HEAD OF THE GLASS
Special vessels for water
If it’s something you’re going to look at and touch every day, you want it to be perfect. Case in point: the water glass. Yet finding one with the right weight, shape and height can be a challenge, says Peter Miller, a cookbook author and owner of a Seattle-based architectural bookstore.
“There are three main qualities for a good water glass: looks, durability and performance,” he says. “Two out of three is good. Three out of three is rare.”
To find the best, we asked five experts what they use to get their daily dose of H2O.
“Crate & Barrel’s Working Glasses are super durable, well priced and come in a variety of sizes,” Virginia interior designer Lauren Liess says ($3-$4.95, crateandbarrel.com). “I’ve used them in vacation homes because they’re almost indestructible.” Bonus: Buy lids if you want to seal in smoothies and snacks.
Cathal Armstrong, a best Mid-Atlantic chef nominee by the James Beard Foundation, uses Duralex’s nearly indestructible Picardie Tumblers ($22.99 for a set of six 11-ounce/310 mL glasses, Hudson’s Bay). “They’re stackable, lightweight and more comfortable to hold than anything else,” he says. “Just a perfectly contoured glass.”
A staple for Miller, who just released the cookbook Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and Other Recipes): The Art and Practice of Making Dinner, (Harry N. Abrams, 2017), is the Orskov Glass ($40-$76 for a set of six, aplusrstore.com), which he sells in his Seattle bookstore. He prefers the small size, which he says “is as high as it is wide, has a modest weight, is made from laboratory glass — so it will also take hot soup or tea or coffee — and it is perfectly happy going in the dishwasher.”
Deb Perelman of the blog Smitten Kitchen and the book The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Appetite by Random House, 2012), uses Duralex’s Gigogne for wine, dessert cups and water for her toddler. She has them in multiple sizes ($31$41, target.com).
“We love these basic glasses from OK, the store in Los Angeles, for every day,” says Todd Nickey, coowner of L.A. design studio and boutique Nickey Kehoe. The Clear Glass Tumblers come in three sizes ($32-$49 for a set of six, okthestore.com). “They’re beautiful and simple and have a modern point of view.”