Margarita glasses

Capacities run from 27 to 39 cl. After shaking, a margarita comes to about 12 to 15 cl, so even the smallest glass of 27 cl is generously sized. That is deliberate: the wide bowl has to leave room for the salt rim and a slice of lime without your fingers getting in the way.

Choose the wide sombrero model, such as the Royal Leerdam Cocktail of 30 cl or the Luigi Bormioli Roma 1960 of 39 cl, if you want the classic presentation. Choose the cleaner-lined model from Schott Zwiesel of 28 cl if you would rather serve something that also works for other shaken cocktails. A coloured rim, as on the Bar Professional of 38 cl, hides limescale marks better.

You make the salt rim by wetting the outside of the rim with a lime wedge and then rolling the glass at an angle through coarse salt. Do that on the outside and not inside, otherwise the salt falls into the drink and the whole cocktail turns briny. Leave a stretch of rim bare for anyone who prefers it without.

The classic margarita is tequila, lime and triple sec, shaken and strained. The frozen margarita goes through the blender and fills the glass fuller, and the spicy margarita adds fresh chilli to that.

The double step in the bowl makes cleaning trickier than with an ordinary glass. Salt gets left behind in the fold, and over time salt dulls the shine. So rinse the rim separately before the glass goes into the dishwasher.

The tempered glass from Arcoroc and Royal Leerdam is made for daily bar work. Schott Zwiesel uses toughened crystal glass with a reinforced rim, which prevents hairline cracks during rinsing. Store the glasses upright and not against each other, because the wide bowls knock together easily.

If you prefer to serve the margarita without a salt rim, the coupette glasses are the more logical bowl. The wider overview of bowls and tumblers is with the cocktail glasses. For shaking and measuring, look at the cocktail shakers and the jiggers, because a margarita stands or falls by the ratio between tequila, lime and triple sec, and that is rarely judged well by hand.