Bormioli Rocco Dedalo

Choose between the single tumblers and the set based on what you already own. The pack of six 26 cl glasses tops up an existing cupboard or replaces exactly the glasses you reach for most. The set is the logical choice if you want a complete look in one go, or if it is meant as a gift.

The 26 cl size is deliberately modest. That is the classic measure for whisky with ice or for water with a meal, not for a long drink. With a facetted glass, pay attention to the grip as well: the ridges give wet fingers something to hold on to, which makes a glass with ice in it noticeably nicer to drink from than a smooth wall.

For whisky, pour four centilitres and add one large cube of ice rather than a handful of small ones, so the drink turns cold without diluting. The facet pattern plays its part: the cut surfaces refract the light falling through the ice, which makes the glass stand out on the table.

The same tumbler works for a cocktail built over ice. An old fashioned or a negroni belongs in exactly this size, with a strip of citrus peel squeezed over the rim. For water with a meal you simply fill it up; the facets make even still water lively to look at.

Dedalo is pressed glass, not blown glass: the pattern comes from the mould rather than being applied by hand, which makes the glass thicker and sturdier than it looks. Soda-lime glass copes with the dishwasher perfectly well. The one thing to watch is limescale, which likes to settle in the grooves of the facet pattern and is harder to polish out of there than off a smooth wall. A rinse aid with a descaler prevents that.

If you want the same size without a pattern, the tumbler glasses and the water glasses give the wider overview. For whisky in a shape that concentrates the aroma, look at the whiskey glasses, and for cocktails over ice at the old fashioned glasses. The complete Italian range is with Bormioli Rocco, where the coloured and the plain series can be compared side by side.