Arcoroc Monti

With the gin and tonic glass it all comes down to proportion. Fill the bowl two thirds with ice cubes, pour in five centilitres of gin and top up with tonic; the rounded shape keeps the garnish floating above the ice, where you can also see it. A narrower highball glass takes the same volume, but pushes herbs and slices to the bottom where they no longer do anything.

Choose the martini glass to suit the serving you pour. A 21 cl glass holds a shaken cocktail of around twelve centilitres with enough rim above it to carry without spilling. A larger martini glass looks more impressive but lets the drink warm up faster, and with an espresso martini in particular you notice that.

A gin and tonic is built in the glass: ice first, then gin, then tonic down a spoon or along the side so the fizz stays in. Stir once and no more, and add the garnish only at the very end.

Rinse the martini glass with cold water before use, or put it in the freezer for a moment. Shake the cocktail hard with ice and then strain it into the cold glass so no ice goes along. That keeps an espresso martini cold to the last sip and holds the layer of foam in place. For the classic version, take a look at the dry martini.

Monti is made of tempered soda-lime glass, with the rim reinforced in particular because that is where glasses touch each other in a crate. The glasses are dishwasher safe; place them in a compartment rack so the bowls stand clear. Do not put a glass straight from the freezer under hot water, because that difference is greater than anything tempered glass is built for.

If you want more choice in the same shape, the gin and tonic glasses and the martini glasses are grouped separately. For coffee cocktails there are the espresso martini glasses. The broad overview is with the cocktail glasses, and the rest of this brand at Arcoroc. For the tools that go with it, the cocktails page is a good starting point, with recipes and the kit needed for each drink.