Tumbler glasses

You can already tell from the capacity what a tumbler is for. Between 20 and 30 cl, you have the low water glass that goes on the table with a meal, and the Bodega and Picardie are the best sellers in that size. Between 30 and 40 cl, you’re talking about the heavy, low glass known behind the bar as an old-fashioned glass . It has a thick base and room for one large ice cube that stays in place. From around 35 cl, the glass gets taller and narrower. That’s called a highball, and honestly, it’s just one of the long drink glasses.

Next, pay attention to the sides and the rim. Tempered glass has a reinforced rim from the factory and can go in the dishwasher every day. Lead-free crystal is thinner, feels nicer against your lips, and shows off the color of your drink better. You do need to handle it a little more carefully, though. Short on cupboard space? Take a look at stackable glasses, because a glass tumbler that won’t stack takes up almost twice as much shelf space. At home, you’ll usually need six glasses of each size. In the hospitality industry, allow for two to three times the number of seats, so there’s always a clean set ready while the rest goes through the dishwasher.

Pour water and soda about an inch below the rim. Whisky is different. A neat pour is four to six centiliters, which looks a little skimpy in a 35 cl glass. But that’s how it should be. There’s room above the drink for the alcohol vapors to collect, and that’s exactly where you smell what’s in your glass before taking your first sip.

In a low tumbler, you can also make cocktails directly in the glass, without a shaker. Take an old fashioned. Stir it right in the glass with sugar, bitters, and one large ice cube that melts slowly, letting the bourbon gradually open up. A negroni is made with three equal parts. Stir until cold, then pour over fresh ice. What you need for that is more of a long bar spoon than a shaker. Stirred drinks should stay clear, and shaking makes them cloudy. If your ice has just come out of the freezer, hold the cube under the tap for a moment. The outside melts a little, which then makes it melt more slowly. Your drink will be less watery.

Thick-walled tumblers can handle a knock just fine. Sudden temperature changes are another matter. Pour boiling water into a cold glass, or put ice in a glass that’s still warm from the dishwasher, and stress builds up in the glass. That can cause cracks. So give a glass a little time to cool down.

Don’t force stackable glasses together. If two do get stuck, place the bottom one in warm water and pour cold water into the top one; they’ll come apart on their own. If you pull or twist them, both rims usually break. Almost everything in this collection can go on a short dishwasher cycle. If you see a cloudy film on tempered glass, it’s often limescale, and a splash of vinegar in the rinse water can help. On older glasses, it may also be etching from years of washing at too high a temperature. Unfortunately, there’s no getting rid of that. Store tumblers upright in the cupboard, not upside down, as their rims can’t bear much weight.

If you’re mainly looking for something to put on the table with a meal, check out the smaller models in the water glasses. For whisky, you’ll find heavy, low glasses with thick bases under whiskey glasses. Prefer one well-known range throughout the home? Then take a look at Duralex Picardie . It comes in sizes from small to large, all with exactly the same shape, so everything goes together. If you mostly serve tonic or soft drinks, a tall, narrow model from the highball glasses range is a better fit. Not sure yet what drink you’ll be serving? The menu beside this one lists the shapes by cocktail.