How The Teku Compares With Other Beer Glasses
With all that in mind, we wanted to test how much of a difference the Teku made in our own beer-drinking experience. So we hosted a casual tasting at Wirecutters office in Long Island City, New York . Spanning a wide range of beer-drinking experience levels, the panel included writers from several teams, our senior photo editor, the editor of our kitchen and appliance sections, former Wirecutter staffer and New York City beer-tour guide Orr Shtuhl, and Laszlo Fodor, who co-owns IcoNYC Brewing Companyconveniently located across the street from the office.
All of us tried an assortment of beer styles served in a variety of glassware: an IPA glass, a tulip-shaped glass, an imperial pint glass, a weizen glass, a plastic Solo cup, a Libbey Signature Kentfield Estate All-Purpose wine glass, a Teku with laser-etched nucleation points , and a standard Teku.
Most tasters agreed that the beers had a muted flavor and almost no aroma when sipped from a Solo cup or an imperial pint glass in comparison with the more curvaceous glasswarethe IPA, tulip-shaped, weizen, wine, and Teku glasseswhich seemed to foster more vibrant flavor profiles. Beyond that, we didnt perceive any earth-shaking differences an IPA tasted just as grassy and refreshing in a traditional IPA glass as it did in either of the Teku variations or even a wine glass.
Why We Love The Teku Beer Glass
Like people, beer glasses come in all shapes and sizes. Squat, curvaceous snifters. Tall, slender pilsner glasses. Hefty tankards, mugs, and steins. Although most are meant to enhance the flavor of one particular style of beer, making them impractical for use at home, one stands out from the crowd: the Rastal Teku. Its not just a uniquely great beer glassits also the only one you need.
With its angular bowl and delicately flared lip, the Teku makes drinking beer feel like an elegant affair and does more to enhance the nuanced flavors of your brew than a standard pint glass. At the same time, its not fussy: It doesnt take up much space and its easy to clean, and drinking wine, cider, or pretty much anything out of it feels natural.
Our pick
This beer glass beloved by enthusiasts has an angular bowl and a delicately flared lip that can improve the drinking experience. Its voluminous enough to hold an entire 12-ounce can or bottle of beer.
Buying Options
*At the time of publishing, the price was $16.
Teacups With Saucers & Stylish Tea Cups For Coffee
Celebrate afternoon tea with delicious finger sandwiches, macaroons and elegant teacups. Or, satisfy your morning cravings with low-sitting tea cups for coffee that keep both your Americanos and lattes warm petite tea cups are great alternatives to espresso cups. For quick cleanup, consider teacups with saucers that catch small coffee drippings and act as a resting place for your or used tea bags. Either way, tea cups are a convenient solution when switching up your go-to beverage.
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Toasting With Acrylic Drinking Glasses
Enjoy your favorite beverages worry-free with acrylic drinking glasses. Made of durable food-safe plastic, acrylic glasses share the appearance and style of glass but can better withstand drops and spills. Not only does this make them ideal as for backyard soireés, acrylic tumblers also make smart alternatives for little ones who aren’t quite ready to use grown-up tableware. Instead, give them their own place setting featuring an acrylic drinking glass, and a small bowl for health side dishes like veggies and fruits. Be sure to keep an eye out for acrylic glassware with a similar silhouette to the rest of your drinkware to maintain a cohesive aesthetic at the dinner table.
Best Design: Whiskey Peaks Half Dome Beer Glass
Courtesy of Huckberry
This slender beer glass duo gets a big nod for its top-notch design that calls out to any nature lover. At the bottom of each glass is a raised topographic impression of Yosemites famous Half Dome. Plus, theyre made from hand-blown lead glass, which is just as durable but lighter than leaded glass.
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Coffee Cups & Coffee Mugs
Looking for the best way to sip your favorite hot drink? Enjoy tea, coffee, hot cocoa and more in coffee mugs, an espresso cups set, mugs for coffee and coffee cups. Whatever your brew methodelectric kettle, pour-over, or there are a range of different types of coffee mugs, each with a distinct style statement. Not sure which type of coffee cup to pick? Read on for a list of mug cup materials, including glass, porcelain, china and more, to find the best coffee mug for you.
Best For A Variety Of Beers: Libbey Craft Brews Assorted Glass Set
Courtesy of Amazon
Cant pick a favorite beer? With pilsner, English pub, Belgian ale, stout, wheat, and craft pub glasses, this six-piece craft brew set has got you covered. Each glass is meant to bring out the flavors of its specific brew. Its perfect for the beer connoisseur, whether youre aching for an American lager or a pale ale.
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The Tekus Rise To Cult Status
Manufactured by Rastal, a European glassware company, the Teku has garnered a cult following among beer enthusiasts since its introduction in 2006. Teku is a portmanteau of the names of Teo Musso and Lorenzo Kuaska Dabove, two Italian beer experts who collaborated on the glasss design. Mark Verling, beverage director at Tørstan upscale beer bar in Brooklyn, New Yorkknows Musso from his many years in the industry and said that the Teku came about when Musso set out to create the beer equivalent of a wine glass.
