Espresso

Here we enjoy a good Espresso served in a nice cup from the legendary Finnish design company Iittala.

Handle

Despite being a rather small cup just for an Espresso, the cup offers a well proportioned handle just big enough for a good 3-finger grip. The whole is big enough for the finger, yet the handle does not destroy the harmony of the cup.

Heat

Although not the most fat porcelain seen, the cup offers a good heat protection.

Surface

Massively decorated and with solid contrasts between the black and white, the surface is still smooth and suggesting a high quality of the cup and saucer.

Mouth feel

The well rounded cup with equal thickness feels good, while some may prefer a slightly thicker porcelain to make it perfect.

More details

Established as a glass factory in 1881 in the city of Iittala, Finland, Iittala offers a wide range of interior design and drinking- and dining products from the philosophy that their design should be long-lasting, proven by some of their design having been around for some 80 years.

The cup is the Taika Espresso Cup designed by Heikki Orvola with decoration by Klaus Haapaniemi. The cup is available in various sizes from the Iittala shop.

I enjoyed this nice cup of good coffee on 10 February 2020 at the Cafebar21 in Rovaniemi, Finland - the home town of Santa Claus according to local beliefs. Rovaniemi and Santa Claus village is situated at the Artic Circle.

Espresso

This is a very solid-looking cup with very destinct colors mixing red and a clear white with the brown colors of the coffee.

Handle

The handle is well proportioned to the size of the cup, and given the weight of the cup a 3-finger grip is needed. This works very well, as the handle is rather fat and contributes well to the solid impression of the cup.

Heat

Very thick walls helps keep the heat inside the cup and coffee, leaving no risk of burned fingers on the outside.

Surface

The surface is very smooth, and the borders between red and line are clear and in no way blurry.

Mouth feel

The thick walls of the cup offers a feeling of solid'ness when drinking from it.

More details

Loveramics is the manufacturer of this great cup.

The design is called 'egg', and was The Worlds Latte Art Championship Official Cup in Sweden, 2015.

This cup was a Christmas gift from my daughter at Christmas 2019, and the review was completed at home on 25 December 2019.

Espresso

A small and very solid cup matching well the strength of the coffee in the cup.

Handle

A nice combination of a small handle which is thick. This offers a solid 2-finger grip to hold the small cup.

Heat

The thick cheramics offers good heat protection.

Surface

Nice and very smooth surface from what appears to be a high quality porcelain.

Mouth feel

Great - just how an espresso cup should feel.

More details

The cup is supplied by the family owned  Cafés Richard, a French based supplier of premium coffees, equipment, tools, and coffee with roots back to 1892. They have been an active player in the coffee culture in France since 1955.

The review was done on 27 November 2019 at Le Perraudin at Rue Saint-Jacques in Paris, France.

Espresso

An Espresso serving where the cup has a great fit to the Espresso. Certain brands go for small and fat cups, where this is an example of a taller and more slim cup.

The smaller diameter leaves more depth to the crema as prefered by some. I am personally more to the less tall and slightly bigger surfaces of an Espresso.

Handle

A small cup can carry a special handle - and this is a very nice example where the handle is shaped with edges. This works very well for a solid 2-finger grip, which is enough to hold this small cup.

Heat

Espressos are short and don't work as long-drinks. Correspondingly, heat protection is less important, and the cup here does not offer the best heat prevention.

Surface

All in all a nice and smooth surface in line with what you normally expect from a cup from Cup & Saucer.

Mouth feel

The porcelain feels nice, yet I personally felt that the very small diameter of the cup made it almost too small for a pleasant drinking experience.

More details

The Sicafé espresso was served in another fine cup from Cup & Saucer from Portugal.

The review was done on 9 November 2019 at Le Virage in Martigny, Switzerland.

Espresso

Here we are looking at a cup with character, and a close-to-perfect mouth feel and drinking experience.

Handle

Small cups don't always need big handles, and in this case we are somewhere in between. Not too big, not too small, yet bold and just big enough to go with a 3-finger grip even though Espressos usually works with 2-finger.

Heat

They've got it right here: The espresso is small enough to stay low in the cup, thus not leaving too large a surface for the heat to escape. And the cup didn't feel too hot, indicating a good insulation.

Surface

White. Smooth. Porcelain. This felt like a thick layer of porcelain outside the inner cheramics, leaving an impression of high quality.

Mouth feel

The top of the cup is very well rounded giving an almost perfect mouth feel.

More details

At this point we have not been able to identify the manufacturer of these cups from the logo (let us know if you know something!), but Lavazza has a range of their cups for sale at their website.

The review was done at Beercode at Firenze Airport, Italy on 19 July 2019.

The very iconic Segafredo espresso cup, a legend amongst espresso cups.

The very distinct cup is not a round cup, but more square in it's appearance, and along with the little fat handle it conveys an expression of strong coffee. This fits the nature of Espresso very well.

Handle

The idea of making a small and fat handle here fits the size of the cup, as the weight is low enough to lift the cup with just 2 fingers. Yet, combined with surface heat that very easily touches the tips of your fingers, the handle is a bit too small.

Heat

The freshly served and hot coffee very quickly makes the entire cup feels warm, and to an extent slightly outside the comfortable.

Surface

Smooth and very nice surface with the logo well outside the zone touching your lips.

Mouth feel

Beverages are most often consumed from round objects, and drinking coffee from these rather straight lines touching your lips feels slightly strange.

More details

We found the cups for sale at the UK website of Segafredo, where they are sold in bundles of 4.

The review was done at the Cartoleria in San Donato, Chianti / Tuscany, Italy on 13 July 2019.

An icon amongst coffee cups

Handle

A small, fat handle for a small cup. Where small handles can be an issue for larger cups, it does work for this cup, the reason being that you can hold the cup with just 2 fingers with no need for supporting the handle and cup with your middle finger.

Heat

The cup felt rather warm on the surface, beyond what was comfortable to hold. Despite this heat loss through the surface of the cup, the coffee remained hot long enough to enjoy it in full.

Surface

A nice and smooth white porcelain with the logo placed well below the area touching your lips and thus not disturbing the drinking experience.

Mouth feel

The edges are curved slightly towards the center of the cup, giving a rather good mouth fit for your upper lip.

More details

Illy has a long history of working closely with the Italian architecture and design studio Matteo Thun & Partners, who designed this original Illy cup.

The cups - and other accessories - are available from Illy's online store.

The review was done at Cafe Melloni, Via De Bardi 74/R, Firenze, Italy on 11 July 2019.