Coffee Cups & Tea Cups

[mutepointe]

This coffee cup is so close to being perfect but it has a flaw. It's black.

The shape is pefect, utilitarian, and almost universal. I drink my coffee black and a cup should be white so that I can appreciate the rich color and know when to stop pouring when the lights are dim. Even coffee with cream and sugar can be appreciated in a white cup. I'll accept other light colors. Could someone please tell me the benefit to be gained from a black coffee cup?

Tea needs to be served in china. China cup, china saucer. Not mugs. I don't think I've ever seen a black china tea cup. Good.

[Anyanka]

I don't think that mug is big enough. Also, I don't like straight-sided mugs - mine need to be gently curved for hand-warming as well as aesthetic purposes. However, I agree on the white: the inside of a mug should always be white. I like bright designs on the outside.

Finally, it's good for a mug to be cheap & mass-produced so that one can throw it in a temper fit without suffering too much regret afterwards.

[Denny]

I don't mind curves on the lower parts, the top 1/3, or more, should be straight if ya plan on walking anywhere with the sucker....

[benhall.1]

Now that is one stylish coffee mug.

[benhall.1]

I like my coffee mugs to be curved (on the lower parts, as Denny suggests) but I like my tea mugs to be straight sided. Oh, and my mug for hot milk (for when I need comfort before bedtime) has sort of nearly semi-circular sides and the word "Llandogo" on it. In ceramic. I might do a piccie later.

[Denny]

Now that is one stylish coffee mug.

get about six cups out of a 12 cup coffee maker!

[Nanohedron]

Could someone please tell me the benefit to be gained from a black coffee cup?

If you were a ninja you could take a break and not compromise your invisibility. Personally, I would prefer a matte surface just to improve my chances, though. That shiny one might be for formal ninja occasions.

[MTGuru]

My favorite daily mug was given to me as a Christmas gift in 1982. It's white and has my name on the front in big red letters. At work, that's handy to keep other people from stealing it. At home, it's handy to remind me who I am. Before my morning coffee, I'm never quite sure. And the bank doesn't like it when I sign my checks "MTGuru".

The handle on that black feller is way too big. I'd have scalding hot coffee in my lap in an instant. Then I'd have to sue myself.

[Katharine]

Could someone please tell me the benefit to be gained from a black coffee cup?

Doesn't show stains.

Plus black is just cool.

[emmline]

I have no problem with its being black. I do have a problem with its rectangularity. It's one of those classic gift-shop insignia shaped mugs, and I find them too large and too uninspiring to drink out of except under duress.

I require curves in my cup. I also want it on the small side so that the coffee doesn't cool off before it's time for a refill.
Here are two cups, both of which I purchased in touristy fashion in New Orleans, but both of which provide a satisfying object to hold, and a nice size.

[Dreamer]

Tea needs to be served in china. China cup, china saucer. Not mugs.

Are you sure it's wrong to use a "coffee cup" for tea? I use a mug like that in blue for my tea. I don't drink coffee though, can't stand the taste.

[Katharine]

I use mugs. Teacups are too small and fragile. Especially at work.

I prefer light-colored, though, for tea. With dark mugs, you can't tell how strong it's steeping.

[Innocent Bystander]

Could someone please tell me the benefit to be gained from a black coffee cup?

Doesn't show stains.

Plus black is just cool.

Also, there is a company that produces such a mug that you can chalk (or similar) the message or slogan of your choice on the side. It washes off. Mute, I'm with you on the shape of the mug, although I would use it for tea, coffee, hot toddy, soup, cocoa, and in case of necessity, beer. Yer curved mugs are inherently unstable. Ditto with the conical mugs. I have witnessed too many accidents to think otherwise, including one one the train seat next to me (stupid bloody woman!).

My company "A Big IT Company" decided to produce its own mugs with the company logo, and sent quantities out to each local office. We received a consignment of three dozen mugs packed simply without padding in a cardboard box. About a third of them survived intact. Then they got bought over by another Big IT Company.

In the words of the Monks of Cool, "Black never goes out of fashion, and chrome goes with everything". So how do you feel about a chrome mug in that shape? Would that suit you or not?

[missy]

I drink my tea (don't drink coffee) out of an insulated travel mug (with lid). Keeps it hot, and it doesn't spill. Have a very large one for work, a smaller one here at home.

If I know I'll be at a table or something stable, I do have a nice tea mug I use, but that's rare.

Tom also uses a travel mug for his coffee (for the amount of coffee he drinks, an IV hook up would be easier). He usually has one for about a year, then manages to leave it somewhere and we have to do the "search for the best travel mug" again. I've taken to buying them in pairs for him.

[mutepointe]

Also, there is a company that produces such a mug that you can chalk (or similar) the message or slogan of your choice on the side. It washes off.

In the words of the Monks of Cool, "Black never goes out of fashion, and chrome goes with everything". So how do you feel about a chrome mug in that shape? Would that suit you or not?

The mug that you can write on is cool.

That's one of the things that I find interesting about the black mugs. They're owned by people who own everything in black and wear black everyday. The black everything does not make them cool anymore than it makes them Johnny Cash.

The chrome mug would lead me to believe it's a holiday leftover.