Onis Spirits

A difference of one and a half centilitres sounds small, but it decides what the glass is for. The 3 cl glass is the classic shot measure: a short, strong mouthful taken in one go, and the standard behind most shot recipes. The 4.5 cl glass has more room and suits drinks you taste rather than knock back, such as a good rum or a liqueur after dinner. Layered shots with two or three levels need that extra height too. Compare the shapes among the shot glasses and the spirit glasses.

Pour a shot to half a centimetre below the rim, so you can pick the glass up without spilling. Serve vodka and jenever cold from the freezer, whisky and rum at room temperature instead, because cold closes down the aroma. For a layered shot, pour the heaviest drink in first and let the next layer run over the back of a spoon; the recipe for the B52 shot shows the order. More variations with their pouring order are on the shots page.

Small glasses rarely break from use and almost always because they end up at the bottom of a full basket. So put spirit glasses in a separate compartment or in the top rack, mouth down. The series is machine-pressed and takes any standard dishwasher programme. With hard water, rinse afterwards and dry with a linen cloth, because a dull rim shows up immediately on a small glass the moment you lift it.

The other series from this maker are at Onis. If you want a roomier glass for a sweet liqueur after dinner, look at the liqueur glasses. Pouring a round and want to measure it properly? The jiggers and bar measures will help. And for the kit around it, from measuring jug to strainer, the models are gathered on the bar tools page.