Eva Solo

The choice starts with the volume. The hand-blown tumbler of 21 cl is the glass for water with a meal and for a drink on ice without going overboard. The mouth-blown tumbler of 38 cl is the all-rounder: roomy enough for a gin and tonic with two ice cubes, low enough to stay on the table all evening as a tumbler. If you want more room still, there is a 48 cl version.

The water glasses with a slanted rim come in the same two large sizes, 38 and 48 cl, but sit higher on the wall and therefore hold the cold better when a full carafe is on the table. Among the water glasses you can see how that proportion holds up against straight models. The liqueur glass of 24 cl stands out for its size, because that is large for liqueur and suits a dessert wine or a generous sherry better than most liqueur glasses.

Without a stem you pour differently. Fill a tumbler to about two thirds, because the wide opening lets the aroma escape quickly and your hand warms the glass from below. For whisky that is no problem, for a chilled white wine it is: top up twice with a small measure rather than filling it right up once.

With a mixed drink the shape works in your favour. Build a gin and tonic straight in the glass, ice first, then gin and then tonic down the side so the bubbles stay put. An espresso tonic works well in the 38 cl, because you can watch the espresso sink through the tonic. The slanted rim adds a detail a straight glass does not have: it makes you pick the glass up the same way every time.

Mouth-blown glass is thinner than machine-made glass and you feel that at the rim. It is not weaker in use, but it is less forgiving of a knock against the tap or against another glass in the sink. So wash by hand, or use a short glassware programme at a low temperature and place the glasses well apart in the rack.

Because the rim is not level, an upturned glass tips over easily on the draining rack. Stand it upright on a tea towel and polish it with a lint-free cloth, and the wall stays streak-free. Limescale shows up sooner on thin glass and disappears with a dash of vinegar in the rinsing water.

If you would rather have a range in which every glass is identical, machine-blown crystal glass is the answer, for example at NUDE Glass, which achieves the same thin wall but with a level rim and an even height. If you want to go further into Scandinavian craftsmanship, take a look at the carafes, because a mouth-blown carafe on the table is what really makes the difference with machine-made glass visible. And if you have the glassware but lack the tools for a drink, you will find those among the cocktail shakers, where the bar spoons, jiggers and muddlers are too.