Best Martini Glasses: The Right Size, From $4 a Glass

The best martini glasses are smaller than the ones in most stores. A martini is usually 3 to 4 ounces in the glass, and it is served without ice, so the glass has two jobs: hold that pour without sloshing and keep it cold to the last sip. A 5 oz glass does both. A 10 oz glass does neither, and plenty of “martini glasses” on sale today are 9 to 12 ounces.

Below are eleven picks by shape and budget, from a $4 stemless glass to a $52 crystal one, with every price read on the maker’s own site in October 2026. You’ll also find how many to buy, what fits in a freezer, and the oversized glasses to skip.

Who this is for

You make martinis at home, or you’re planning a martini night for the holidays, and you want glasses that look right and drink well. You don’t need a lecture on gin versus vodka. If you want the background on what a martini glass is and how it compares to a coupe and a Nick & Nora, our martini glasses guide is the companion piece. This article is the shopping list.

TL;DR: the best martini glasses

• Best overall: Bormioli Rocco America ’20s Nick & Nora, 4.75 oz, $39.99 for four. Serious Eats’ top pick after testing 10 glasses. Dishwasher-safe, made in Italy.
• Best classic V-shaped glass: Cocktail Kingdom Sterling Slim, 5 oz, $69.99 for six. A V that is actually martini-sized, and dishwasher-safe.
• Best coupe for martinis: Cocktail Kingdom Leopold, 6 oz, $42.49 for six. Stable, dishwasher-safe, and it doubles as your champagne coupe.
• Best Nick & Nora for a crowd: Cocktail Kingdom Nick and Nora, 5 oz, $44.99 for six. About $7.50 a glass.
• Best budget V: IKEA STORSINT, 8 oz, $6.99 a glass. At the top of the size range, so pour carefully.
• Best stemless: Libbey Cosmopolitan, $44.99 for twelve. Under $4 a glass and hard to break.
• Best splurge: Richard Brendon Martini Glass, 6.8 oz lead-free crystal, $104 a pair. Out of stock when we checked; worth the wait.
• The rule: buy glasses between 4.75 and 7 ounces. The shape is a matter of taste. The size is not.

Best martini glasses compared

Prices are list prices on each maker’s site, checked October 6, 2026.

Why size matters more than shape

A martini has no ice in the glass. Once it’s poured, it only gets warmer, so the glass is doing the job ice does in other drinks. That’s why martini glasses have stems (to keep your hand off the bowl) and why size matters so much.

According to Wikipedia’s cocktail glass entry, the original cocktail glass held about 4 ounces, while today’s range runs from 3 to 10 ounces, with oversized glasses of 6 to 12 ounces or more. When Serious Eats tested 10 martini glasses, the sweet spot was about 5 ounces, enough room for a 4 oz martini. Its tester rejected several glasses simply for being too big: pours looked tiny, or warmed before they were finished. Alice Lascelles, who wrote a book on the martini, makes the same case in the Financial Times: most cocktail glasses today are far too big, and about 150 ml (5 oz) is right.

Here is the pour math. Serious Eats put it simply: a 5 oz glass “holds a drink of around three to four ounces,” which is a normal martini once it has been stirred with ice. Put that same drink in a 10 oz glass and it looks stingy; of a 10 oz Luigi Bormioli glass, the Serious Eats tester wrote that her pours “looked Lilliputian.” And the more empty glass there is above the drink, the more you slosh when you walk it across the room.

So check the capacity before you check the price. If a listing doesn’t give the ounces, skip it.

Best overall: Bormioli Rocco America ’20s Nick & Nora, $39.99 for four

The America ’20s Nick & Nora won Serious Eats’ martini glass test, and it’s easy to see why. At 4.75 ounces it holds a proper martini with no wasted space. The bowl curves in at the top, so the drink doesn’t slosh when you walk it to the couch, and the small bowl stays cold.

The specs from Bormioli Rocco’s US site: 3 inches across, 6.2 inches tall, lead-free glass the maker calls Star Glass, a laser-cut thin rim, a flat stable foot, dishwasher-safe, made in Italy. The bowl has vintage-style facets that catch the light.

