Aside from water, coffee is probably one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world. There are coffee drinkers and there are passionate coffee drinkers who won’t stop looking for ways to make their cup of coffee the best one ever.
The type of cup that’s best for you will depend on where you want to enjoy your coffee and your environmental impact. While paper, Styrofoam and plastic cups are convenient and cheap, they are impossible to recycle and have unhealthy side effects. Double-walled metal cups are great for traveling, as they keep coffee hot and have lids. Demitasse mugs also keep coffee hot, but don’t hold much. Traditional mugs hold 2 to 3 times more than demitasse mugs and are great for home or work.
There are several things to consider when choosing the best coffee cup. Good coffee cups add excitement to our taste of coffee.
Material
Coffee cups can be made from different kinds of materials such as porcelain, ceramic, plastics, stainless steel and glass. Porcelain is king and the material of choice when choosing the iconic espresso cup. Other materials may be fashionable, but you will find that coffee served in anything, but porcelain runs the risk of going flat quickly. Also, porcelain ensures temperature is distributed evenly, which is not always the case with other materials. Based on passionate coffee drinkers’ experiences, porcelain, plastic and stainless steel tend to retain the odor and sometimes even the taste of a beverage that’s previously been placed there. Unlike ceramic and glass, you can easily wash away without worries of flavor retention. In addition, ceramic and glass are also effective in prolonging the warm temperature of your coffee as compared to other ones.
Size
Each coffee drinkers have different preferences when it comes to choosing mugs. Ideally, a coffee cup should be 2-3 oz. If the cup is too big, the crema spreads out, becomes thin, and disappears quickly. Additionally, a large cup effects the temperature of the coffee and you run the risk of it becoming cold quickly. Of course, if you regularly drink a doppio coffee, a 3.5-4 oz. cup is better. Here is a trick if you want to keep your coffeee hot – heat the cups with boiling water or put them in the microwave for a few seconds with hot water. If the porcelain is hot, the coffee will remain hot longer.
Shape
There are lots of different shapes of coffee cups to choose from, from the more traditional simple porcelain cup, to the heavy armour of a protected stainless steal travelling cup. Depending on size and weight, these different cups will suite different people, and offer different levels of comfort while drinking. The best thing to do is to experiment.
Handle or No Handle
Handles on coffee cups are nice only when you’re at home or in the office. It makes it easier to hold a hot cup but quite difficult to balance when you’re walking around; you may even end up with spilled coffee on your shirt.