Nachtmann

Start with the shape you use most often. The 24 cl Noblesse tumbler is a classic whisky glass: low, heavy and wide enough for a large chunk of ice. If you want the same model for water or a soft drink, take the 25.6 or 34.7 cl beaker from the same line. For gin and tonic the glasses are more generously sized, because the 64 cl Celebration and the 63 cl Tattoo are built to take ice, tonic and a slice of citrus without the glass looking full.

Then look at the cut. A dense diamond pattern such as Noblesse makes the glass visually busy and hides fingerprints, while the smoother surfaces of Square and Palais look calmer. Colour is the third choice, because the Noblesse tumblers and long drink glasses also come in taupe, green and purple, and you can set those alongside the clear versions on the table. Anyone buying for a long table chooses the packs of twelve; at home the sets of two are plenty.

A cut tumbler drinks differently from a smooth glass. The ridges provide a firm grip, even with wet hands, making the glass pleasant for whisky that you hold for a while. Pour three to four centilitres and leave the rest of the glass empty, so the alcohol has room to evaporate. If you want ice, use one large cube instead of a handful of small ones, as it melts more slowly and dilutes the drink less. For an old fashioned the 24 cl Noblesse is exactly right.

The spacious bowls from the Celebration and Tattoo lines call for a different approach. First fill them more than halfway with ice, then pour in the gin and add the tonic down the side or over a bar spoon, so as little carbonation as possible is lost. Anyone who wants to know exactly how to build a gin tonic will find the ratio and matching garnish there.

Nachtmann works with lead-free crystal glass. That means the clarity and the sharpness of the cut are retained, but the glass lacks the softness of old-fashioned lead crystal and therefore stands up better to daily use. Every range in this collection is dishwasher safe. Choose a short programme at a low temperature and place the glasses apart from one another, because most breakage happens when rims knock together in the basket.

Limescale is the biggest enemy of cut glass, because it settles in the grooves and dulls the surface. A dash of cleaning vinegar in the rinse water solves that. Dry with a lint-free cloth while the glass is still warm, and store tumblers upright rather than upside down, so the rim rests on nothing.

If you're mainly looking for Nachtmann based on a particular shape, you'll find what you need faster on the shape pages. The whiskey glasses collect all the low, heavy models, the gin and tonic glasses all the spacious bowl-shaped glasses, and the long drink glasses the tall ones. For the pitcher from the Noblesse line, see the water pitchers. If you want comparable German crystal in a sleeker style, Spiegelau is the logical alternative. And if you're missing the tools for stirring and measuring, the bar spoons are ready. Still unsure about the size? The questions below will help.