RCR Brillante

First decide whether the glass is for the everyday table or for the bar. The 34 cl tumbler is the most versatile size: suitable for water, for whisky on ice and for a short cocktail. The 37 cl long drink is taller and meant for gin and tonic, juice and anything that takes plenty of ice. For wine there are two bowls, 23 cl for white wine and 29 cl for a more generous pour, and for bubbles a 19 cl flute. If you want everything at once, there is a seven-piece whisky set with a decanter. The wider range is with the tumblers.

Fill a tumbler to about two fingers below the rim. With whisky over one large block of ice, pour less, so that the block sits half above the drink and melts more slowly. Mix the coloured glasses on the table if you want everyone to recognise their own. Fill the 85 cl whisky decanter with a bottle you will finish within a few weeks, because a decanter seals less tightly than the original bottle with its cork or screw cap.

Brillante is made from Luxion, the lead-free crystal glass from RCR. It is harder and clearer than ordinary glass, which keeps the cut facets sharp instead of letting them go dull. The glasses may go in the dishwasher, provided they stand upright and apart. Stacking is best avoided: cut surfaces scratch the glass underneath. Limescale streaks in the cutting come off with a brush and a dash of vinegar in the rinsing water.

Looking for something else? All the series from this brand are at RCR. For tall glasses with ice, look at the long drink glasses, for whisky at the whisky glasses and for the seven-piece set with decanter at the glassware sets. What you can pour into the cut 37 cl long drink is explained at the Cuba Libre, and for the 34 cl tumbler there is the Old Fashioned, both explained step by step.