Pasabahce Grande Sunray

Start with the drink and the ice. The 29 cl tumbler is the standard for water, juice and soft drinks at the table. The 39 cl tumbler leaves room for ice without having to refill after three sips, which halves the number of trips on a terrace. For mixed drinks, choose the tall shape: the 29.5 cl highball is the compact size, the 46 cl glass takes a full gin and tonic with plenty of ice. The taller and narrower the glass, the longer the carbonation stays in the drink, which makes the difference with tonic and cola. See also the tumblers and the highball glasses.

Fill a highball glass right up with ice first, not halfway. A glass full of ice chills faster and melts more slowly than three cubes floating in a lukewarm drink, so your drink gets less watery rather than more. Pour the spirit over the ice and then let the mixer run in along the wall, so the bubbles stay in. For water at the table, the 29 cl tumbler works best because it sits low and stable, even on a tablecloth that is not entirely flat.

Grande Sunray is made from tempered glass. That means the surface is under tension, so the glass survives a knock better than ordinary soda-lime glass and, if it does break, falls apart into blunt pieces rather than shards. For a terrace or a canteen, that is the most important argument. The glasses can simply go in the dishwasher and take daily use, but do not stack them inside one another: two tumblers that get jammed are rarely separated without damage. Put them side by side in a crate.

If you are after more from this brand, look at the Pasabahce glasses. If it is about larger numbers and glassware that survives a service, the hospitality glasses and the glass crates you move them in are the logical next step. What to pour in the tall glass, you can read at the gin and tonic, the Mojito and the Cuba Libre, all three drinks where a glass full of ice makes the difference.