As the myth King Louis XVI of France designed the coupe glass using a mold of his wife, Queen Marie “Let them eat cake” Antionette’s breast.
As colorful as that story is, the real inventor was a Benedictine monk in mid-17th century England. This stylish cocktail glass quickly become a favorite across the channel in France.
It was popular for drinking champagne but was replaced by the fluted champagne glasses that retained the bubbles longer. Alas, the coupe glass fell out of fashion until it was revived across the pond in post-prohibition United States to serve cocktails. It’s popularity grew from the 1930s to the 1980s.
The 1980s are known for some really awful concoctions of overly sweet, bright colorful drinks (think “Melon Ball”, “Kamakasi”, “Tequila Sunrise”, “Mud Slide”, “Sex on the Beach” or “Long Island Iced Tea”) – boozey, fruity, drinks that were served in tall Collins glasses or sipped out of a ceramic monkey wearing a fez. In the go go 80s booming economy, young people hit the clubs and bars leading to a shortage of quality bartenders. Pre-mixed bottles of margarita mix, hurricane mix, pina colada mix and strong flavored liquors like Kaluha, Midori, Frangelico, Baily’s Irish Cream and Peach Schnapps were tossed into the blender or poured premixed from the cooler.
I remember one of my college friends back in the late 80s loving a drink called a “57 Chevy with Hawaiian Plates” – he tried to order it at every restaurant we went to – but of course, no one outside of the original place had ever heard of such a thing. Quit the opposite of a classic cocktail like an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan which any competent bartender can make.
There’s no glossing over it, the 1980s were grim for cocktail culture. Bar owners opted for mechanical solutions to a bartending skills deficit. Rather than invest in training their staff to make balanced drinks using freshly squeezed juices they chose to knock out mediocre drinks made using premixes.
– Diffords
In today’s craft cocktail scene with it’s embrace of the classics, the coupe glass once again if finding popularity as an alternative to the martini glass for cocktails served over ice or shaken. After all we all know of the martini glasses faults. They look cool but break easily and spill over even more easily.
The coupe’s design on the other hand provides a curve in the lip of the glass that reins in the liquid. Elegant, stylish and practical, the coupe glass should be the standard glass in anyone’s bar set up. Cheers!
The cocktail construction chart produced at Region 8 of the U.S. National Forest Service. Brightened and colorized for use as a poster. Cleve “Red” Ketcham, National Forest Service Region 8 Engineer (original).
By the way, I did find the recipe for that “57 Chevy with Hawaiian Plates” (recipe below). The ingredients include Southern Comfort, a mass-produced, whiskey-based liqueur which is made more interesting by zippy spice notes of star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, and black cracked pepper, Amaretto liqueur which has a almond flavor with subtle cherry undertones, Grand Marnier’s (cognac and orange essence) orange flavor, the tartness of the cranberry offset by the sweetness of pineapple juice.
’57 Chevy with Hawaiian Plates
THE BIG TOP – Houston, Texas
1 ounce Southern Comfort whiskey
1 ounce Amaretto liqueur
1 ounce Grand Marnier liqueur
Splash of cranberry juice
Splash of pineapple juice
Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into shot glass or serve on the rocks.