Nick & Nora Glass
A small, stemmed glass with a rounded bowl and a slight inward curve, holding around 150ml. It is the modern bartender’s glass for stirred drinks, and it is the shape that spills least of the three options.
Alternatives
Budget Alternative
Small vintage cocktail glasses or port glasses (£2–5 from charity shops): often beautifully proportioned, though rim thickness varies.
Premium Option
Riedel Veritas Nick & Nora (£30–40 per pair): ultra-thin rim, perfect bowl geometry, excellent balance for professional service.
Care & Maintenance
Care Instructions
- Hand wash only in warm (not hot) water
- Dry immediately with a lint-free cloth
- Polish lightly before service to maintain clarity
- Store stem-up on rubber matting or hanging rack
- Inspect rims frequently: small chips are easy to miss
Expected Lifespan
- •Premium crystal: 5–8 years with careful handling
- •Standard glass: 2–4 years in professional service
- •Budget glass: 12–24 months before rim wear appears
Usage
Stirred drinks served up, particularly the Martini and Manhattan family, where the small volume keeps the last mouthful nearly as cold as the first. Also used for shorter sours where a coupe would leave the drink looking sparse.
Where the Name Comes From
Nick and Nora Charles are the married detectives in Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, filmed in 1934, who drink Martinis more or less continuously through six pictures.
The glass they hold on screen, small and stemmed with a gently tulip bowl, had no particular name at the time. It was revived and christened during the 2000s cocktail renaissance, largely through Audrey Saunders at Pegu Club, as bartenders looked for something between the fragile coupe and the unwieldy V.
So the name is a piece of 2000s marketing attached to a 1930s shape, which is a fair description of a good deal of modern bar equipment.
Why Bartenders Prefer It
It carries. The bowl curves inward at the rim, so the widest point of the liquid is well below the edge and a full glass can cross a room without a drop leaving it.
A coupe manages this reasonably; a V-shaped martini glass does not manage it at all. For a bartender carrying two drinks through a crowd, that is a working consideration rather than an aesthetic one.
The smaller volume helps too. Less liquid warms less slowly in absolute terms, but a properly sized Nick & Nora is filled nearly to capacity, and a full small glass presents less surface to the room than a half-empty large one.
Size and What Fits
Usually 140 to 180ml, against a coupe at 150 to 200ml and a modern martini glass that can run past 250ml.
A stirred Martini or Manhattan finishes around 90 to 110ml after dilution, which fills a Nick & Nora properly and leaves a coupe looking half-empty. That is its natural home.
A shaken sour at 150ml will not fit, which is the one real limitation. If you own a single pair of stemmed glasses, coupes are the more flexible purchase; if you own both, stirred drinks go in the Nick & Nora and shaken ones in the coupe.
Why Cocktail Glasses Are Small
Because a drink with no ice in it is warming from the moment it is poured, and a big glass makes that worse in two ways.
More liquid means a longer drink and more time spent at the wrong temperature. More surface area means faster heat exchange with the room. The oversized martini glasses of the 1990s were a fashion, not an improvement, and they produced a great many warm second halves.
A properly made stirred drink is 90 to 110ml and should be finished while it is still cold. The glass is sized for the drink rather than the drink stretched to fill the glass.
Pro Tip
For a perfect Martini or Manhattan, chill the Nick & Nora until frosted, then pour the drink just shy of the rim. The smaller bowl forces the aromas upward, meaning the first sip delivers structure and balance rather than alcohol heat. This is why many bartenders regard the Nick & Nora as an unusually honest cocktail glass.
What to Look For
- 140 to 180ml capacity: anything larger defeats the purpose
- Thin, laser-cut rim: critical for clean sipping
- Gentle inward taper: concentrates aromatics without trapping alcohol
- Balanced stem: tall enough for grip, stable enough for service
- Lead-free crystal: clarity and durability without fragility
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Oversized Nick & Nora glasses: these are just small coupes in disguise
- Overfilling: ruins proportion and warms the drink too quickly
- Thick rims: dull the elegance and texture of spirit-forward cocktails
- Using for shaken citrus drinks: acidity and foam belong elsewhere
- Skipping chilling: this glass exposes shortcuts immediately
Professional Tips
- Chill it hard. Small volumes warm quickest.
- It holds less than a coupe. Check your build fits before pouring.
- Hold the stem, always.
- The tulip curve means you can actually carry a full one.
Specifications
Material
Glass
Capacity
120–150ml
Details
Small rounded bowl, thin rim, tall slender stem, narrower opening than a coupe
History & Context
The Nick & Nora glass takes its name from Nick and Nora Charles, the impeccably dressed, martini-drinking protagonists of The Thin Man films of the 1930s. While the glass itself was not standard at the time, modern bartenders revived the name to describe a shape that better suited classic cocktails than the increasingly oversized martini glasses of the late 20th century. As cocktail culture returned to balance and restraint in the early 2000s, bartenders needed a vessel that respected original drink volumes. The Nick & Nora answered that need: smaller, taller, and more precise than a coupe, with a shape that preserved temperature and focused aromatics. Today it is the preferred glass for spirit-forward classics served with intention rather than excess.
Common Questions
What is a Nick & Nora glass?
A small stemmed glass of roughly 140 to 180ml with a rounded, slightly inward-curving bowl. It is named for the Martini-drinking couple in The Thin Man, and was revived and christened during the 2000s cocktail renaissance.
Nick & Nora or coupe: which for a Martini?
Nick & Nora, marginally. A stirred Martini finishes around 90 to 110ml, which fills one properly and leaves a coupe looking half-empty. The coupe is the more flexible glass overall, since it also takes a shaken sour.
What size is a Nick & Nora glass?
Typically 140 to 180ml, smaller than a coupe and far smaller than a modern martini glass. That suits stirred drinks, which finish around 100ml, but will not hold a 150ml shaken sour.
Why are proper cocktail glasses so small?
Because a drink served up has no ice keeping it cold, so it warms from the moment it is poured. More liquid means longer spent drinking it warm, and more surface means faster heat exchange. The oversized glasses of the 1990s were a fashion.