My New Essential Cocktail Glass
Until recently, my receptacle of choice for most mixed drinks was a coupe glass—I loved the way a cherry-speared toothpick lay elegantly across its top, despite the fact I invariably spilled a little bit of my drink. But for two years running at the party for Canada’s 100 Best Bars, the glass that most caught my eye was something a bit more practical: a Nick & Nora. This year, it held the lushly floral Sakura Gimlet, a creation of the award-winning Vancouver bar and restaurant Botanist at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. It had the same pretty, retro look as a coupe, but was taller and narrower, making it easier to use (and more spill-proof).
What is the history of a Nick & Nora glass?
The revival of the glass in the ’80s is thanks to the legendary bartender Dale DeGroff, the former chief bartender of New York’s Rainbow Room. DeGroff wanted glasses like those in the 1934 movie The Thin Man, in which the glamorous Nick and Nora Charles banter, drink and solve a murder.
Grant Sceney, Botanist’s creative beverage director, heard this directly from DeGroff: DeGroff was so inspired by the movie’s glassware he persuaded a New York glassware company to remake a glass from their archival ’30s catalogue—then kept reordering it. So much so, that eventually its name was changed to the one DeGroff used: the Nick & Nora. And with DeGroff being, as Sceney says, the guy behind “the renaissance of the cocktail in New York,” the glass caught on.
What’s so great about a Nick & Nora?
Besides its retro good looks? It’s spill resistant. “The American V martini glass,” Sceney says, “if you’ve ever tried to carry that on a tray, as soon as you sway to the side, it sloshes out. The Nick & Nora just so elegantly curls back at the top.” And Sceney says that if you add touches such as citrus or a squeeze of lemon oils on top of a drink, it captures the aroma and keeps it at nose level. It’s also the perfect size—not too big, and not too small. And because of its size, it tends to keep the drink cooler for longer—“you’ll finish it before it starts to warm up,” Sceney says. “It’s one of the perfect cocktail glasses.”
What kind of drinks is it good for?
Botanist uses Nick & Noras for martinis, gimlets, sours, Manhattans, daiquiris—anything two-to-three ounces in volume and shaken or stirred.
So what are the other essential cocktail glasses?
The three main glasses Botanist uses, Sceney says, are a rocks glass, a Collins glass and a Nick & Nora. If you want a full wardrobe, you could add a flute and a larger-style coupe glass “for a fizz served up,” he says.
What kind of Nick & Nora should I get?
Botanist uses Riedel’s Nick & Nora glasses. Our food editor also says Nick & Noras are relatively easy to find in vintage stores.
What’s the first drink I should make with one?
The delicate, subtle flavours of Botanist’s gorgeous Sakura Gimlet is inspired by British Columbia’s cherry blossom season. It’s garnished with a beautiful pansy blossom from an organic grower Botanist works with near Whistler, B.C. (Sceney and his colleague flew to Toronto with bags of the flowers in their suitcases!) The flowers, Sceney says, really “speak to the delicacy of cherry blossom season—how unique and fine and exquisite it is.”
And, because many people are gravitating towards lower-alcohol cocktails, Sceney says, this is an “inverted” drink—that is, there’s more vermouth and wine in it than there is gin. Want to try it yourself? Get Botanist’s Sakura Gimlet recipe.
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Born in London, Ontario, Gillian is Chatelaine's deputy editor, digital. She has also worked at Toronto Life and the National Post. Gillian cares deeply about fighting climate change and loves birds, sad lady singers, bikes, baking and wide-legged denim. She lives in Toronto's east end with her partner, two children and Rosie, her very exuberant Bouvier des Flandres.
