The Tiny Cordial Glass Is Designed to Serve ‘Just Enough of Something Special’
Dainty and elegantly designed, the cordial glass is the darling of the bar cabinet, one whose diminutive stature belies its impact as a vessel imbued with history, aesthetics and ceremonial flair.
Once ubiquitous, the tiny stemware fell out of favor as more versatile, universal glassware took hold. But bartenders and home cocktailians have recently been rediscovering this twee tipple holder.
“There’s just something intoxicating about the cordial glass,” according to Dianne O’Connor, founder and CEO of Weston Table, an online homeware marketplace. “Its restrained size yet appealing presence has renewed its reputation.”
‘Just Enough of Something Delicious’
The widely-accepted definition of a cordial glass is a petite glass with a flared top whose bowl is designed to hold around an ounce-and-a-half to two ounces of liquid, according to Laurie Furber, the founder of Elsie Green, a mostly vintage digital and brick-and-mortar shop in Northern California. It often touts a tall stem, but sometimes just an attractive foot.
“Typically it’ll have some sort of drama to the design—be very short or very tall, with etched details or cut panels—to give it a bit of ceremony,” Furber says. “Its purpose is to dispense just enough of something delicious.”
“They’re sexy. They’re sophisticated. They’re a smooth way to end a meal,” declares Will Patton, beverage director for Hive Hospitality and managing partner of the Washington, D.C. cocktail bar Press Club.
But while he describes a cordial glass as generally stemmed and tulip-shaped, he also submits that it’s a glassware style that’s tricky to generalize.
“Cordials are such a broad and diverse category, with distinct ties to culture of origin, that it’s hard to say that the traditional Western dessert wine glass should be conflated with the standard cocktail glass.”
After all, he adds, Chartreuse is often served in a snifter, while Italian amaro can be sipped neat in a rocks glass.
The Cordial Glass’s Disappearing Act — and Reemergence
As O’Connor explains, the cordial glass has its roots in the digestif culture of fifteenth-century Europe, when fortified wines, brandies, liqueurs and spirits were infused with fruits, herbs and spices to sip after dinner.
“The petite size of the glass was originally purported to serve ultra-concentrated alcohol that would aid in digestion following an evening of feasting,” she says. The glass itself was created in the 1700s, became fashionable with European nobility in the nineteenth century and eventually found its way across the pond.
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“Cordial glasses were at the height of their popularity in the mid-1800s and remained a staple in American glassware collections through the 1950s,” Furber says. Institutions including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Museum of American Art and Corning Museum of Glass have curated collections of highly sought-after examples crafted throughout the decades, including opaline and blue milk glass from 1920s France, to American-made cobalt, emerald and ruby.
In the post-Prohibition and post-World War II era, however, when the ritual of sipping cordials dimmed and the vodka martini became king, the eponymous glass began gathering dust in bar cabinets and curios.
However, the modern drinking renaissance, which places renewed emphasis on artisanal, craft beverages of all kinds for sipping, shaking and stirring, is breathing new life into this overlooked relic.
When to Use a Cordial Glass
Basically, a small portion of any liquor-based drink can be served in a cordial glass, including after-dinner liqueurs, digestifs and eau de vies. Some restaurateurs prefer to use them for an extra special touch for drinks service at all points in a meal.
At KATO, a Taiwanese restaurant in Los Angeles that stocks entirely vintage glassware for its drinks program, co-owner, director of operations and sommelier Ryan Bailey has found other purposes.
“We use them in our flights or pairings, to serve a split pour of something neat or to present a taste of something from our back bar that a guest is interested in.”
However, he personally eschews them for spirits that have complex aromas, like amaros.
“A cordial glass doesn’t have enough room for aeration, so they don’t do those beverages justice,” he says.
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But when the historical glass is used fittingly, he believes it can add to a drink’s presentation, backstory and tradition.
In addition to drinks like limoncello and Grand Marnier, Furber thinks grappa’s high alcohol content and propensity to be enjoyed after a meal makes it a fitting beverage for a cordial glass, and loves when bars use it in place of a shot glass to dispense a small portion of a sipping tequila.
The only thing that’s sure not to pair well with the cordial glass, she says, are guests who overstay their welcome. “If they’re reading the signs, they know that when the cordials come out, it’s time to think about going home.”
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