The Coupe

 

Some of my favorite local bars have been using the champagne coupe as their choice glass to serve my favorite cocktail, a straight up martini. The look of the glass is elegant and sophisticated, simple yet refined.

J & I have been serving our cocktails in coupe glasses for those longing for some parlor patter.

A little interesting information from the web:

The champagne coupe or champagne saucer is a shallow, broad-bowled, stemmed glass. The glass was designed especially for champagne in England in 1663, preceding those aristocrats by almost a century.

The coupe came into fashion in the 1930s. It was popularized in post-prohibition America at the Stork Club, where champagne flowed freely and celebrities had bottles of champagne sent to their tables, compliments of the house. The coupe was the champagne glass of choice through the 1960s.

The broad surface area allows champagne to lose its carbonation more quickly, making it less suitable for the current style of very dry champagnes, compared to the sweeter champagnes that were popular in the 1930s, and therefore fell out of fashion except for traditional occasions such as weddings. It may also be used in situations where less carbonation is desirable, in order to reduce burping by the guests. Due to its shape it is also much less satisfactory for those wishing to appreciate the bouquet and aroma of the finest champagnes. The coupe is now more commonly used for certain cocktails.

I love the glasses and their retro feel.

Then I saw this on the Ralph Lauren facebook page:

“The Pine Flip is essentially a pine-flavored eggnog,” says Scala. “We used [pine-infused] vodka and Chartreuse Verte to add herbaceous, alpine aromas and flavors. A little bit of Bols Genever turns it up with a juniper flavor but still keeps the cocktail smooth and rich. Add some winter bitters on top, like pine bitters or another [kind] made from a wintry spice, and you have yourself a frothy, alpine eggnog!”

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1½ oz. pine-infused vodka
• ¾ oz. Chartreuse Verte
• ½ oz. Bols Genever
• ½ oz. sweetener, such as agave nectar cut with water
• Licorice bitters or pine bitters, for garnish

Break an egg into a shaker, and shake it. Add all the other ingredients, and shake with ice until the contents thicken. Double-strain into a chilled champagne coupe, and garnish with a few drops of licorice bitters or pine bitters. Cheers!

I love the smell of pine, so I wonder if I’d like this drink. It is a pretty one. I have never heard of pine-infused vodka or Chatreuse Verte or Bols Genever. Who knew?

Check it out in RL Magazine.

Cheers to Coupes, y’all!