Borgonovo

The first question with a pitcher is how much you want to be able to pour at once. A 0.25-liter pitcher is intended for a single place setting or for juice at breakfast and sits beside the plate rather than in the center. A liter serves four to six glasses of water and is the size that works on most dining tables. The 2.8-liter Artic is a different kind of object: you fill it once and set it down for a group, though you should check whether it fits in your refrigerator door.

Then look at the spout and handle. A pulled-out spout stops the stream neatly, whereas a flat rim is more likely to drip onto the tablecloth. A lid, such as on the 1.2-liter Igloo Quadra, keeps ice and mint in and dust out. For water pitchers in service, it also matters whether the model is stackable, because cupboard space is always the bottleneck behind the bar.

Fill a pitcher with water and ice only shortly before serving; otherwise, the ice will melt in the pitcher and you’ll be drinking diluted water halfway through the meal. Pour from about ten centimeters above the glass with the spout slightly tilted, keeping the stream narrow and preventing splashes. For the last few centimeters, gently tilt the pitcher back upright to catch the final drop on the rim.

The 1.8-liter pitcher is the standard for mixing in bulk. An Aperol Spritz or a Cuba Libre for six people can be stirred in the pitcher and then poured over ice into the glasses, so everyone can sit down at the table at the same time. The 33 cl Tapper beer glass is a straight model with a slight waist: pour at a forty-five-degree angle and set the glass upright once it is two-thirds full, giving you a two-finger head.

Borgonovo mainly works with pressed glass. This is glass that is pressed into a mold rather than blown, making the walls thicker and the rim sturdier than those of thin-blown crystal. You pay for that with a little more weight and slightly less refinement at the rim, but in return you get a glass that can withstand a full dishwasher rack without chipping or clattering damage.

What you do need to watch out for is temperature difference. Boiling water in an ice-cold carafe puts stress on the glass and is the most common cause of cracks. Let a carafe from the refrigerator come to room temperature first. After use, rinse it with hot water and a glass brush all the way to the bottom, because residue tends to remain in narrow carafes.

If you are looking for a serving model mainly intended for beer and soft drinks behind the bar, take a look at the pitchers, where the capacities start higher. If you want to let wine breathe or serve a spirit, you’ll be better off with the decanters. For the glass that the water ultimately ends up in, there is the category tumbler glasses, and anyone looking to expand their beer selection will find beer glasses the flutes, vases, and tankards that fit alongside the Tapper.