La Rochère

With La Rochère, choose by range first, because the pattern sets the character of your table more than the size does. Abeille is the best known and runs from a 10 cl espresso glass to 26 cl tumblers and 27.5 cl tea mugs. Ouessant has straight ribs and is the widest range: a 27 cl coffee glass, a 36 cl tea glass, a 26 cl tumbler and a 45 cl latte macchiato glass. Versailles and Louison are rounder and softer in line, while Anduze and Troquet deliver the crisp French bistro glass.

By size the range is easy to follow. The espresso glasses sit at 10 cl, coffee and bistro glasses at 20 to 27.5 cl, tumblers around 22 to 26 cl and the largest models at 36 to 45 cl. Many ranges come in sixes, the mixed colour sets in fours. If you combine two ranges on one table, keep them the same height; then the difference in pattern reads as intention rather than coincidence.

Relief glass looks best with drinks that let light pass through them. Tea, coffee with milk, a light aperitif, or simply water with lemon makes the pattern glow; dark cola conceals it instead. So don't put the glasses away for special occasions—use them every day, because that's what they were made for.

For hot drinks, the usual rule applies: rinse the glass with hot water first, so the pattern doesn't act as a thermal bridge and leave the tea lukewarm. At a drinks table, the same tumblers can readily serve as low cocktail glasses, and the pattern works in your favor by breaking up the shape of the ice cube. A negroni with a large ice cube looks good in an Anduze or Abeille tumbler, and an aperol spritz is best poured into the tallest model you have, with plenty of ice and a slice of orange.

Pressed glass with relief is thicker than blown glass and therefore less fragile, but the pattern does hold on to dirt. Limescale and tea stains settle into the grooves and cannot be polished out with a cloth. Use a soft brush and rinse with water containing a dash of vinegar, and the lines stay sharp.

La Rochère clears its glassware for the dishwasher. Do choose a short programme and keep the glasses apart, because pressed glass is heavy and knocks hard against its neighbours. Coloured-through ranges do not lose their colour in the machine, but too much rinse aid lays a grey veil over the relief that is hard to get off again.

If you search by shape rather than brand, you can continue from here. The complete tea glasses are grouped together, including tea mugs with handles, and the coffee glasses range from espresso to latte macchiato. You’ll find everyday sizes for water and soft drinks among the tumbler glasses. If you like glassware with an old-fashioned look, also take a look at the vintage glasses. And the long spoon you use for tea, coffee with milk, and stirring an aperitif is listed with the jiggers and mixing glasses under bar spoons.