Pitchers

The first question is capacity. Below a litre you are in carafe territory: fine for water on a laid table, too small for a group. Between one and one and a half litres is the usual size for home use and for table service. From two litres upwards you enter the hospitality format, and then it is worth checking whether the filled weight is still comfortable to lift, because a good two kilos on a single handle is more than it looks.

Then look at the spout and the handle. A proper pouring lip lets the last centilitres run out without dripping; a jug with nothing more than a pulled rim rarely manages that. A closed handle with room for four fingers pours more steadily than an open grip. And mind the wall thickness: thick-walled jugs keep cold drinks at temperature noticeably longer, even once the ice has melted.

For beer there is one rule: chill the jug first. A lukewarm jug takes the cold out of the first glass, and then the rest is already warmer than you want. Pour into the glass at an angle until it is half full, then bring the glass upright for the head.

For mixed drinks a pitcher is convenience itself. Make a sangria in the jug a couple of hours ahead so the fruit releases its flavour, and only add ice and something sparkling at the last moment. Scale up a rum punch by multiplying the ratio per person and stirring everything in the jug, rather than shaking glass by glass. In both cases the ice goes in the glass and not in the jug, because ice in the jug keeps diluting all evening.

A jug with a narrow neck will not come clean with an ordinary brush. Fruit residue and layers of sugar settle just under the shoulder, exactly where your fingers cannot reach, and that is also where cloudy deposits form. So rinse it out with lukewarm water straight after use, before the sugar has a chance to dry on.

Most jugs only fit in the dishwasher lying down, and then water stays behind in the hollow base. Stand them upside down on a rack after the programme and let them drain. Polycarbonate models tolerate lower temperatures than glass but survive a fall, and outdoors or by the pool that is the better trade-off.

If you want something that stays on a laid table rather than going round, you end up with the water jugs and the carafes. For the glasses the jug empties into, look at the beer glasses or the long drink glasses. And if you want to mix ahead rather than just pour, that calls for different equipment: the cocktail shakers section also holds the measuring jugs you use to scale up a recipe.