Coupe glasses have become one of the most versatile and popular bar glassware styles. Originally used as Champagne glasses, the coupe’s rounded bowl and long, thin stem give it an elegant profile and a softer, curvier alternative to the classic martini glass. Beyond that, coupe glasses are more practical and more spill-proof than their V-shaped counterparts.
Like other stemmed glassware, the coupe glass is well-suited for cocktails served up — meaning the drink is stirred or shaken and then served without ice. Coupes are great for everything from classics like the Manhattan and Daiquiri to modern favorites like the Espresso Martini.
Whatever fancy cocktails you want to make at home, we think you’ll reach for your coupe glasses often. To help you sort through the crowded glassware selection, we tested 10 sets to find our favorites. The best coupe glasses also make an excellent gift for cocktail lovers.
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We recommend this classic set from Libbey as quality, all-purpose coupe glasses. Their unique tapered design sets them apart from many of the bowl-shaped coupes on the market. The construction is also excellent — the coupe glasses feel sturdy but not at the expense of elegance.
With an 8-ounce capacity, these coupe glasses might be slightly too large for a standard martini, but they’re perfect for serving a French 75 or any other cocktail topped with sparkling wine.
Capacity: 8 ounces | Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.89 inches | Material: Glass | Cleanup: Dishwasher safe | Price per glass: $11
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When it comes to serving cocktails, appearances are important. The wash line is a major factor in how a cocktail looks in a glass, which is why these elegant and slightly smaller 6-ounce coupe glasses are the perfect capacity for most cocktails, like the Last Word. In addition to being the ideal size, these glasses from Cocktail Kingdom are dependable and well-built. At just over $8 per glass, they’re also among the more affordable coupe glasses we tested.
Capacity: 6 ounces | Dimensions: x 3.25 inches | Material: Glass | Cleanup: Dishwasher safe | Price per glass: $8
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If you’re looking for affordable coupe glasses that don’t sacrifice style or build quality, this set from CB2 provides the best bang for your buck. At around $5 per glass, this set of six has the best value of all the sets we tested. They also made our cocktails look immediately more fancy.
It’s worth considering that the glass is a bit on the shallower end of the spectrum. That means it’s slightly more likely to spill. With a wider surface area, the glass is less likely to capture and concentrate the drink’s aroma. For the price, these are very minor setbacks.
Capacity: 7 ounces | Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.25 inches | Material: Glass | Cleanup: Hand Wash Only | Price per glass: $5
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For those willing to invest in a statement set of coupe glasses, this set from Glasvin is worth it. At about $25 per glass, these weren’t the most expensive glasses we considered, but at over twice the price as our top pick, the cost is something to consider.
Where these glasses excel is the design. The coupe glass is evocative of the golden age of cocktails, and these glasses capture that timeless elegance with a long, thin stem and a sleek, seductive profile. The only downside is that these delicate glasses feel more brittle than most others, so take care when washing. Like their wine glasses and wine decanters, Glasvin recommends popping them into the dishwasher instead of handwashing to avoid accidental breakage.
Capacity: 7.2 ounces | Dimensions: 6.74 x 4.25 inches | Material: Glass | Cleanup: Dishwasher Safe | Price per glass: $25
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These colorful and stylish glasses by Mamo Glassware (available through Hawkins New York) offer a unique take on the classic coupe glass. With their colorful tapered cylindrical bases and fish bowl-like shape, these glasses provide a retro, mid-century pop for your drinks.
Because of their unique style, these glasses aren’t the perfect fit for certain cocktails. However, the right color combination can emphasize or contrast the drink’s color, elevating its presentation. At $32 per glass, they’re also one of the most expensive we tested, but if you want to make a serious statement with your cocktails for a holiday happy hour or New Year’s Eve party, they’re worth the price.