Teo owns Baladin Brewery in Italy, and his whole vision was to have beer be as elevated as wine in a restaurant setting, Verling said. He would go to these beautiful, fine-dining establishments in Italy and people would order fabulous bottles of winebut beer was never part of the conversation.
Although the dialogue has largely shifted over the past decade, some people still lament the wine-ification of beer. But according to Verling, the Teku offers a way to fully appreciate the beverage, because it’s a really sophisticated beverage. He continued, A lot of the beers we drink take years to make.
Bernstein noted that the US has been relatively slow in adopting the mindset that great beer deserves great glassware, which has long been the norm elsewhere.
Best Mug: Bormioli Rocco Solid Heavy Large Beer Glasses With Handle
Courtesy of Amazon
A traditional German-style beer mug gets an elevated twist with a base boasting a glass-cut design. The mug is just as functional as it is prettythe base is also weighted, providing stability a large handle makes for a comfortable grip, and its 17.25-ounce capacity allows for ample room for beer.
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Best For Belgian Beer: Libbey Craft Brew Belgian Ale Glasses
Courtesy of Amazon
This 16-ounce, four-piece set is made specifically for Belgian ales. A wide bowl that caves into a narrow top creates a tulip silhouette that will capture a beers head and release its aroma, while a chubby stem prevents the drink from getting warm in your hand and provides durability.
Stainless Steel Travel Coffee Mugs
Need to take your java on the go? Whether you’re commuting to work or skipping your daily coffee run, stainless steel are the best companions when you’re on the go. With insulated interiors, your coffee drink is kept warm or cool for an extended period of time, preserving its delicious flavor. When working from home or relaxing with a good book, enjoy your beverage without spilling your favorite cup for coffee.
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Other Bar Glasses And Barware
Looking for other bar glass styles? Explore specialty designed to enhance the flavor of IPAs, pilsners, stouts and more. There are also red and white wine stemware as well as champagne glasses. In addition to glassware, be sure to consider the bar tools you need for a complete home bar. Shakers, muddlers and stoppers are all essential . If you’re looking to add some additional cheer to your holiday table, shop collections of chic seasonal barware glasses, including , tumblers, highballs, lowballs, complete drink sets and a pair of for your guests. Our selection of glassware for every drink, home aesthetic and occasion is what makes Crate & Barrel the best place to buy glassware. What’s more: bar glasses make for great graduation, birthday and .
Glass Mugs For Coffee
Especially great for hot and cold teas, take on the color and personality of whatever coffee, tea or espresso you choose. Double-walled designs best insulate your beverage, keeping it at the right temperature for longer, and they also minimize condensation. , similar to glass coffee cups, are also ideal for frothy lattes, mulled wines or hot toddies. What’s more: glass mugs for coffee are the best mugs for early risers who love easy to clean and sustainable cups.
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Types Of Plastic Tumblers
Ideal for parties and entertaining, plastic tumblers are available in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes. Serving your favorite drinks on the patio? Make sure you’ve got the right acrylic drinking glasses for each libationthink tall thin acrylic glasses for champagne, plastic margarita glasses for tropical cocktails and for chilled whites. Double old-fashioned glasses, meanwhile, serve as both cocktail glasses and regular drinking glasses for ice water. Once you’ve selected a shape for your acrylic drinkware, consider different styles. Nothing says summer like the bright hues of , while clear acrylic tumblers let the color of the drink inside shine through. When it comes to the details, tapered options have classic appeal while plastic tumblers with raised texture add visual interest to your tablescape. Pair your selection with an acrylic drink dispenser so guests can refill their glasses whenever they want. To ensure that you have enough drinkware to go around, consider buying acrylic glassware in sets. Once you’re done enjoying your beverages, just pop your acrylic cups in the dishwasher for easy cleanup.
Best For Stout Beer: Spiegelau Stout Craft Beer Glass
Courtesy of Wayfair
Another stellar option in German glassware company Spiegelaus craft brew series, this beer glass is tailor-made to accentuate the flavors of roasted malts and dark beers thanks to the shape of its base and the angle of its bowl. A slightly narrowed mouth will capture the head. You can purchase just one or get a set of four.
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A Brief History Of Beer Glasses
As long as theres been beer, theres been a vessel to drink it. The earliest cups made from stone, wood and even leather date back to around 9,000 B.C. Glass beer vessels can be traced back to Roman times, and in the Middle Ages, artisans expanded the beer vessel repertoire to include enameled glass beakers, stoneware tankards and the lidded stein. Pewter ruled the day in the 1800s. As glassmaking and beermaking techniques improved, glass became the preferred material to showcase clearer and more aromatic brews.
Why We Like The Teku Beer Glass
The Teku is a glass beloved by many beer connoisseurs, but from a practical standpoint, one major benefit is that its versatile. Instead of shelves full of glassware in all shapes and sizes, all a beer lover really needs is a set of Teku glasses.
