Zalto Spittoon 50 Red

A hand-blown spittoon in red smoked glass, in the smaller size made for one 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. The spittoon came about because Zalto disliked the stilbruch, the clash of style, between elegant glassware and an unsightly spit bucket. This is the individual model, roughly 500 millilitres, sized to sit at one person's place; the table version holds around 2,500 millilitres for larger tastings. It is made in the same way as the stems, blown by hand and finished in smoked glass, and the colour is a large part of the appeal, warm and deep rather than decorative. It will not make a tasting more accurate, but it stops the tasting looking half-finished, which is a fair reason to own one.

Use it at a bench, a bar or a tasting table, and it makes a good gift for a serious taster. Hand-wash in warm water without detergent and dry with a lint-free cloth.