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Maybe best known for wine glasses, Riedel launched Drink Specific Glassware a few years back. A collaboration with mixologist and designer Zane Harris, the line was all about creating drinking vessels for seven classic cocktails with an emphasis on size, shape, volume and ice capacity, with the form factor dictated by those specific drinks. They are great but, admittedly, somewhat limited to their paired tipple. I pretty much stick to the rocks and highball glasses, stowing the others away for the rare days I want to put in a little extra home bartending effort (which is rarely).
But Harris and the long-running, family-owned Riedel — it’s pronounced “Ree-dl” and not “Ry-dell” as I’ve been saying for years — just teamed up again for Riedel Bar Rituals. Inspired by “timeless interiors and contemporary hospitality spaces,” the collection is made up of rocks, double rocks and highball glasses for now (on the Riedel site, only the double rocks and highball are available).
The Future of Glassware, According to Maximilian Riedel
The most famous maker of wine glasses on earth is still learning new tricksThese are rugged, cool and versatile vessels for a wide-range of drinks, alcoholic or not. They’ve already become my default everyday drinking glasses (besides the elegant shapes, they’re dishwasher safe), and they offer a few hidden tricks for cocktails, too.
Crafted from durable crystal and purposely engineered to be used in hospitality environments (so they can take a beating), these fluted textured glasses possess a discreet 2 oz./60ml pour line and a wash line, aka the level of the drink below the rim of the glass. Basically, they’re the fastest way to make properly measured cocktails without the need for extra equipment (lazy bartender for the win!).
The double rocks glass offers a wider opening to accommodate large-volume ice cubes (which melt slowly). The highball is taller, ideal for long drinks. All the glasses feature an interlocking base structure, which means they’re easy to stack and you won’t get the breakage that often occurs when ordinary glasses nest within each other. The inside base of the glasses is also durable enough to handle intense muddling and stirring.
Given the broad functionality of the glasses, their sturdiness and overall stylish appearance, I’m happy to spend $49 for a pair of these (it’s two of the same glasses for each purchase, so to enjoy both sizes it’d be $98 for four glasses total).
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