Stocking your bar with glassware can be as daunting and expensive as stocking it with liquor.  Some people would say that all you really need to stock a bar is deep wine glasses because you can serve everything from cocktails to beer in them.  Others would say at the bare minimum you should have short old-fashioned glasses and tall high ball glasses.

Whatever you decide to add to your collection of glassware, remember that the most important thing is to keep it shiny and clean.

Here is a run-down of the most common cocktail glasses on the market.

Beer Mug: This is made of large thick glass, looks like a coffee cup and holds about 12 oz. of liquid.

Brandy or Cognac Glass: These come in all sorts of different sizes but can mainly be identified by a short stem and a deep balloon shaped receptacle.

Champagne Flute: These are narrow stemware with a balloon that narrows towards the top to direct the bubbles to the nose.

Cocktail Glass: This is the classic long stemmed  v-shaped glass that is universally associated with the Martini, the Manhattan and the Stinger.

Coffee Glass: This looks like a tubular coffee cup sitting on a stem and is intended for hot drinks and toddies.

Collins Glass-This is a long tubular glass that is also sometimes called a “cooler” glass.  It is used for tall long drinks like the Tom Collins and the Singapore Sling.

Cordial Glass –  Sometimes called a pony glass these small stemmed one-ounce shot glasses have a narrow snout and a ballooned bottom.

Highball Glass – This is a tall glass with a wider rim than the Collins glass that is intended for drinks on the rocks such as gin and tonics and scotches and sodas. They hold about 8 to 10 oz.

Martini Glass – The mouth of a true Martini glasses is broader and flatter then just a long stemmed cocktail glass. It is also slightly shallower and does not taper into as sharp of a V as a cocktail glass.

Wine Glass – The wineglass is stemmed glassware that is usually bubble shaped. It is available in all kinds of shapes, colors, styles and sizes.

Rock Glasses: These glasses are also called Old Fashioned or Low Ball Glasses. This is a short squat glass with no stem that holds six to ten ounces.

Sherry Glass –  This is glassware with a short stem and a tall balloon like receptacle. It is sometimes used for aperitifs and liqueurs.

Shot – This is a short round glass with no stem that holds one ounce and is used for tequila shots and layered drinks.

Whiskey Sour Glass: This looks like a shorter, slight narrower version of a wine goblet.