double old fashioned glasses. But for friends I will whip out highball glasses, sometimes tiki mugs, and at other times snifters depending on the cocktail. So when company comes over - get showy. For yourself, use the vintage and retro styles which you enjoy. There are times where the aroma of a drink benefits from using specific glassware. But many other times it's just a matter of how tall/big/wide/long your garnishes are, and then striking the right visual effect with either short or tall glassware. The same is true for conducting samplings and tastings -- shot glasses or limoncello glasses? It often is not an issue. And my guests really appreciate drinking out of a mish-mash of various glass sizes and shapes.

Not sure if this is helpful, but have fun and be creative. You're lucky if you have a collection of cool-looking vintage glassware. Enjoy it all!

Mike - I go around to various thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. and I will buy up hurricane glasses, crystal stemware and all kinds of glassware. They are usually super cheap, like throw away after one use cheap. Not that I don't get a long life from them but I usually pay 50 cents to $1 per glass. As well as tiki, I like all craft cocktails and I have been on an absinthe kick for quite some time so the crystal stemware works great! You may have to do some searching, but you will find some great stuff with lots of character and uniqueness. I am going to post a couple of pictures of glassware I use on the "what are you drinking right now" thread to give you a couple of ideas.

Also, thanks for searching out old threads instead of cluttering up TC! :)

How about the best of both worlds:

http://www.cb2.com/tai-tall-cocktail-glass/s171179

Williams Sonoma sells very nice glasses of this type if that's within your budget. Below that, I'd try Crate and Barrel.

My home bars are well stocked with Dbl old fashion’s, Hi-ball’s of various shapes (straight sided, sloped/angled, etc.) and 3-4 brandy snifters. Almost all from thrift’s. I do have a weakness for vintage barware so i have bought a few piece’s from antique stores.My wife likes the quality of Tommy Bahama barware so we also have a fair amount of their stuff. Don’t use the mug collection much cept to look at. I firmly believe the drink should look as good as it taste’s and a good starting point is your choice of drinking vessel.
Cheers
Btw,Mauka, Where did you get dose moai glass’s? Dey are killa!

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-08-05 18:44 ]

The moai glassware is from CB2. Crate and Barrel's cheaper line. http://m.cb2.com/tai-tall-cocktail-glass/s171179

Mahalo Lori!

On 2014-08-05 13:52, MaukaHale wrote:
How about the best of both worlds:

http://www.cb2.com/tai-tall-cocktail-glass/s171179

These are great! Thanks for the link.

Thanks for posting that link, Lori. There's a C & B outlet in my town that I haven't been to in a few years. I think I'll swing by and see if I get lucky, if not I'll try the stores or if all else fails - order them online. Thanks to you I know they exist!

MaukaHale posted the link, but I think it got lost in the great photo of the glasses.

They also have these 8 ounce tiki glasses, but I think they look like cat faces instead of the Maori faces I think they're trying to convey. Maybe they look different in person.

I prefer to drink out of glasses, I think that seeing the drink & swizzling the ice is part of enjoying the drink for me - Im working towards having one for each drink on the menu in my home bar :)

Regular (& hot beverage):

More 'tiki cocktail' style:

Stemmed:

What I serve my home cocktails out of:

Branded:

For neat spirits:

Something Id like to get about 4/5 more types, I think the hardest to find would be some unbranded comet glasses:

I havent seen any of them yet.

My partner trys to enforce a 'one-in-one-out' rule, who's she kidding :)

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2014-08-06 13:04 ]

On 2014-08-06 13:04, AdOrAdam wrote:

My partner trys to enforce a 'one-in-one-out' rule, who's she kidding :)

AOA, my wife has tried to pull that with me re plastic stadium cups.

(every pro and college sports team here (basketball, baseball, american football, hockey) sells branded concession cups at their stadiums/arenas-- do they have those in the UK?)

FWIW,

Other than some collectible mugs, I generally prefer to have (and serve in) glassware. For Tiki purposes, The Hukilau glassware (mostly DOFs, but some years they have had Collins glasses and snifters) is ideal. Otherwise MY choice (YMMV) is the Bormioli Strauss line for barware and the Michelangelo line for stemware, which are available in pretty much every size and shape.

My suggestion, IF you want some all-purpose glassware to attractively hold cocktails for a large crowd, go to restaurant supply websites (my choice is http://www.wasserstrom.com) and select a line you find attractive and then get a case of each style of glass you'll need for the sorts of cocktails you serve. At these sorts of sites, you're could get away with spending something like $20-$30 for a case of 12 glasses, although sometimes you'll have to buy a case of 36 or 48.

Normally the selections are pretty huge, so you may actually spend a LOT of time deciding.

HTH somebody!

I found three of the dbl old fashions at a Goodwill yesterday.The one on the left I already had six of-they have a sailing ship etched on them. The new ones are very hefty. Never have too much barware...or rum! Point of this post...you don’t have to spend a lot of moolah for nice glassware.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2014-08-10 23:29 ]

I also prefer to serve drinks in glass. I have all my glasses on bamboo shelves but they get dusty, so would eventually like to have an enclosed case to put them in.

