Five Romantic Drink Ideas to Serve at Home

The art of serving Champagne begins before you even open the bottle. To maximize your Champagne or sparkling wine's potential, it's crucial to enjoy it at the right temperature, which is between 6˚C and 9˚C / 43˚F and 48˚F. This is a couple of degrees warmer than the average fridge temperature, so we recommend getting your Champagne bottle out of the fridge or ice bucket approximately 30 minutes before you start drinking it. If your bottle is at room temperature and you want to get it down to its best temperature, you'll need to give it about 3 hours in the fridge or 30 minutes in an ice-filled Champagne bucket.

For Champagne and other sparkling wines, we recommend pouring enough so the glass is between one-half and two-thirds full. This will allow your wine to maintain its effervescence and temperature while allowing aromas to gather in the glass for nosing. To avoid wasting any of your wine, finish pouring a second earlier than you might instinctively want to; this allows the carbonation to subside, preventing your glass from overflowing. You can also optimize your experience by using a champagne wine glass, such as our Spiegelau Definition Champagne Glass or our Spiegelau Hi-Lite Champagne Glass, to help your champagne retain its fizz while letting its aromas flourish.

Due to their complex flavors and rich aromas, we advise pouring red wine to a fill level that allows it to aerate and develop. To achieve this, pour your wine until the glass is roughly one-third full. The increased aeration this achieves allows the nuances of the wine's powerful bouquet to develop while softening any harsh tannins. Only pouring enough to fill the glass to a third of its capacity also makes swirling your wine much easier, which will help to aerate your wine further as you sip it alongside dinner.

For full-bodied red wines, we recommend using our Spiegelau Hi-Lite Bordeaux Glass or our Spiegelau Authentis Bordeaux Glass. The wide opening on these glasses allows wines with harsher tannins to soften slightly, making them more palatable when sipping.

A good Strawberry Daiquiri is fresh, fruity, and smooth. To make two servings for you and your partner on Valentine's Day, you'll need:

• 1/2 pound/225g frozen strawberries
• 3 tbsp simple syrup
• 6 tsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup/120 ml white rum
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup ice

Pour all your ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Unlike some cocktails, daiquiris are often enjoyed from a range of glass styles and sizes, but we think they look best served in a coupe glass, which has the added benefit of giving you a stem to hold so your hand doesn't get too cold or wet when drinking your daiquiri! We have a variety of Spiegelau coupe glasses for you to choose from for your daiquiris, including the Spiegelau Perfect Serve Coupette Glass, the Spiegelau Lifestyle Coupette Glass, and the Spiegelau Style Coupete Glass.

Tip: If strawberries aren't to your liking, simply substitute them for another frozen fruit of your choosing for a daiquiri more tailored to your palate.

Begin by drizzling chocolate syrup inside a martini glass for garnish, then coat the rim of the glass by squirting the syrup into a bowl and dipping your martini glass into it. Then, for each glass, combine 25ml Irish cream, 25ml chocolate liqueur, and 50ml vodka in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake thoroughly. Once chilled, strain your mix into your Spiegelau Perfect Serve Cocktail Glass and garnish with shaved chocolate.

Mojitos call for a tall glass, so you'll need a highball/long drink glass here, like our Spiegelau Perfect Serve Longdrink Glass. To make two (one for you, one for your lucky partner), muddle a handful of mint leaves, the juice of two limes in a mixing glass, then pour it all into your highball glasses along with a handful of ice for each. Add 50ml white rum and 30ml simple syrup to each glass, stir well, then top with soda water and garnish with a mint sprig and a lime wedge.