Why You Should Be Drinking Tequila Out Of A Whiskey Glass

We're living in an adult-beverage renaissance. Margaritas have been introduced to Jägermeister, martinis have been getting serious with espresso shots and coffee liqueur, Shirley Temples have learned to embrace vodka, and amaro spritzes have gone booze-free altogether. In other words, many spirits are breaking free from the confines of tradition while retro sippers are making a comeback. It's a big ol' party, and every kind of libation is invited, alcoholic or otherwise.

Tequila is the latest guest to arrive, but not in its usual dive-bar getup of a shot glass adorned with salt and a lime wedge. Instead, it is sporting an elegant new gown that bears the likeness of a tulip. It's a vessel usually reserved for fine whiskey and bourbon, but tequila pulls it off.

As any whiskey aficionado will tell you, tulip glasses allow you to taste the complex notes of the spirit while a shot glass muddles them. Why not let the subtle flavors of tequila get the same VIP treatment?

If you're an evolved tequila drinker who has already disentangled the spirit from its shot-glass past, you might have grown accustomed to sipping a thumb or two of the blue agave liquor in a rocks glass or even a champagne flute. The two are certainly better at showcasing the notes of a good tequila better than a shot glass, but a tulip glass does an even more thorough job.

"Tulip glasses are typical to whiskey and enhance the nosing experience often associated with an aged spirit," Bertha González Nieves, the founder of the small-batch tequila company Casa Dragones, explains to Food & Wine. "A good whiskey glass like a tulip glass will enable you to properly nose these extraordinary notes found in our Añejo, such as fresh floral, pear, and subtle notes of figs."

The tapered mouth of the tulip glass, sometimes called a copita-style glass, does a great job of bringing out a spirit's aroma. Therefore, it's also a good choice for beer and other carbonated beverages.

From Liquor.com to the Los Angeles Times, imbibers agree that the tulip glass is the best vessel for craft beer. In a 2023 roundup, The Beer Exchange listed the best tulip glasses explicitly made for beer. "A tulip glass aids in the texture and general balance of the beer's development," allowing you to appreciate the flavor, writes the outlet.

Not only does it look fancy, but the shape of the glass also yields a neat and tiny head of foam. That foam is like an advertisement for the beer beneath; it's chock-full of concentrated smells and flavors that come to light in a tulip glass. Moreover, the mouth's delicately curved edge prevents the foam from escaping like it might from an overfilled pint glass.