Bormioli Rocco

Bodega is the best-known glass in the range and immediately the simplest choice. It is tempered, stackable, thick-walled, and available in 22 cl for water and coffee and in 35 and 50 cl for beer, all in the same recognizable shape. If you want one series that works equally well in a café, a kitchen, and a garden, this is usually where it ends.

If you want something with more character, you’ll find it in the design series. Line and Diamond have a ribbed or faceted wall that refracts the light, America'20s has the heavy hexagonal base from the 1920s, and Novecento offers a Nick and Nora glass of 15.5 cl for those who serve cocktails without ice. Tre Sensi and Premium are the lines for wine and champagne, with flutes from 15 to 26 cl and bowls that are thinner than you would expect from this brand. For the low, straight model from other brands, look under tumbler glasses, where everything is sorted by size.

The strength of this glassware range is that one series serves multiple purposes. A 22 cl Bodega works just as well as a water glass as it does for a cappuccino or a small beer, which is exactly why it is so common in Italian bars. The larger 35 and 50 cl sizes are used there as beer glasses, without a head of foam but with a thick rim that can withstand anything.

For cocktails, there are two extremes. The 74 cl America'20s gin and tonic glass is designed to be filled generously with ice and botanicals, then topped up with tonic. At the other end is the small glass for a dry martini, served chilled and without ice. If you fall somewhere in between, an aperol spritz in a generous glass is the drink most often served in Italy.

Tempered glass is strong against knocks but sensitive to sudden changes in temperature. So do not pour boiling coffee into a glass that has just come out of the fridge, and do not fill a glass with ice straight away when it comes warm out of the dishwasher, because it is exactly that difference that puts stress on the wall.

Never force stackable models like the Bodega into one another. If two glasses do get stuck, stand the lower one in warm water and pour cold water into the upper one, and they will come apart by themselves. Beyond that, almost everything in this collection can go in the dishwasher on a short programme. A dull haze is usually limescale from hard water and disappears with a dash of vinegar in the rinsing water.

If you're mainly looking for beer glasses, the Bodega sizes are listed with the other brands under beer glasses. If you want the wide, shallow bowl for bubbles or a cocktail without ice, you'll find it under champagne coupe glasses. If you prefer to search by shape rather than brand, all the collections in the menu here are sorted by bowl and capacity. And if your glassware is all set but you're missing the tools for mixing, shakers, strainers, and jiggers are listed under cocktail shakers.