Zwiesel Glas Echo

Start with what you pour. For everything you stir and serve without ice, reach for the 16.6 cl martini glass or the 27.7 cl cocktail coupe. The coupe is the more forgiving of the two: its wide, low bowl is less likely to slosh over the rim than the classic V shape.

If you mostly drink long drinks, the 63 cl gin and tonic glass and the 48 cl highball are the workhorses. The difference is in the opening: the gin and tonic glass is round and wide, so ice cubes and citrus have room to sit. The 14.7 cl grappa glass stands apart, for spirits served at room temperature.

Chill a martini glass or coupe before you pour, with iced water or a quarter of an hour in the freezer. Otherwise a cocktail served without ice warms up before you are halfway through it. Stir drinks made only from spirits and shake anything containing juice, egg or cream.

Fill the 63 cl gin and tonic glass to the top with ice, then the gin, then the tonic down the side of the glass. Less ice means faster melting and so a weaker drink.

Echo is crystal glass with a slender, machine-drawn stem. That is finer than the joined stem of cheaper glasses, but it also means the stem remains the weak point: never pick the glass up by twisting the bowl while the foot stays put.

The glasses are dishwasher safe up to sixty degrees. Place them clear of one another and let them drip dry. If you want to polish them, use two cloths and hold the bowl rather than the stem.

The rest of the brand is over at Zwiesel Glas. If you are looking by shape rather than by series, you will find all the cocktail glasses together, plus separate martini glasses, gin and tonic glasses and grappa glasses from other brands. If you want to get straight to work behind your own bar, look at the recipes for a dry martini, an espresso martini or a classic gin and tonic.