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Commercial Drinkware

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The glass a drink is served in is part of how that drink reads to the customer, so commercial glassware is picked by the drink. Beer wants a pour line and head space; wine wants a bowl and a stem; spirits want weight in the base. Commercial bar glassware is shaped that way for the pour, not for decoration.

Glassware also breaks, which is why professional glassware is toughened and stackable, and why the shapes in our commercial drinkware range can be reordered the same next year. Commercial drinking glasses come in the standard pour sizes, so you can start with the lines you pour most now and add more as your business grows.

The other decision is glass versus polycarbonate. Glass is the default indoors. Polycarbonate is the answer for outdoor areas, poolside, functions and any venue where glass on the floor is a safety matter, and modern polycarbonate looks much closer to glass than it used to.

The range runs across beer glasses, wine glasses, cocktail glasses, whiskey glasses, champagne glasses and plastic glasses.

Fitting out a bar from scratch? The price guide lists the shapes with their pack prices, so you can set the counts one line at a time.

These are the top FAQs for Commercial Drinkware

How many glasses does a bar need?

Enough for the busiest hour plus everything that will be in the washer during it. A bar that washes mid-rush is slower, and glasses washed in a hurry are the ones that break.

Then add a breakage allowance on the lines you pour most. Most venues run short on the standard beer glass long before anything else.

Is tempered glassware worth it?

In a high-volume bar, usually. Toughened glass resists thermal shock and chipping at the rim, which is where most glasses fail, and that reduces the replacement rate.

It costs more per glass and it is not unbreakable. Where it does break it tends to break completely, which is actually easier to clear than a chipped rim nobody notices.

When should I use polycarbonate instead of glass?

Outdoors, around pools, at festivals and functions, and anywhere a dropped glass means closing the area. Many councils and venues require it in specific zones.

The rest of the time, glass pours better and reads better. Plastic glasses are a tool for specific situations rather than a cost saving.

Does the shape of the glass actually matter?

For beer and wine, yes. A beer glass with the wrong head space pours badly and the customer notices; a wine glass with no bowl loses the aroma entirely.

For spirits and mixers it matters less, which is why hi ball glasses cover so much of a cocktail list between them.

Why do glasses come out of the washer cloudy?

Either mineral deposit from hard water or etching from detergent, and the two look similar. Deposit washes off with a rinse aid or an acid rinse; etching is permanent damage to the glass surface.

Get the chemical dosing right rather than running stronger. See dishwashing chemicals and the commercial glasswashers they are dosed into.

Should glassware go through a glasswasher or a dishwasher?

A glasswasher, where there is one. It runs a shorter, gentler cycle at a lower temperature than a dish machine, which is what keeps rims intact and glass clear.

Putting glasses through a dish machine with plates and cutlery is how rims get chipped. The two machines exist separately for that reason.

How should glasses be stored?

In racks, upside down, in the rack they were washed in wherever possible. Every handling is a chance to chip a rim, and racking straight from the washer removes several.

Glass racks also protect them in storage and transport, which matters most for the function glassware that moves between rooms.

What goes with the glassware on the bar?

Mats, pourers, jiggers and somewhere for wet glasses to sit. Bar mats and bar accessories cover that side.

For a cocktail list, the shakers and strainers matter as much as the glasses. See cocktail equipment and cocktail straws.