Luigi Bormioli Thermic Glass

Choose by capacity, because that decides which coffee fits. For espresso, take 6.5 or 8.5 cl, where the model with a stainless steel saucer brings its own coaster. Cappuccino and flat white call for 11 to 24 cl: the 11 cl Michelangelo is the small one, the 11.5 cl Ametista flares wider. For latte macchiato you need height so the layers stay visible: 34 cl. Tea goes in a 22 cl glass.

The shape does the rest. Cylindrical and Caffeino are straight and crisp, Michelangelo is waisted and Conical widens towards the top. Alongside the glasses there are a 14.5 cl milk jug, tumblers of 27 and 35 cl and a 1.8 litre coffee maker in the same line.

Preheat the glass with a splash of hot water when you pour espresso, because with such a small quantity the glass otherwise goes cold faster than you drink. For latte macchiato, pour the foamed milk in first and let the espresso sink slowly through it, so the three layers stay visible.

Double-walled glass works the other way round too. Iced coffee and espresso tonic stay cold for longer and the outside does not mist up, so you get no wet ring on the table. For an irish coffee the 25 cl glass is the one.

Borosilicate glass barely expands when heated and therefore withstands temperature differences that would crack ordinary soda-lime glass. Boiling water in a cold glass is no problem. What the glass does not tolerate is a knock: the walls are thin, and double-walled glass is more vulnerable at the rim than it looks.

Everything in this series is dishwasher safe on a short glassware programme. Stand the glasses upright and keep them from touching. If water stays trapped between the walls, there is a hairline crack in the inner wall and the glass has had it.

Looking for more of this type? The full range is at double-walled glasses, with separate pages for the coffee glasses and the tea glasses. For the tall layered shape, look at the latte macchiato glasses and for the small size at the cappuccino glasses. The rest of the brand is at Luigi Bormioli. If you want a double-walled glass with a handle, filter for that within those pages.