Cheat Sheet: Know Your Glassware

A summer drink tastes better when served in the right glass.

Can you imagine sipping a margarita from a highball glass? Me neither. Many drink glasses were designed to complement the cocktail that they contain. So before you throw your next summer party, get to know your glassware.

Here's how you should serve summer's most popular drinks.

Wine
Wine glasses, or stemware, are shaped like tulips with a long stem-like base, which helps promote the flavor of the wine. Wine is probably the most complicated when it comes to selecting the right glass. There are many types of wine glasses out there, but you probably only need to invest in three or four styles to have a complete collection.

First, everyone needs at least two champagne glasses (called flutes) for celebrations and toasts. These are typically tall and thin, which keeps those bubbles moving and your hands from warming the liquid.

Pick up a few Burgundy red wine glasses for your collection. These are typically bulbous with wide mouths, which allows the wine to breathe properly and increases the rate of oxidation, so the wine and the oxygen in the air mix, producing a slightly different flavor. Merlot and Cabernet should be served in a Bordeaux wine glass, but these glasses are also used to serve white wines.

White wine is most often served in wide-mouthed white wine glasses, which are thinner than red ones to reduce oxidation. You don't need to spend a fortune. Like me, you can buy them at IKEA for about $2 each. I even picked up a few extras just in case of accidental breaks.

If you want to tailor your wine glass to the wine that you're serving, visit the glassware company Riedel. Their website, Wine Glass Guide, allows you to select a wine and then Riedel will select the appropriate glass for that wine. Easy.

Beer
Beer glasses come in a variety of shapes, from the stein to the pint glass. Let's stick to the basics: For a classic look, you can pour a cold one into a standard beer mug (see the first glass in the photo above). These are similar to the beer stein, which has a hinged lid. (Here's a fun fact: the hinged lid was invented during the Black Plague to prevent diseased flies from getting into your beer. Gross!)

The pilsner glass is often used for lighter beers, such as "pilsner" beers or pale lager. It comes in a number of different shapes but still has that recognizable outward curve in the middle.

The pint glass is for -- surprise, surprise! -- a pint of your favorite beer. It actually holds a British pint, which is about 1.2 pints in the U.S. These glasses should be used when you are drinking stout, porter or bitter.

Certain beers are served in a flute glass or a goblet. But depending on how beer-savvy your guests are, the above choices should make the grade. As mentioned above, flute glasses help showcase color and carbonation and are the preferred glasses for fruity beers or Belgian lambic beer, which can be served with desserts. Goblets and chalices have a wide mouth for great big sips, but they also serve a purpose: controlling the size of the beer's head, also known as the foam. The wideness of the cup helps prevent the head from growing larger than 2 centimeters, and thus not ending up all over the bar or your face.

Mixed drinks
The highball glass is used to serve most mixed drinks and "highball" drinks, such as gin and tonic. It often holds 8 to 12 oz.

The margarita glass is probably most recognizable, and it's perfect for that fantastic frozen drink you order while on vacation or paired with a plateful of tacos and enchiladas. The shape of the glass helps keep ingredients from separating, and the stem allows the drink to stay cool.

A martini glass is also named for its contents. The classic martini, a mixture of gin and vermouth with olive juice or olive garnish, slides down easily when drinking from a martini glass's signature thin rim.

Cordial glasses are for after-dinner drinks, which are supposed to aid in digestion. They resemble small goblets or wine glasses.

The snifter is a wide-bottomed glass that can be used for mixed drinks or for beer. However, it is frequently called a Brandy snifter because Brandy is most often served in this type of glass. It is short and stout, shaped to allow your hand to warm the beverage, while its narrow top keeps the aroma trapped inside.

Ready to buy some glassware? Check out our under $100 guide to cocktail glasses.