Zwiesel Glas Destille No. 2 Basic Bar Motion

Start with the drink. For whisky, rum and anything served over ice, the 37 cl old fashioned glass is the right size: low and wide, with enough weight in the base to stand firm. For a whiskey sour or a manhattan that you strain, use the 20 cl cocktail glass, which you fill without ice.

The 31 cl long drink glass is narrower and taller and holds the fizz better, which makes it the shape for anything with ginger beer or tonic. The 75 cl decanter takes a whole bottle; the 50 cl jug stands beside it with water.

Fill the old fashioned glass with one large block of ice rather than a handful of small cubes. Large blocks melt more slowly, so the drink stays cold without going watery. Stir stirred cocktails for about thirty counts in a mixing glass and only strain them afterwards.

A decanter is not a long-term store. Spirits keep in one for weeks, but as soon as air gets in the aroma slowly leaves, so only pour over what you will drink within a reasonable time.

The range is made of crystal glass with a thick base and a thinner wall above it. That makes the glasses heavy in the hand and at the same time delicate at the rim, so stacking is a bad idea and standing them upside down is too.

The glasses are dishwasher safe at up to sixty degrees. The decanter and the jug are better rinsed by hand, because water stays in the neck and dries into a ring of limescale.

The whole brand is at Zwiesel Glas. If you would rather search by shape than by range, look at the old fashioned glasses, the long drink glasses, the cocktail glasses or the decanters. For what you pour into them, the recipes for a whiskey sour and a classic manhattan are ready, and a much wider overview with all the classics is under cocktails.