Margarita Glasses

When it comes to festive drinks, it’s hard to find one that represents the spirit and freedom that a margarita represents.  I don’t know if it is margarita glasses themselves that create such a stir or if it is that special nectar made from the agave plant, but it doesn’t seem to matter.  There is a saying like you see in that caption on the picture “take each day with a grain of salt…even better if it is around the rim of a margarita”.  How great is that?  No, I can’t claim that one as my own.

There are many different styles of margarita glasses available.  The standard shape glass is the one you will most likely be served in any Mexican food restaurant or bar.  This one is that classic one with the stem and then the wide bowl.  Sometimes it has a ‘double rounded’ bowl to it, different than a straight-edged martini glass.  The martini glass is more like an inverted triangle.  The margarita glass is more like a flattened or half-melted inverted dairy queen cone.  Can you make out that visual?

In any case, the styles of glasses vary from the very simple and functional to the highly decorative and ornate.  Some classic ones with a little flair come in a variety of festive colors.  You can see a sample of these at the images on the right.  Other margarita glasses just beg to be used at a party or some type of get together.  I couldn’t help myself from including this picture of the margarita glass painted with the words “woman to blame”.  It’s hard to make out on that glass, but the words come from that famous, if not iconic, festive rock and roller, Jimmy Buffet.  This is kind of a homemade version of a themed glass, see the section below for more details on those.

Another great idea is to hand paint your glasses with images of flowers or palm trees or some other type of vacation-y imagery.  Then, even if it is just a Tuesday night at home with your sweetheart, you can still pretend you are both on a tropical island somewhere about to watch a beautiful sunset.  Hey, if you have enough of them, you can pretend about anything!  

Often people will say, what difference does it make to drink a margarita from one of those special glasses or from a regular drinking glass.  That’s when I usually will ask them if there is any difference between driving in their own car or taking the bus, they both get you to where you want to be.  That usually stops that line of questioning!  The point is, it is just way more fun to have a margarita glass in your hand when you are drinking one.  

Margarita glasses are actually functional as well.  They hold the margarita in the bowl and your hand or fingers on the stem and keep it colder.  There is nothing worse than a watered down drink because the heat from your hands melted the ice.  If you get a frozen margarita – not for the purists, mind you – your hands will quickly turn that thing into a watered down version of a once tasty treat.

If you are just in the mood to create some type of theme, then painting your glasses is probably the most effective way to get the look you are after.  However, you will spend countless hours and that time may be better spent setting up for the party and then relaxing.  Unless you have an army of Martha Stewart workers, you might be better off buying a bunch of plastic margarita glasses.  After all, you know that accidents happen at a party.  Besides, people put their glasses down and forget about them all the time.  This way, at the end of the night or morning, you can just put them all in the recycle bin and be done with it.  In fact, you can find some pretty cool themed margarita glasses.  They come with birds on the rim, painted with images of tropical places, colored glasses, some even have cactus stems. 

Holiday margarita glasses simply refer to the fact that they can be adorned with images of whatever holiday is going on at the time.  The most common is Cinco de Mayo.  There is probably more tequila consumed here during that period than the rest of the year combined.  It is definitely a good time. 

No huss, no fuss.  Here is the classic margarita recipe:

Ingredients:
1 ½ ounces of tequila (finest of your choice and budget)
¾ ounces triple sec
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ tablespoon simple syrup
ice

Directions:
Shake it well, pour over ice
Garnish with a lime in a salted-rim margarita glass of your liking

You can find drinking glasses and other sets of plates and flatware at most home retailers.  I also like places like Pier 1 and World Market for stuff like this.  You can always count on Williams Sonoma (see image above) for great quality items as well.  Depending on how you trust shipping, you can always check on Ebay and Amazon for great deals on margarita glasses, a margarita pitcher, different kinds of margarita sets and other ‘bar hardware’.

Menu Cover Info

This site lays out some great information regarding restaurant menu covers and the various styles that are available.

Chandeliers

Here you can find out a little history of the chandelier as well as what makes them so popular. There are many new styles and uses for chandeliers these days.