The catch: a Nick & Nora doesn’t look like the cartoon martini glass. If the V silhouette is the point for you, skip to the next pick. If you just want the best glass to drink a martini from, this is it.

Best classic V-shaped martini glass: Cocktail Kingdom Sterling Slim, $69.99 for six

Most V-shaped glasses are too big. The Sterling Slim is the exception: a narrow V that holds 5 ounces, from a company that makes glassware for bars. Cocktail Kingdom describes it as “ideal for high-volume martini service,” made in Europe from crystalline glass, and dishwasher-safe. It measures 3.2 inches across and 6.9 inches tall.

The narrow V matters. A wide V is what spills; a narrow one keeps the liquid deeper and the rim smaller. At about $11.70 a glass it costs more than the Nick & Nora picks, and it is the V-shaped glass we’d buy.

If you want the V in a gift box instead, A Bar Above’s Classic Martini Glass is 6 ounces of tempered, lead-free glass at $29 for two. It comes boxed. A Bar Above recommends hand washing its stemmed glasses to keep them intact.

For a vintage look, Bormioli Rocco’s America ’20s Martini matches our top pick: a faceted V at 7.75 ounces, $44.99 for four, dishwasher-safe. It’s at the top of our size range, so it suits a generous pour.

Best coupe for martinis: Cocktail Kingdom Leopold, $42.49 for six

A coupe is the martini glass many bartenders reach for, and Wikipedia notes the V has “somewhat fallen out of favour” because it spills. A coupe’s rounded bowl is steadier in the hand, and it is the same glass you’d use for champagne, a daiquiri, or a French 75, so one set covers most “up” drinks.

Cocktail Kingdom’s Leopold coupe comes in 6 oz ($42.49 for six) and 7.5 oz ($44.99 for six). Both are dishwasher-safe and built for commercial use. Get the 6 oz for martinis; get the 7.5 oz if you also want room for foamy drinks like an espresso martini or a sour. Our coupe glasses guide covers the shape in more depth.

If you’d rather have two boxed coupes as a gift, A Bar Above’s Classic Coupe is 7 ounces of lead-free crystal glass at $31 for two.

Best Nick & Nora for a crowd: Cocktail Kingdom, $44.99 for six

If you want the shape that won Serious Eats’ test but need more than four, Cocktail Kingdom’s plain Nick and Nora glass is 5 ounces, dishwasher-safe, and $44.99 for six, about $7.50 a glass. It’s built for commercial use, which at home means it survives the dishwasher and the occasional knock.

Cocktail Kingdom credits bartender Dale DeGroff with coining the name, after the husband-and-wife detectives of the 1930s Thin Man films. Six of these and a pitcher of stirred martinis is a holiday party.

Best budget martini glass: IKEA STORSINT, $6.99

The IKEA STORSINT martini glass is the cheapest real V-shaped glass we’d put on a table: $6.99 each (IKEA’s online minimum is two), made of what IKEA calls crystalline glass, rated 4.6 out of 5 across 241 reviews when we checked.

The catch is size. At 8 ounces it sits at the very top of the range we recommend, so a 3 oz martini will look modest in it. Pour a slightly bigger drink, or use it for cosmopolitans and other shaken drinks that come out larger. If budget is the main concern and you don’t need the V, the Cocktail Kingdom Nick & Nora is about the same price per glass and a better size.

Best stemless martini glasses: Libbey Cosmopolitan, about $3.75 a glass

Stemless martini glasses are a trade-off. They’re nearly impossible to tip, they fit in a freezer and a dishwasher, and they survive a crowded party. But your hand warms the drink, which is exactly what the stem exists to prevent; Wikipedia notes that stemless cocktail glasses “warm very quickly.” VinePair, ranking nine martini glass shapes, put both stemless styles at the bottom.

