In a world in which Riedel Crystal uses science to create tulip-shaped fish bowls perfected to enjoy the delicacies of an Oregon Pinot and sexy hour-glass stemware flawlessly crafted so that neat spirits can scintillate one's palate, one must wonder why the latest cocktail glass craze isn't one of these modern-day marvels of craftsman, but rather a glass purportedly created as a replication of Marie Antoinette's perky A cup.
The coupe glass, a small round glass bowl on a long stem (a necessity when serving champagne throughout most of the '60s) has made a serious comeback since it was created in the 18th Century. Yet, the traditional triangular cocktail glass that has infiltrated the American psyche and spawned martini bars in even the smallest of towns might soon have to take the backseat to the coupe, a glass created for smaller cocktails with more booze, less mixer and bitters.
It is the revival of the great American cocktails that is bringing this glass back into fashion. Mango basil margaritas shaken up with chile verde spicy salt must move aside. The cocktails that fill the coupe glasses are typically made of strong whiskey, cognac, dark rum and bitters. Flavored vodkas almost never have a home in the coupe glass; they don't command the respect needed to pull off the great-grandfather of the glass collection. It is a fine glass made for sipping - sophisticated and timeless. It is not the glass for pink cosmopolitans and the Sex in the City crowd. It's the vessel for brown cocktails doused with absinthe and 100-year-old sherry. - Columbine Quillen
Seventh Regiment Cavalry Punch
The history of this cocktail is not entirely known, but it is believed to be in honor of the Seventh Regiment during the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, aka Custer's Last Stand.
1 oz sherry
1 tsp sugar
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz raspberry syrup
Add a dash of dark Jamaican rum
Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.
