Copa Glass

The Bowl Holds Ice and Aroma

A copa is a wine glass made larger. The round bowl takes a full load of cubed ice with room left for a 200ml drink, and the rim curves in slightly at the top.

Both features matter. A big mass of ice melts slowly, so a gin and tonic stays cold without thinning fast. The inward curve holds the smell of the gin and the garnish over the surface, where you breathe it in with every sip.

Spain Made It the Gin and Tonic Glass

In Spain the drink is usually served in a copa de balón, a balloon glass, with plenty of ice and a garnish picked to match the gin's botanicals. Accounts of exactly where the habit began differ, and none is well documented.

The glass has since become common in British bars. It suits any long drink built on aroma, not only gin.

Ice First, Tonic Last

Fill the glass with cubed ice, not crushed, and stir the ice to chill the bowl. Pour off any meltwater. Add the spirit, then let the tonic slide gently down the side to hold its gas. Our Gin and Tonic takes 100ml of tonic to 50ml of gin; the Vodka and Mediterranean Tonic takes 150ml.

Add the garnish last, for smell: a strip of grapefruit peel, a sprig of rosemary or a ribbon of cucumber. It sits in the space over the drink.

Buy 50cl or More

Under 50cl, a full load of ice leaves too little room for the drink, and the glass is a wine glass doing a copa's job.

A large bowl on a long stem breaks easily. Wash it by hand where you can, support the bowl as you dry it, and keep ice out of a glass still warm from washing, since sudden cold can crack thin glass.

Common Questions