Arcoroc Shetland

The smallest size, 15 cl, is meant for orange juice at breakfast or a dessert served in a glass. With 22 and 25 cl you have the classic water glass that suits almost any table setting. Use the 32 cl for soft drinks and beer, the 35 and 42 cl for long drinks with plenty of ice. Because it is all one design language, a table with three different sizes still looks calm. In a business, count on at least two sizes per cover and order a box too many rather than too few. Otherwise, browse the wider choice of water glasses.

For water at the table, pour to about two fingers below the rim so it doesn't slosh as you hand it over. The 42 cl glass is big enough for a cuba libre on ice and for draught beer. With a tequila sunrise the straight wall actually helps: the grenadine sinks neatly to the bottom and you see the colour gradient run from top to bottom. The 15 cl comes back at the end of the meal as a glass for a mousse or a panna cotta.

Tempered glass takes temperature swings that ordinary glass cannot, so a freshly rinsed glass filled straight away with ice is no problem. Everything is dishwasher safe, including at high temperature and in a machine running all day. Only stack once the glasses are dry, and no more than six high, or they will jam. A glass brush clears deposits from the base, even out of the narrow 22 cl.

If you want the same no-nonsense quality in another shape, the whole Arcoroc range is together in one place, from beer glasses to wine bowls. If you search by shape rather than by brand, the low models are among the tumbler glasses and the tall ones among the long drink glasses. And if stacking height is your main requirement, all the stacking glasses are on one page.