Snifter
Short-stemmed glass with a wide bottom and a narrow top
A snifter (also called brandy balloon, brandy snifter, brandy glass, brandy bowl or a cognac glass) is a type of stemware, a short-stemmed glass whose vessel has a wide bottom and a relatively narrow top. It is mostly used to serve aged brown liquors such as bourbon, brandy and whisky.
01Design
The large surface area of the contained liquid helps evaporate it, the narrow top traps the aroma inside the glass, while the rounded bottom allows the glass to be cupped in the hand, thus warming the liquor. Most snifters will hold 180-240 ml (6-8 US fl oz), but are almost always filled to only a small part of their capacity. Most snifters are designed so that when placed sideways on a level surface, they will hold just the proper amount before spilling.
A variant is called a pipe glass or pipe snifter, used for port and brandy.
02Usage with beer
The attributes that have made the snifter a popular glass for brandy have also made it a preferred glass for some styles of beer, mainly those that feature complex aromas and have an ABV measure of 8% or higher, such as imperial stout, Baltic porter, barley wine, and double India pale ale.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Snifter”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Pipe à Armagnac.jpg by Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Cognac served in a brandy snifter - Evan Swigart (cropped).jpg by Evan Swigart from Chicago, USA, CC BY 2.0
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