1. Acquire the Coupe Glasses
The coupe glass, an essential of any champagne tower, was designed specifically for sparkling wine and champagne in England in 1663. Legend has it that the shape of the coupe was modelled on the breast of Marie Antoinette. The glass was fashionable in France as far back as the 1700s and popular for American weddings back in the 1920’s but with a lot of old trends, it is gaining popularity once again.
The Libbey 168mL coupe is the ideal glass for making a strong and sturdy champagne tower. The Libbey coupe glass sits approximately 8cm off the table and has a solid stem which helps to hold the weight of possibly 100+ glasses above itself. Champagne flutes just don’t cut it!
2. Start with a Super Solid Base
This is essential. A large, heavy table is ideal and a spillage tray will avoid excess mess as there will be unavoidable spillage unfortunately!
3. Tower Construction Begins
The base is where it all starts – if you have an uneven base then it will be worse as you nearer the top. I recommend starting small to practice, such as a 4-tier with a 4 x 4 base but when making the real deal you’ll want to make it at least a 6-tier tower (6 x 6 base) otherwise it will be relatively unimpressive.
Ensure your glasses sit snug and touch each glass that it sits besides. When done correctly, four glasses touching each other will create a diamond-like shape in the centre.
Here are the number of glasses required for each size champagne tower:
- 4-tier / 30 glasses
- 5-tier / 55 glasses
- 6-tier / 91 glasses
- 7-tier / 140 glasses
- 8-tier / 204 glasses
- 9-tier / 285 glasses
- 10-tier / 385 glasses
4. The Next Level
Next step is to build up! The glass needs to be placed directly in the centre of the diamond below. If the base was 6 x 6 coupe glasses, then the second level will be 5 x 5 glasses, the third level 4 x 4 glasses and so on.
Continue building up until you are left with a single glass on top.
5. The Pour
Here’s the fun part! Start slowly. You don’t want splashing champagne to topple your tower! In a perfect world you will just continue to pour champagne in the top glass and it will evenly flow and fill every glass below it…but it won’t. You’ll need to top up the side glasses as you go – this will also ensure that the weight is even throughout the tower and you’ll avoid any toppling towers!
Solid coupe glasses, a sturdy base, a steady hand and you’ll be creating huge towers…
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