Borgonovo Roxy

The size determines what you use the jug for. The 0.25 litre jug is meant for a single serving: house wine by the glass, or milk with coffee. The half litre is the table size for water with a meal, big enough not to need refilling every ten minutes and light enough to pour one-handed. The litre is the jug you fill with iced water, juice or sangria for a group. If you are after a model with a lid or a taller jug, look at the water jugs and the pitchers.

Pour with the jug slightly tilted rather than snapping it upright, because the wide spout on the Roxy gives a thick stream that would otherwise land beside the glass. Do not fill a jug with ice past the bottom of the spout, since ice that shifts along pushes the water out. For sangria, let the fruit steep in the jug for an hour before the ice goes in. Pour a mimosa glass by glass and not from the jug, otherwise the bubbles disappear.

Roxy is made of pressed soda-lime glass, which gives it a thicker wall than blown glass and makes the jug less vulnerable to knocks. The jugs are dishwasher safe. Do not pour boiling water into a jug that has just come out of the fridge: with a thick wall in particular, the stress between the inside and the outside builds up sharply and the glass cracks.

More glassware from this brand can be found at Borgonovo. If you would rather have a carafe with a narrow neck than a jug with a wide spout, look at the carafes, and for letting red wine breathe, at the decanters. If you want glasses that match the jugs in style, you will find straight, sturdy shapes among the water glasses.