Coupe

What is a coupe?

The coupe is the grande dame among glasses: a shallow bowl on a still stem, festive, nostalgic and fully back in fashion. The glass shape is older than the cocktail itself, its roots reach back into the 17th century, and in the golden era of the bar, many a stirred classic was served in exactly such a bowl. By the way, the word coupette is simply the diminutive: it means nothing more than a small coupe.

The most beautiful legend of drinking culture

The most famous anecdote about the coupe claims the bowl was modeled after the breast of a queen or a noble lady, and Marie Antoinette is named most often. It is a charming story and one of the best-known legends of drinking culture, but it does not hold up: the glass shape existed long before the ladies who get the credit, and as proof a legend does not count here either. Feel free to retell it at the bar, just with the note that this is exactly what it is: a legend.

What makes a coupe

• The wide opening: the aromas unfold immediately, the nose is part of the very first sip
• The stem: hands stay away from the drink, the cold stays in the bowl
• The honest catch: the wide surface warms the drink faster than a narrow glass, drinks in a coupe are festive and want to be enjoyed, but without lingering too long

Distinction: coupe and martini glass

Both carry stirred classics, but they tell different stories: the coupe is the bowl with history, the martini glass is the cone with an entrance. Historically the martini was served in a coupe, the cone only arrived in the 20th century, more on that in our martini glass entry.

Remember: the tumbler is made for the ice, the highball glass for the bubbles, the coupe for the history, the martini glass for the show.

At our lounge

We love serving stirred classics in a coupe when the moment calls for it. Feel free to ask, we happily talk about glassware, and of all glasses the bowl has the most history to tell.