Liqueur glasses

The capacity follows the drink. For rich, sweet liqueurs such as amaretto, Grand Marnier or a home-made nut liqueur, 6 to 8 cl is ample, because you fill it a third at most. Limoncello that comes ice-cold from the freezer asks for the same size, ideally with a thick base that holds the chill. With port and sherry you move up a size to 10 to 12 cl, because those fortified wines are poured in larger measures and need more air to open up.

The shape decides how much you smell. A tulip-shaped glass that narrows slightly towards the top, like the 8.1 cl grappa model, concentrates the vapour; a straight 8 cl cordial glass does not, and lets the alcohol evaporate faster, which is welcome with liqueurs that smell sharp. If you want one glass that can do everything, choose a small stemmed bowl of 12 to 17 cl. Port works in it just as well as rum, and your hand does not warm the drink.

Temperature is the most important dial you can turn. Limoncello should come straight from the freezer, in a little glass you chill alongside it for a quarter of an hour. Serve amaretto and Baileys at room temperature or with a single ice cube. Cognac, aged rum and dark herbal liqueurs you want slightly warmer than the room, so pour those into a glass you hold in your hand for a while.

Do not fill the glass more than a third. That feels frugal, but the scent gathers in the space left above, and without it you mostly taste alcohol. At the end of a meal the liqueur follows the coffee, not the other way round. With a Baileys cocktail or something from the limoncello cocktails series the glass moves up a size, because ice or cream goes in as well and then you really do need those 17 to 23 cl.

Most of the glassware here is lead-free crystal glass: potassium and zinc replace the lead oxide of the past, so the glass still breaks the light just as brightly but gives no heavy metals to the drink. That is not only a health question. Lead-free crystal is also harder, and you notice that in rims that chip less easily when little glasses knock against each other in the cupboard.

Small glasses break more often than large ones, simply because more of them stand in the same space. Put them in the dishwasher upright and with space between them, and use a short glassware programme at fifty degrees at most. Sugary liqueurs leave a sticky film that does not dissolve at low temperatures, so rinse a glass with warm water after limoncello or Baileys. Polish afterwards with a lint-free cloth, because on glasses this small every streak shows.

If you want something to pour a shot or a jenever into rather than a liqueur, the shot glasses are the right corner. For three specific drinks there is separate glassware: the limoncello glasses with a thick base, the narrow grappa glasses and the roomier sherry glasses. If you regularly pour to measure at home, for instance because you make your own liqueur, the jiggers among the bar tools are handier than a measuring cup, because they let you measure two and four centilitres without thinking and save you rinsing every time.