Is A Coupe The Same As A Martini Glass?

In the wide world of barware, there are drinking vessels for almost every occasion. There are Champagne flutes for New Year's Eve toasts, stemmed margarita glasses for the best salted rim presentation, balloons for ice-packed gin and tonics, and martini glasses for that classic cocktail. Then there's the coupe, which, at a glance, could easily stand in for a martini glass. But they aren't quite the same thing.

Most obviously, a coupe glass is bowl-like and a martini glass will always have its signature V shape. Both are stemmed. The dainty, rounded coupe actually predates those big, sharp martini glasses. The old rumor that the coupe was fashioned after a part of Marie Antoinette's anatomy, while unverified, anecdotally dates it much further back than the martini glass. The first famed appearance of the martini glass wasn't until 1925 at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. But it was the martini glass that would go on to become a chic symbol as iconic as its eponymous beverage — James Bond's incorrect signature order notwithstanding.

Most of your bar's glassware is going to have its primary function, and maybe one other application. Even wine glasses technically aren't as adaptable as they might appear, with different types for red or white. Yes, it might seem a little pedantic, but that precision has its place. The martini's angles, for example, keep drink ingredients properly blended, while its edges help hold garnishes like olives and pearl onions. The coupe is said to be less likely to spill than its martini counterpart. Both glasses' stems are intended to keep your drink colder longer, keeping warm hands away.

Now, while a martini glass can just as readily accommodate a Manhattan, cosmo, Gibson, or titular imitators (espresso "martinis" come to mind), you wouldn't use it for your Champagne or sparkling white wine. The coupe, however, can elegantly handle all of the above. It's among your glassware's more catch-all options. As Leandro DiMonriva of The Educated Barfly previously told Chowhound of the coupe: "This will take the place of the martini glass and sour glass so you don't need to buy them separately."