The Teku offers this one-size-fits-all model for beer glassware, said Joshua Bernstein, who has written about beer for Bon Appétit, Saveur, and The New York Times, and last year published his fifth book about beer, Drink Better Beer: Discover the Secrets of the Brewing Experts. It goes with everything from a nice, crisp pilsner to a funky sour ale, and it will be able to handle all of that with depth and style and grace.
Latiesha Cook, co-founder and CEO of Beer Kulture, a nonprofit aimed at fostering inclusivity and diversity in the craft-beer community, noted that Teku glasses are her absolute favorite way to enjoy beer. I’m going to be so bold as to say that we can drink all beers from a Teku glass, she said. And that isnt the case for most other glassware. For example, you wouldnt want to drink something really high in alcohol, like a barrel-aged beer, in a pint glass. But it would be perfectly fine in a Teku.
Jenny Pfäfflin, an advanced cicerone and exam manager for the Cicerone Certification Program, is known as the programs resident Teku guru. She told us: I cant think of anything I wouldnt put in it. Its a very utilitarian glass.
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Best Splurge: Orrefors Metropol Beer Pair
Courtesy of Orrefors
Slender and elegant, this crystal stemware pair makes drinking beer feel fancy. Black undertones at the base elevate a sharp, modern Scandinavian design made to hold up to 15.6 ounces of brew. Just make sure to hand wash this pair so they stay in their prime condition.
Best For Ipas: Spiegelau 2
Courtesy of Amazon
IPAs dont belong in just any beer glass. These 19-ounce glasses were specifically designed by two leading IPA brewers to highlight the best of hop-forward IPA beers. A ridged bottom helps release aromas, while the structure of the base helps create a frothy head that preserves the aromas and enhances the taste.
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Stemmed Tulip And Thistle
Also known as a Belgian glass, the tulip glass loosely resembles a goblet or snifter. Featuring a rounded bowl on a small stem, the glass tapers at the top to capture the beers aroma. The rim curves outward to provide for a foamy head.
Tulip glasses are best suited for strong beers that have ample hop, including double stouts, saisons, Belgian beers and other ales.
For a different take, try a thistle glass. It resembles a stretched-out version of the tulip glass, and has less curvature at the lip. Forego hoppy beers when using this glass, opting for Scottish ales, double IPAs and barleywines instead.
No matter what your preference, the wide bowl on both the tulip and thistle glass makes it easy to swirl the contents and release the aroma.
Best Modern: Iitalla Essence Beer Glass
Courtesy of Bed Bath & Beyond
Wine glass or beer glass? We can hardly tell, this set of four is so sophisticated. These beer glasses boast a contemporary aesthetic with a wide bowl on top of a slender stem, so your beer doesnt get too warm. Subtle black coloring at the base lends an edgy vibe.
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Best Budget: Luxu Pint Glasses
Courtesy of Amazon
These English pub pint glasses are everything you could want in a beer glass: versatile, functional, and budget-friendly. A curve at the top adds style while providing a comfortable grip and creating width in the glass to enhance flavors. You’ll definitely want these staples in your bar cabinet.
Ceramic Coffee Mugs Stoneware Cups & Custom Coffee Mugs
Both rich in color with an artisanal feel, ceramic coffee mugs bring a warm touch to your morning beverages. For instance, oversized earthenware mugs for coffee are great for displaying the delicate layers of full, frothing coffees, lattes and cappuccinos. White or blue glaze are also smart picks for serving hot drinks. Their dense material keeps espresso or hot coffee warm for longer hours, perfect for caffeine lovers who enjoy every minute of their morning brew. What’s more: stoneware mugs are crafted with colorful designs that pair seamlessly with cream-hued place settings or monochromatic dinnerware sets. For a more personal style, opt for monogrammed custom coffee mugs. Their personalized lettering makes the best to refresh their kitchen countertops.
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Types Of Beer Glasses: A Guide To Finding The Right Glass
So you decided to make the transition from beer bottles to glasses. Maybe this choice was made because you want to expand on your barware collection, or maybe its because youre ready to experience the best ale like never before. Whatever the motivation, the ability to differentiate between drinkware is important if you want to get the most out of your hops. Whether you’re a brew expert or casual drinker, our beer glassware guide provides you with the top 13 beer glass typessome common, others not, but all a worthy addition to your home bar.
Why Drink From A Beer Glass
Beer enthusiasts agree: if you want the full beer-drinking experience, its best to own a glass or two for different types of beer styles. Why? The answer is right in front of you…your nose. Connoisseurs know that using your sense of smell while enjoying this adult beverage enhances the flavora missed opportunity when sipping from store-bought packaging. Engaging your sense of sight is also noted as a reason to invest in beer glasses. Being able to see the liquids color and clarity, as well as bubbles and foam, adds to your experience. Not sure if beer is your thing? Explore our to find the best glass for you.
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Why Trust Liquorcom
The items featured in this piece were all tested by Kate Dingwall, a seasoned beverage writer and sommelier who has spent the last five years writing about wine and spirits and the last decade as a working sommelier. Her work appears in a variety of national outlets, both print and digital. Shes the niece of an award-winning Belgian brewer and is always kind enough to help test his new brews.