Royal Leerdam Rayo

The difference lies in height and in what goes into them. The 36 cl long drink glass is the tallest model and has room for ice plus a generous splash of soft drink, which is what you need for a gin tonic or a mixed drink with plenty of volume. The 32 cl tumbler is lower and wider and works as a water glass or for juice at breakfast. The smallest, at 26.5 cl, is the size for whisky with a cube of ice or for a soft drink with a meal. Compare the shapes with the tumbler glasses and the long drink glasses.

Fill a long drink glass with ice first and only pour afterwards; the ice then melts more slowly and the drink stays cold to the end. With a gin tonic the tonic goes down along a bar spoon so the carbonation stays in, and the recipe for the gin tonic explains the proportions. Whisky in the small tumbler is served neat or with a single large block of ice, because small cubes melt too quickly. Water you simply pour full, which is the whole advantage of a stemless glass.

Stemless glasses are the least breakage-prone type there is, simply because the weak transition to a foot is missing. Rayo can go in the dishwasher on any standard programme. Place the glasses upside down with space between them, because glasses pushed into each other can suck tight and break when you pull them apart. With hard water it helps to rinse and dry them straight away, otherwise limescale settles in the faceted base.

The rest of this brand is under Royal Leerdam. If you are mainly looking for glasses to lay the table with, look at the water glasses. If you want to start mixing at home, the bar spoons give you the tools for stirring and for pouring layers. And with the recipe for the Moscow Mule you fill the 36 cl long drink glass exactly right.