La Rochere Zinc

The size follows the time of day. Ten centilitres is the espresso measure: a double shot fills the glass a little over halfway, exactly as it should, and the crema stays visible against the clear glass. Twenty centilitres is the size for a café allongé, a cortado or a flat white, and it still suits a cappuccino as long as you do not froth it too generously. If you want to cover the whole day, take both. When choosing, pay attention to the rim: on this kind of pressed glass it is slightly thicker than on a porcelain cup, which with hot coffee tends to feel like an advantage rather than a drawback.

Rinse the glass with hot water before you pour. A cold glass draws the temperature out of an espresso within ten seconds, and with such a small volume you notice that straight away. Hold the glass by the top rim or use a coaster. The 20 cl size is also the traditional shape for coffee with a dash of spirits, such as a carajillo or an irish coffee; pour the spirit in first and the coffee after, so the heat spreads evenly. Cold, the glass works just as well, for instance for an espresso tonic with two ice cubes.

Pressed glass is thicker than blown glass and therefore copes better with the jump in temperature that comes with coffee. Even so, the rule holds: never pour boiling water into a glass straight from the fridge. Zinc is dishwasher safe. Coffee oil clings to the wall and after a while shows up as a dull sheen; you can remove that with a rinse of hot water and soda.

If this is not the glass you had in mind, the alternatives are close at hand. The full range from this house is at La Rochère. For a larger or thinner-walled model, look at the coffee glasses; for loose-leaf tea there are the tea glasses and for small dishes and desserts the amuse glasses. If you are using the glass behind a bar, the matching tools are with the bar tools.