There’s a wide and wonderful world of cocktail glassware and drinkware out there, even if you don’t count the intense variety of tiki mugs. Where does one even begin? Do you need to have the perfect glass for every drink? How does one accumulate that much glassware? How does one have enough space?!

Fear not! The glassware game can be as simple as you want. Or as complex as you’re inclined to make it.

If you’re not the fancy type, then let’s be honest; just about any glass will do for just about any cocktail. Hell, grab a coffee mug. You just need something to hold your booze while you’re sipping on it.

But we do like to get at least a little bit fancy here at The Cocktail Dork. So, let’s lay out some basics. To keep myself happy, I need two basic types of glasses for cocktails: a glass for drinks served on the rocks, and a glass for drinks served up.

On the rocks is pretty easy. Most any regular glass for that will do. A basic tumbler that holds a few hundred mL of drink and a few ice cubes is all you really need here.

For drinks served up, a wine glass could work, but it’s less than ideal, as it’s a little large for our purposes. I’m looking for something more in the 150mL range to really hold that drink right and not feel too empty when you pour that cocktail in. The classic coupe is always great. And everyone loves a martini glass.

My favorite is the Nick and Nora glass, named after the famous detective and his wife of alcoholic fame. It has a nice stem to hold on to, but it feels a bit more compact and less top-heavy than a coupe or a martini glass.

With these two types of glasses, I feel pretty comfortable making and enjoying nearly any cocktail. This was all I wanted to get started, but once I’ve got the basics of my home bar all sorted again, I’m sure I’ll branch out into many other wonderful drink holders. But I’ll save the specialty glassware for a later post.