Kir Royale
15 ml Crème de cassis, 120 ml Champagne, 1 Blackberry
The champagne flute
Tall and narrow, built to keep what a coupe lets go.
About 170 ml to the brim
8 cocktails here
Where it comes from
Flute-shaped glasses are old, but they became the standard celebratory glass after the Second World War, through the 1950s and 1960s, replacing the coupe. The narrow bowl slows the escape of bubbles, which is what the shape is for, and it gathers less aroma than a wide one, which is what it costs. That is a trade rather than a winner: the flute keeps the fizz, the coupe gives the smell, and a tulip-shaped glass sits between the two.
Nothing about the glass improves a cheap bottle. It keeps a good one from going flat on the way to the table, and that is the whole of its job.
What to look for
A stem you can hold, and a bowl that tapers the whole way rather than flaring at the rim.
Served in a champagne flute
All cocktails →
Virgin Bellini
50 ml Peach purée, 5 ml Lemon juice, 100 ml Soda water, 1 slice Peach
Grapefruit Spritz
80 ml Grapefruit juice, 100 ml Tonic water, 40 ml Soda water, 1 sprig Rosemary, 1 twist Grapefruit peel
Bellini
100 ml Sparkling wine, 50 ml Peach purée, 1 slice Peach
French 75
30 ml Gin, 15 ml Lemon juice, 15 ml Simple syrup, 60 ml Champagne, 1 Lemon twist
Mimosa
75 ml Sparkling wine, 75 ml Orange juice, 1 Orange twist
Pussyfoot
60 ml Orange juice, 15 ml Lemon juice, 10 ml Lime juice, 10 ml Grenadine, 1 egg white, 1 Orange twist
Death in the Afternoon
30 ml Absinthe, 120 ml Champagne