What’s the Distinction Between a Rocks Glass and an Previous Usual Glass?

On paper, the rocks and the Previous Usual glass serve related functions. Each are brief glasses meant for holding neat pours, a spirit with an ice dice or two, or cocktails equivalent to a Sazerac and, sure, an Previous Usual.

Each glasses carry out this job nicely, although there are a couple of key variations between the 2. The most important distinction is the dimensions: The Previous Usual glass is smaller, sized to carry a single Previous Usual with a big dice of ice or smaller cubes. The rocks glass (or double Previous Usual glass) presents a bigger capability—ultimate for a much bigger blended drinks or these with a beneficiant quantity of ice.

What else defines these two glasses? That will help you discover which glassware is true on your pour, we explored the slight variations and in contrast the highest manufacturers of each types.

The Previous Usual Glass

The Previous Usual is an iconic drink, beloved by literary icons and bartenders alike. There have been three drinks culinary legend James Beard swore by: a Dry Martini, a dry Daiquiri, and “an Previous Usual with none refuse in the way in which of fruit.” 

Early whiskey drinks weren’t served within the Previous Usual glass as we all know it as we speak, nevertheless. Within the seventeenth and 18th centuries, whiskey glasses had been shallow, rounded silver or wood glasses known as quaichs.

The rounded backside caught round by way of the 18th century, and by then, glasses had been often known as tumblers. Legend has it that the glasses earned this identify as a result of they might tumble over and break in the event you set them down.

In 1862, Jerry Thomas wrote in his bartender’s information that the Whiskey Cocktail (the sooner iteration of the Previous Usual) was shaken over advantageous ice and strained right into a “fancy” purple wine glass.

As we speak’s Previous Usual glass seems slightly totally different. It holds between six to eight ounces, or a two-ounce pour of whiskey plus ice. An Previous Usual glass includes a low profile, a large diameter, a thick base, and a flat backside, excellent for muddling and enormous sufficient to carry a handful of small cubes or one good, plump rock.

Previous Usual glasses are designed for the drink to be constructed instantly in them. Within the case of an Previous Usual, which means you’ll add sugar, bitters, a splash of water, and citrus peel to the glass, muddle till the sugar is dissolved, add ice and whiskey, and stir till dilution is achieved. Some various stirred and spirit-forward cocktails to make on this fashion of glass are a Sazerac, a Vieux Carré, and a Negroni.

The Rocks Glass

Though Previous Usual, rocks, and lowball glasses are sometimes marketed as the identical factor, there are slight nuances that separate Previous Usual glasses from rocks glasses. The first distinction is the dimensions: Because the identify implies, Previous Usual glasses are sized to carry precisely one Previous Usual.

Rocks glasses range extra in measurement and are historically seven ounces or bigger. Previous Usual glasses had been typically extra well-liked earlier than Kold-Draft and large-format ice trended, however now that giant, slick, hand-cut ice has develop into a fixture of bars, bigger rocks glasses have stepped into play.

The dimensions makes rocks glasses extra versatile. With practically double the capability of an Previous Usual glass, this glass is good for drinks which have the next proportion of non-alcoholic mixers. You can also make an Previous Usual or go for any variety of different cocktails which have a number of components equivalent to a Penicillin or the Petronio from Alquímico, our International Highlight Winner 2023.

For those who’re on the fence about which glass to purchase, search for a rocks glass. There’s no must personal each glasses, and the rocks glass pulls double obligation for Previous Fashioneds and a variety of different drinks. Bonus: the Yarai Rocks Glass from Cocktail Kingdom doubles as an impromptu mixing glass.