Onis Carats

The 72 cl mixing glass is the piece that sets this range apart. It is not a drinking glass but a stirring glass: you stir cocktails in it that are not meant to be shaken. Seventy centilitres sounds like a lot, but you need that room to let ice and spirit chill together without spilling. The 35.5 cl tumbler is the double old fashioned size, with space for one large block of ice. The 41.5 cl long drink glass is the tallest shape; comparable sizes are with the long drink glasses. More stirring glasses are with the mixing glasses.

Stir with the glass three quarters full of ice, thirty to forty turns with a bar spoon along the wall, until the outside mists over. That is how you chill a dry martini without diluting it too far. For a negroni you stir for less time and pour the drink over a large block in the 35.5 cl tumbler. Keep the 41.5 cl long drink glass for mixed drinks with carbonation, because stirring would take the bubbles straight out of those.

The facets are blown into the mould rather than cut in afterwards, so there are no sharp grooves for residue to collect in. The glasses are simply dishwasher safe. The mixing glass has a thick base and a thinner upper rim, and that combination does not like sudden jumps in temperature: so do not rinse it with hot water while there is still ice in it.

The rest of this brand's offer is at Onis. If you are after a lower glass with a heavy base, the choice is wider at the tumblers, and for stemmed bowls look at the cocktail glasses. A mixing glass calls for the right tool: the bar spoons have a handle long enough to reach the bottom of a 72 cl glass.