Why hipsters are drinking wine out of tumblers

Apparently they contribute to a relaxed vibe

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

You’d be forgiven for thinking wine should be served in traditional wine glasses. But according to some hipsters, you’re wrong.

In trendy bars-cum-cafes-cum-coworking spaces-cum yoga studios, everyone’s favourite 6pm tipple is increasingly being served in tumblers.

“Formal stemmed wine glasses can feel quite traditional,” says TV presenter Laura Jackson, who’s also co-founder of east London supper club Jackson & Levine.

“We have no rules when it comes to what we serve our drinks in - cocktails in our favourite amber tumblers from Duralex; fizz in our shallow stackable glasses; and coffee in recycled glass yoghurt pots bought in French supermarkets,” she told The Times.

“Don’t be afraid to have a mismatched selection on your table.”

Stemmed glasses are, of course, much more prone to breakage than sturdy tumblers, and they’re also a lot more formal.

Today’s edgy young things generally aren’t fans of formality - it’s all about being relaxed, casual and effortless.

According to Pip McCormac, associate editor of Red magazine, our love on tumblers may reflect the unstable times in which we live and the resulting need for comfort and relaxation:

“Drinking out of a Duralex tumbler reminds you of sitting on a long, lazy afternoon in the south of France,” he says. “Those days when you have nothing to do but read a book, nap and get through that carafe of rosé.”

And it’s not just tumblrs either - because mason jars are obviously so 2014, drinks are now being served in everything from lightbulbs to popcorn boxes.

For a lot of bars, quirky receptacles are a way of increasing the likelihood of their drinks being Instagrammed by their millennial clientele.

But not everyone’s on-board: “I absolutely hate it when I’m served wine from a tumbler,” says 24-year-old South Londoner Maddy. “A traditional wine glass makes it taste better in my opinion. Wine in a tumbler feels wrong - I don’t want to drink wine like it’s orange squash.”