Zalto Spittoon 50 Green

A small mouth-blown spittoon in green smoked glass, scaled for a single taster.

Zalto Glas is a family glassworks in Austria's Kremstal, where every piece is mouth-blown by hand and made without lead, the bowls angled to 24, 48 and 72 degrees after the tilt of the earth. Zalto made the spittoon to remove a stilbruch, the clash of style between fine glassware and the plastic bucket that usually sits beside it at a tasting. This is the smaller of the two sizes, holding around 500 millilitres and intended for one person working through a flight, where the larger 2,500 millilitre model serves a whole table. It is blown by hand in the same workshop as the stems and finished in smoked glass, and the green has enough depth to look considered on a bench rather than functional. An extravagance, certainly, though a little extravagance goes a long way at a serious tasting.

Keep it beside you at a tasting or on a bar, and it makes a thoughtful gift for anyone who tastes regularly. Hand-wash in warm water without detergent and dry with a lint-free cloth.