If you still want them (outdoor parties, small kids around, a home bar that sees a lot of elbows), Libbey’s Cosmopolitan glasses were Serious Eats’ stemless pick. They hold 8.25 ounces, stand 3.9 inches tall, are dishwasher-safe and lead-free, and cost $44.99 for twelve ($3.75 a glass) or $29.99 for four. Hold them low on the base and drink a little faster.

Best outdoor martini glasses: Cocktail Kingdom Acrylic Nick and Nora, $45.99 for six

For a pool, patio, or rooftop, Cocktail Kingdom makes its 5 oz Nick & Nora in shatterproof acrylic, $45.99 for six. It is the right size and shape, which most plastic martini glasses are not. Hand wash them: Cocktail Kingdom says they aren’t rated for dishwasher temperatures above 175°F.

The splurge: Richard Brendon Martini Glass, $104 a pair

The Richard Brendon Martini Glass is the one to buy if you want a crystal V that’s worth the money. Brendon says he refined the proportions to “a steeper profile and a smaller diameter” so it drinks without spills, and designed the collection with London bartenders. It’s lead-free crystal, 6.8 ounces, 7.1 inches tall and 3.9 inches across, and unusually for thin crystal, the maker recommends the top rack of the dishwasher over hand washing.

It costs $104 for two or $184 for four (about $46 to $52 a glass). It was out of stock on Richard Brendon’s US site when we checked in October 2026, so sign up for the restock alert if you want it for a holiday gift.

Best espresso martini glasses (or just use a coupe)

You don’t need a dedicated espresso martini glass. An espresso martini is shaken hard and finishes with a layer of foam, and the foam wants a rounded bowl with a little headroom: a 7 to 7.5 oz coupe like the Leopold or A Bar Above’s Classic Coupe is ideal. Even Bemelmans Bar in New York, which serves its classic martinis in a V-shaped glass, uses a different glass for espresso martinis “because of the foam,” its general manager told Wine Enthusiast.

A Nick & Nora works too if you keep the pour to about 4 ounces. A wide V is the worst choice: the foam sits in a thin layer and the drink slides around. For recipes to put in these glasses, see our vodka cocktail recipes and holiday cocktail recipes.

How to choose martini glasses

• Capacity: 4.75 to 7 ounces. Under that, a modern pour won’t fit. Over 8, the drink looks small and warms before you finish.
• Shape: pick the drinking experience you want. The Nick & Nora spills least, the coupe is the most versatile, the V looks the most like a martini.
• A narrow V over a wide one. Serious Eats found glasses with a bowl much wider than the base felt top-heavy and tippy.
• A thin rim. Thick, heavy glasses (including some fancy cut crystal) felt clunky in Serious Eats’ test. Thin walls let the drink flow.
• A stem you can hold. Serious Eats liked a stem of about 4 inches: long enough to keep your hand off the bowl, short enough not to feel fragile.
• Dishwasher-safe if you’ll use them often. Most of our picks are; check the maker’s listing before you buy a set you’ll have to hand-wash.
• Freezer height. If you plan to chill glasses in the freezer, measure the shelf. A 6.2 inch Nick & Nora fits where a 7.1 inch crystal V may not.

How many martini glasses you actually need

Freezer space is usually the real limit. Twelve stemmed glasses can take a whole freezer shelf, so for a big party, chill four or six at a time and swap them out, or fill the rest with ice while you mix and dump it before you pour. Our dinner party guide covers how a cocktail fits into the rest of the evening.

Martini glasses as a gift

• Under $35: A Bar Above’s Classic Martini Glasses ($29 for two) or Classic Coupes ($31 for two), both in a gift box.
• Under $50: Bormioli Rocco America ’20s Nick & Nora, $39.99 for four. Pair it with a good bottle of gin or vodka and a cocktail shaker set for a complete martini gift.
• Splurge: Richard Brendon Martini Glass, $104 for two, if it’s back in stock.

