The right coffee cup for every type of coffee preparation
Serving an espresso in a tall glass? Drink the café au lait from an espresso cup? However, these ideas are a bit strange, especially if you consider the appearance and volume of the respective drink. Apart from that, the taste would suffer a lot here. It is therefore useful to know the many different types of coffee cups for each specialty.
Table of Contents
Choice of cup
There is a suitable drinking vessel for every coffee specialty so that the coffee aroma can develop. However, it is not primarily the size and shape of the container that is important here, but the material.
For optimal coffee enjoyment, three factors must complement each other: namely the choice of the right coffee beans, the ideal coffee preparation method and the use of the right coffee cup.
Fun facts about the coffee cup
Did you know that the largest coffee cup in the world is in Davidson, a city in Canada? The cup was made of sheet metal and has a size of 7.3 meters. This, filled with coffee, corresponds to around 150,000 normal cups of coffee !
Café creme and filter coffee
For these two drinks, cups with a capacity of 0.18 l to 0.22 l are the right choice, as there is also enough space in such containers for a shot of cream or milk and sugar. Both in terms of height and width, coffee cups are in a balanced relationship in contrast to tea cups, for example, which are not high, but wide and rather bowl-like.
Café au lait and milk coffee
For all coffee variations that are prepared with plenty of hot milk like these two specialties, the following applies: A cup size with a volume of 0.25 l to 0.35 l is ideal. You can also find milk coffee cups in our shop.
And the espresso cup?
The barista brews a really excellent espresso at around 92 degrees Celsius. It is usually drunk as hot as possible. Therefore, it should always be served in a narrow, small cup. Such a ratio also only has a volume of 0.07 l to 0.11 l, since the temperature can be ideally maintained in this way. The special kick lies in the specially preheated cup.
The latte macchiato glass
This pleasure consists of frothed milk with an espresso. The special thing about the specialty is that the individual components of the drink must not mix with one another. The lover of this drink would rather be able to recognize the individual layers in the vessel. Therefore, a thick-walled glass and a special long-handled spoon are the appropriate “equipment” for such delicacies.
Caffè Latte is the same as Latte Macchiato or not?
If this delicacy also consists of milk and espresso, the stylish coffee lover can use a wide bowl without a handle for true enjoyment, as these two drinks are not exactly the same.
Special cappuccino cups
A thick-walled and preheated cup is the right utensil, whereby the diameter of the cappuccino cup should always open upwards. It is only with such a construction that the characteristic turbulence occurs when the foaming milk is poured in. Artfully and professionally “draped”, this skill is rightly also called “latte art”.
Which material is suitable for coffee cups?
Thick-walled porcelain is perfect because it has many advantages. On the one hand, it is of high quality and extremely durable. On the other hand, it keeps the coffee warm for a particularly long time, but still makes it drinkable even at high preparation temperatures. Such a coffee cup also has a lot to offer from an aesthetic point of view, because it is elegant and timelessly beautiful. But ceramics can also be used for coffee cups. There are also designer cups made of cardboard, plastic or wood in circulation, whereby the focus here is certainly more on form than function.
Conclusion
There is a special container for every coffee preparation. The perfect coffee cup is made of thick-walled porcelain or ceramic.
- It is high quality.
- Has a great longevity.
- It keeps the coffee warm for a long time.
- It still makes the drink drinkable despite the high preparation temperatures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are coffee cups and cereal bowls microwave safe?
Yes, I use all dishes in the microwave (plates, cups …..)
It is also not true that the dishes are unsuitable when they get warm. Plates, cups, etc. are always warm, with and without food.
I also use the microwave to preheat plates, among other things.
But you are not allowed to put any metal in it, it can catch fire.
What are the cups made of?
The classic disposable cups that you can get at the bakery, for example, are largely made of paper fibers. To do this, wood is shredded and treated with chemicals to such an extent that thin fibers are created that are pressed into cups.
According to WWF, 13 million hectares of forest are cleared every year. That’s 33 soccer fields per minute. More than every third tree ends up in the paper industry. Most of it is not felled in Germany, but all over the world – for example in Scandinavia, Canada and South America.
For the cups, some plastic is also used, with which the inside is coated so that the cardboard does not become soggy. A cup is therefore made of around five percent polyethylene, a commonly used plastic. The typical white or black lids are made of the plastic polystyrene, just like the stirring sticks and most of the plastic cups from vending machines that you can find in train stations, for example.
How do the cups damage nature after they have been used?
The cups can hardly be recycled because the inside is covered with a plastic layer. The lids, on the other hand, can be recycled – provided they find their way into the yellow bin. Most of the time, however, the cups are thrown into a rubbish bin when passing by or end up in the wastepaper basket in the office – after an average of just a quarter of an hour of use. They are then incinerated together with the other residual waste.
The rubbish generated by coffee-to-go cups is comparatively low. We throw away 40,000 tons of it every year. According to the Federal Environment Agency, we come to 18 million tons of packaging waste every year. But it is avoidable garbage with a large volume, which, especially in inner cities, causes full garbage cans and dirty streets and parks.
In Hanover, for example, the city reacted by developing its own deposit system with the compostable Hannoccino cup together with the waste management association. The community foundation Potsdam has started a similar project. Coffee drinkers can use the PotsPRESSO mug for a deposit of 3 dollars. This is how the city should be kept clean.
Cup and lid rot very slowly. While the paper cup may be gone in a few years, the lid will take several decades. In addition, microplastics are produced during decomposition. These are tiny remnants of plastic that get into the sea and can be ingested by fish, for example. Later they end up on our plate again – the effects are so far unclear.
Are reusable cups more useful?
Reusable cups have a clear advantage: They hardly produce any waste because you don’t have to throw them away after each use. However, they are not climate-neutral: Their production consumes a lot of energy, so their environmental balance is only better if you really use them regularly, according to the Federal Environment Agency at least ten times.
However, washing the dishes always consumes additional energy. That is why it makes sense not to put the cups in the dishwasher straight away, but to rinse them with a little water every now and then before using them again.
Depending on the material, the reusable cups offer different advantages and disadvantages. Ceramic mugs can break quickly on the go, which is not the case with versions made of bamboo or stainless steel. In bamboo cups, however, there are often substances that make the cup more stable, but can endanger health. So the safest and most stable are the stainless steel cups. The more durable your mug, the better your environmental balance will be.
What is the most environmentally friendly way to drink my coffee?
In general, reusable cups are better for the environment than classic coffee-to-go cups. If you use them regularly and don’t put them in the dishwasher after each use, they have a significantly better environmental footprint than their cardboard and plastic relatives.
Many chains also offer discounts if you bring your own mug. At Tchibo, for example, you get a 10 cents discount, at Starbucks you save 30 cents. You can also take advantage of offers such as Recup or Faircup. These are deposit systems where you can return your used cup so that it can be used again.
Should you ever reach for the paper cup, then it’s best to leave the plastic lid off, because that’s what causes most of the CO2. You can also squeeze the cup more easily so that it doesn’t take up as much space in the trash can.
The most environmentally friendly way is to drink your coffee normally from a cup and only briefly rinse it out if you use it several times. Whether at home, in a café or at work – simply planning a few more minutes of time helps to protect the environment.
Can coffee mugs go in carry on luggage
Cups yes, with coffee in them? No! Unless it’s under 100ml
