Chef & Sommelier Vigne

First choose between short and tall. The 20 cl tumbler is the smallest and suits water or a whisky neat; the 31 cl and 37 cl are the sizes you put on the table when ice is involved. Among the highball glasses it starts at 22 cl for juice or a small soft drink, followed by 33 cl as the standard size and 45 cl for a long drink with plenty of ice. The packaging differs: most models come in sixes, while the 45 cl highball glass is supplied in twenty-fours, which is aimed mainly at the trade. If you are after a thick-walled glass for whisky, have a look at the old fashioned models.

Fill a highball glass right up with ice first and only then pour. That sounds contradictory, but a lot of ice cools faster and melts more slowly than a few cubes, so your drink is less watered down. For a Cuba Libre take the 33 cl glass, squeeze half a lime over the ice and add the rum before the cola goes in. A gin and tonic can go in the 45 cl, although that size is really too narrow for much garnish. Use the 20 cl short tumbler for water with a meal or for a drink without ice.

Kwarx is the material with which the manufacturer set out to prevent the dull film that ordinary catering glass picks up over time. The glass is toughened across the whole wall, not just at the rim, which makes it cope better with temperature swings than an ordinary tumbler. So they can go in the dishwasher daily without concern. Do place them upside down in the rack so no water sits in the base, and don't stack them inside one another while they are still warm.

Other ranges from the same manufacturer are at Chef & Sommelier, including the thinner stemmed wine glasses. If what you mainly want is a glass for water on the table, the wider selection of water glasses is a more logical starting point. And if you want to start mixing rather than just pouring, begin with a bar spoon and a jigger, because without tools every glass stays a glass with drink in it and never becomes a cocktail with the right proportions.