What to skip

• 10 to 12 oz “martini” glasses. They’re everywhere: Libbey’s own Vina martini glass holds 12 ounces and its Signature Kentfield martini glass 10. Schott Zwiesel’s Bar Special martini glass (formerly Classico) holds 272 ml, about 9.2 ounces, and Serious Eats called a Classico martini glass “far too big.” Lovely glasses, wrong job.
• Wide, shallow V’s. They look dramatic and spill at the first step. Pick a narrow V or a coupe.
• Stemless glasses for a slow martini. Fine for a party, wrong for a drink you plan to nurse.
• Stemless “chiller” glasses that sit in a bowl of ice. VinePair ranked them dead last; the melting ice ends up on your hands and the table.
• Heavy cut crystal. Thick glass is pleasant to look at and clunky to drink from.
• Plastic party-store martini glasses indoors. If you need unbreakable, buy acrylic that’s the right size and shape.
• A full set of twelve before you know your shape. Buy four, drink from them for a month, then buy more.

FAQ

What are the best martini glasses? For most people, the Bormioli Rocco America ’20s Nick & Nora: 4.75 oz, dishwasher-safe, made in Italy, $39.99 for four, and the top pick in Serious Eats’ test of 10 martini glasses. If you want the classic V shape, Cocktail Kingdom’s 5 oz Sterling Slim ($69.99 for six) is right-sized and dishwasher-safe. For a coupe, Cocktail Kingdom’s 6 oz Leopold is $42.49 for six. On a tight budget, IKEA’s 8 oz STORSINT is $6.99 a glass.

What size should a martini glass be? About 5 to 7 ounces. A martini is usually 3 to 4 ounces in the glass once it has been stirred with ice, so a 5 oz glass holds it with room to carry it without spilling. Serious Eats found about 5 oz to be the sweet spot, and Wikipedia notes the original cocktail glass held about 4 oz. Anything 8 oz or bigger makes a normal pour look small and lets the drink warm before you finish it.

Is a Nick and Nora or coupe better than a martini glass? For drinking, usually yes. A Nick & Nora’s inward-curving rim spills less and its small bowl keeps the drink cold, which is why it won Serious Eats’ test. A coupe is more stable than a V and doubles as a champagne and cocktail glass. The V-shaped martini glass wins on looks and tradition. If you buy one stemmed cocktail glass, make it a coupe or a Nick & Nora; add V-shaped glasses for martini nights.

Should you keep martini glasses in the freezer? Yes, if you have room. A frozen glass keeps a martini cold longer, since martinis are served without ice. If your freezer is full, fill the glass with ice while you stir the drink, then dump it before pouring. Check the height first: a tall V glass like the 6.9 inch Sterling Slim will not fit every freezer shelf, while a Nick & Nora or stemless glass usually will.

Are martini glasses dishwasher safe? Many are. Bormioli Rocco, Cocktail Kingdom’s glass Nick & Nora, Leopold, and Sterling Slim, Libbey’s Cosmopolitan, and Richard Brendon’s crystal martini glass are all listed as dishwasher-safe by their makers. A Bar Above recommends hand washing its stemmed martini and coupe glasses, and acrylic glasses should be hand washed. Load stems so they cannot knock together, and skip high-heat drying.

What glass do you use for an espresso martini? A coupe or a Nick & Nora. An espresso martini is shaken hard and finishes with a layer of foam, and a rounded bowl holds the foam and is easier to carry than a wide V. Some bars keep a separate glass for espresso martinis for exactly that reason. You do not need a dedicated espresso martini glass; a 6 to 7.5 oz coupe like the Leopold does the job.

The bottom line

The best martini glasses for most homes are four Bormioli Rocco Nick & Noras at $39.99, or six Cocktail Kingdom Nick & Noras at $44.99 if you host. Want the V? Buy the 5 oz Sterling Slim, not the 10 oz glass next to it on the shelf. Want one glass for martinis and champagne? Buy Leopold coupes. Whatever you choose, keep it between 5 and 7 ounces and put it in the freezer an hour before guests arrive. For the rest of your glassware, our types of cocktail glasses guide shows which glass each drink goes in, and our best champagne glasses roundup covers the flutes.