Capacity: 9 ounces | Dimensions: 5 x 3.8 inches | Material: Glass | Cleanup: Dishwasher Safe | Price per glass: $32
Our Favorite Coupe Glasses
We recommend the Libbey Greenwich Coupe Cocktail Glasses as a great overall set of coupe glasses that deliver on almost every criterion and won’t break the bank. If serving stirred or shaken cocktails is your primary goal, the Cocktail Kingdom Leopold set is the way to go. For the most elegant set of coupe glasses, we recommend the delicate coupes from Glasvin.
How We Tested Coupe Glasses
Food & Wine / Dylan Ettinger
To test each coupe glass, we used each to make a few different styles of drinks and assessed the glass’s performance with each drink.
- Daiquiri Test: For our first test, we made a classic shaken daiquiri garnished with a lime wheel.
- Champagne Test: As coupe glasses are often used to serve sparkling wine, we served a 5-ounce pour of Champagne in each coupe glass.
- Cleanup Test: We hand-washed each glass at least once and noted any issues with construction. We also polished each coupe glass and noted any that easily smudged.
While testing, we paid close attention to the capacity of each glass and wash line to determine if they could properly accommodate the volume of each drink. Throughout the process, we paid close attention to any design nuances that affected performance, any chips or cracks from regular use, and any major issues or annoyances from cleaning the whiskey glasses.
Food & Wine / Dylan Ettinger
Factors to Consider
Sturdiness and Weight Distribution
The ideal coupe glass should be elegant yet sturdy. A glass should be stylish and sleek but not too brittle. Conversely, sturdier glasses can feel clunky, plastic-like, and cheap.
Any tall stemmed glass can be easily tipped over. Top-heavy glasses exacerbate that risk. When testing these glasses, we paid close attention to the weight distribution and if any of them felt more at risk of tipping.
Capacity
As with any cocktail glass, capacity is a crucial factor to consider. The coupe glass should be able to hold an adequately diluted stirred or shaken cocktail with a small amount of space between the rim of the glass and the fill level, commonly referred to as the wash line. If a standard cocktail is served in a coupe glass that’s too big, it will look like the guest is being underserved. If the glass is too small, it might not fit the cocktail/
Design
Design elements can affect a coupe glass’s functionality and a drink’s aesthetics. Coupe glasses tend to vary in size and shape than other styles of glassware — some have more shallow bowls while others have deep, fish bowl-shaped glasses. We noted how these design changes affected the usability, capacity, and aesthetics.
Cleanup and Care
We hand-washed each coupe glass after every use, noting how easy they were to clean and whether design choices impacted the cleaning process. The biggest factor we considered was the durability of the coupe glasses and whether they could withstand hand washing and regular use.
Other Coupe Glasses We Tested
Strong Contenders
Bormioli Rocco Glass Novecento Stemware Cocktail Coupe ($27 at Amazon)
As solid all-around coupe glasses, the Bormioli Rocco Novecento glasses are a good choice. They have a good build quality and simple, elegant design, but we preferred the smaller capacity of the Libbey and Cocktail Kingdom coupe glasses for cocktails.
Food & Wine
CB2 Eve Coupe ($30 at CB2)
This set of coupe glasses from CB2 provides a unique take on the classic design. These vintage-style coupe glasses have a shallow, more cylindrical bowl with vertical ridges on the side. They’re perfect for classic cocktails like a Manhattan, martini, or even Champagne, but the shallowness of the glass makes them a bit prone to spilling.
Food & Wine
What Didn’t Make the List
The biggest disqualifying factor in the coupe glasses we tested was sturdiness. For example, when our set of the Riedel Veritas Coupe Glasses arrived, the stem on one of the coupe glasses was already broken and when we tried removing it from the box, the bowl broke, too. That’s not a great sign of longevity. We also prioritized coupe glasses that had the most versatility. On this front, we found tinted coupe glasses like this set from Estelle hid certain cocktails instead of highlighting them. The stems of Fable’s Coupes felt slightly brittle, and the capacity was too large.
Our Expertise
Dylan Ettinger is a drinks writer specializing in spirits, cocktails, and coffee. He has visited dozens of distilleries across the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean where he has learned from some of the most renowned spirits makers. Over the past few years, Dylan has tested and written extensively about bar tools and glassware.
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