Which Glass is the Best for Champagne?

Coupe glasses are back in style and are being used in a wide variety of cocktails, not just for the champagne that they were originally used for. Since they’re now a bar staple, it is becoming very common to see champagne served in coupe glasses. This is mostly done for looks, since some bartenders consider the high flutes to look a bit “dated” compared to the now-trendy coupe glasses, without considering which glass might actually be best for serving champagne. So, should you use a flute or a coupe to serve champagne?

Cook’s Illustrated tacked this bar question briefly in a recently issue (Jan/Feb 2014) by testing out both champagne flutes and coupe glasses with generous pours of bubbly and serving them to a panel of taste testers. The tasters found the champagne in the coupes to be fizzier at first, but less flavorful than the champagne served in flutes. Flutes made the champagne seem a touch less bubbly, but they concentrated the aromas of the wine so that tasters were actually able to appreciate the citrusy, floral and fruity aromas of the sparkling wine. There have actually been studies done that support the findings of the Cook’s Illustrated taste test. You will have a good champagne experience no matter what sort of glass you choose to drink out of, but you will have a better one if you serve your champagne (or champagne cocktail) in a long, narrow glass instead of a wide one.