Grappa glasses

The shape does real work. In the wide lower section the grappa evaporates and the aroma gathers, in the narrow neck that aroma is compressed into a slim stream, and the slightly flared rim guides the liquid to the tip of your tongue rather than to the back of your throat. Without that constriction you mainly take in alcohol vapour and never taste the grape.

On capacity you choose between roughly 6 and 15 centilitres. A serving is two to four centilitres, so even the smallest glass of 6.4 cl is more than enough. The larger sizes of 11 to 15 cl are meant for young, aromatic grappa where you want more room for vapour. For barrel-aged grappa, which is softer and woodier, a slightly wider bowl works better. A thin rim counts for more here than on any other glass, because you drink in small sips and the glass is therefore constantly at your lip.

Serve young, unaged grappa chilled, at around nine degrees, because cold softens the sharpness and keeps the floral notes upright. Barrel-aged grappa, on the other hand, at room temperature or just below, somewhere around sixteen degrees, because otherwise the vanilla and wood stay closed. Do not chill the glass along with it, since an ice-cold wall covers itself in condensation and that dilutes.

Pour no more than a third of the glass and let it stand for a minute before you nose it. Grappa belongs after the meal, usually after coffee, and in Italy the last drop is sometimes poured into the empty espresso cup. That is called a resentin. If you would rather not drink grappa neat, it works well in a sgroppino, where it is whipped up with lemon sorbet and prosecco into a foamy finish.

Almost all grappa glasses are made of lead-free crystal glass, because clarity matters here: you want to be able to see whether a grappa is water-clear or straw-yellow from the barrel. Schott Zwiesel uses a titanium composition for this that makes the rim considerably harder, and Zwiesel Glas works with a comparable process under its own name. Both brands are dishwasher safe, even though the stems are thin.

Do place the glasses loose in the basket and do not let the bowls touch one another. High-strength alcohol leaves little residue behind, so a short programme at a low temperature is enough. Polish afterwards with a lint-free cloth and store them upright, because a tulip glass standing on its rim chips there first.

If you are looking for a glass for sweet liqueurs rather than spirits, those are with the liqueur glasses, and for ice-cold limoncello from the freezer, with the limoncello glasses. If you want a bowl-shaped glass for cognac or aged brandy, look at the cognac glasses. For jenever, vodka and shots without a tulip shape, the shot glasses are the logical place. And if you want grappa in a cocktail rather than neat, the build is on the sgroppino page, and you will find a related Italian aperitif at the limoncello spritz.