On 2014-08-06 16:46, thePorpoise wrote:

On 2014-08-06 13:04, AdOrAdam wrote:
My partner trys to enforce a 'one-in-one-out' rule, who's she kidding :)

AOA, my wife has tried to pull that with me re plastic stadium cups.

(every pro and college sports team here (basketball, baseball, american football, hockey) sells branded concession cups at their stadiums/arenas-- do they have those in the UK?)

Stadium cups are a thing in the UK but not necessarily a given at all sporting events - Most likely the bigger teams would have them. I had some when I was younger, good to see you keeping the flame alive!

Speaking of stadium cups, I learned quickly that if you attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans you can easily come home with a lifetime supply of very cool plastic drinking cups. Many are nicely sized for cocktails around the pool as opposed to using glass. Every year they throw thousands of pounds of free drinkware to the parade watchers. Well, except in those years where a hurricane previously leveled the city and the parades are cancelled.

I have a follow-up question. Is it true that, in Europe, from American movies and TV, many people believe that Americans only drink out of red plastic Dixie cups?

On 2014-08-11 05:26, AceExplorer wrote:
I have a follow-up question. Is it true that, in Europe, from American movies and TV, many people believe that Americans only drink out of red plastic Dixie cups?

True, those are the height of American party chic to us Europeans :)

On 2014-08-11 06:14, AdOrAdam wrote:

On 2014-08-11 05:26, AceExplorer wrote:
I have a follow-up question. Is it true that, in Europe, from American movies and TV, many people believe that Americans only drink out of red plastic Dixie cups?

True, those are the height of American party chic to us Europeans :)

Thanks. That is embarrassing for us in a way, but for the typical high school and college parties, not at all off the mark.

How would you describe to us what is done in Europe? I'm personally only familiar with wine and beer drinking out of glassware or earthenware crockery when I've travelled around Europe and partied at Oktoberfest in Munich.

I say 'red dixie cups are the height of American party chic' half as a joke - it's what you wish parties were like when you are a late teenager / early 20s.

Teenage parties in the UK are synonymous with cans of lager / 'stubbies' or bottled alco-pops, there was always a lack of ice & glasses. I have no idea why disposable cups weren't around - I'd probably still smile & say 'ooh, a red cup' if I was given a drink in one.

Being a young (ish) adult parties are much more civilised - if your hosts drink wine you'll probably get a wine glass. Steins are more a Central European thing & event related (like Octoberfest).

Generally the number of glasses friends have has increased (to say a set of highballs), the cheaper lagers have been replaced by better bottled beer but the lack of ice explicably remains.

Nowadays I usually take ice & a small kit for Mojitos :)

A lot of bars (most bars?) use Libbey brand glassware and it is good quality and cheap.

Get some coupes, some rocks glasses, some DOF's for the Mai Tais, some Collins glasses....

I buy stuff at thrift shops and the like, along with the occasional new purchase. But yeah, you can get good cheap stuff secondhand.

Goodwill stores, at least down here in South Florida, are a treasure trove of old glassware. I've found many cool glasses for literally pennies.

Saw these at Dillard's yesterday:

"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-08-24 09:16 ]

New drink ware I picked up over the weekend that I'm really excited about. These were all at vintage and antique stores so they were around $4 a piece rather than the super bargain Goodwill prices some of you have been scoring. But I love the patterns and sizes of these glasses (note: that's paper inside the starburst and amoeba glasses to better show the print). Anxious to try a 151 Swizzle in the aluminum cup.

Very nice finds Mike! I particularly like the MCM glassware.
Cheers

Scored some classic Atomic glassware.

About 90% of the time, I'm serving out of the custom glassware we had made for the bar. The other 10% of the time, I'm serving out of vintage glassware. Of particular interest to you guys is the Noritake Bamboo glassware. The pieces are etched with bamboo stalks and leaves. It was a very popular pattern, and as such, there's a ton of it out there, very affordable, and just gorgeous, delicate, high quality stuff. And variety! Oh my goodness, you'd go crazy trying to track down all the different shapes available out there.

I just grabbed this picture from a current eBay auction for brandy snifters (which is what I use for serving straight rum in my bar):

Here's a link to an eBay search for "noritake bamboo glasses":
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xnoritake+bamboo+glass&_nkw=noritake+bamboo+glasses&_sacat=0

On 2014-08-26 06:47, mikehooker wrote:
New drink ware I picked up over the weekend that I'm really excited about. These were all at vintage and antique stores so they were around $4 a piece rather than the super bargain Goodwill prices some of you have been scoring. But I love the patterns and sizes of these glasses (note: that's paper inside the starburst and amoeba glasses to better show the print). Anxious to try a 151 Swizzle in the aluminum cup.

hi mike. nice finds. i have two starburst tumblers like that rocks glass you have that is great. i also have a few of the aluminum cups and i have tried the 151 swizzle in it its great man. that is actually one of my favorite drinks

Thanks Elnova. These are exactly the sort of glasses I was eluding to when I revived this thread a while back. And I've not drunk out of a tiki mug since finding these. I'm still always on the hunt for more mid century patterned glasses cuz one can never have too many. I've actually come across those tall starburst glasses before but I think they were like $9 a piece and I couldn't bring myself to do it. And yes I've made a couple Swizzles in that aluminum cup now and they were wonderful. One of my favorite homemade drinks at the moment.