Chef & Sommelier Arpege

At 36 cl you are in the roomy tumbler size: enough for water with ice, for soft drinks and for a light long drink without the glass being empty after two sips. The colours are worked into the glass itself rather than sprayed on, so they stay the same after years of washing. Take one colour if you want a calm, coherent table, or mix the three if your guests need to be able to find their own glass again. Six per box is plenty for an average household; if you often lay for eight, take two.

For water, pour to about two centimetres below the rim so you can pass the glass along without spilling. If ice goes in, fill the whole glass with ice first and only then pour: a glass full of ice stays cold longer than a few loose cubes. A mojito works well in this size if you muddle mint and lime in the bottom and heap crushed ice on top, and an aperol spritz with plenty of ice and a slice of orange also looks good in it.

Krysta is the lead-free crystal glass from Chef & Sommelier, developed for restaurants where glasses go through the machine every day. The rim is thermally reinforced, which is where glasses usually chip first, and the material stays clear instead of turning milky after repeated washing. Place the glasses separately in the rack and preferably rinse at no more than sixty degrees.

To see what else the brand makes, look at Chef & Sommelier. If you want a clear glass without colour, the water glasses are the obvious alternative in the same size. For gin and tonic a balloon glass with a wide bowl works better than this straight shape, because the tonic stays fizzy in it longer. And if you are going to build cocktails in them, you will also need a bar spoon that reaches the bottom.