Best Espresso Cups

Espresso Cups Buying Guide

Buying your next espresso coffee cups can be quite an adventure with all of the choices in the market today. If you take a few minutes to figure out what want in your ideal espresso cups and how much you are willing to spend, you should be able to guide yourself to a wise purchase.

The first thing to do is to determine your priorities for your espresso cup purchase. What is most important to you? The most common factors to consider are:

• • Porcelain sets of 6 run $20 to $50 (and a lot more)
  • Stainless steel run about $15 for a cup and saucer
  • Glass $7 for singles, $12 to $20 for sets of 2
  • Porcelain
  • Glass
  • Stainless steel
  • Single cup
  • Cup and Saucer pair
  • Set of cups & saucers (from 2 to 6)
  • These run the gamut. Choose you style, choose your artist
  • It is beyond the scope of this article to guide you on the collectability of espresso cups. Start with ebay to get a feel for the market and work your way in slowly if you are doing this as an investment.

Price range

Type of material

Quantity of matching cups in a set

Art Pattern

Collectability

Once you know what you are looking for and what your priorities are it is time to do a little research. You want to find a store that you trust and a price that you think is right. It is often hard to get a good sense of an art pattern or of the overall quality of a cup without seeing and holding it in person. The ergonomics of a cup can be a big turn on or turn off factor for you so trying before you buy is always a good idea.

Some of the more common brands of espresso cups include:

• Bailetti
• Bodum
• Francis! Francis!
• Illy Schwung
• Saeco
• Segafredo
• Teaposy
• Tognana
• WMF
• And many more

If you are giving espresso cups as a gift then you might way to pay attention to the boxes that the sets come in. The designer art sets often come with very elegant packaging.

Here is to finding your perfect espresso cup and many wonderful small moments of escape with it!

Common spelling variation: Expresso Cups

Espresso Cups Overview

Espresso Cups are a fantastic combination of artistry and function. Espresso coffee cups are also called Demitasse cups and there is a lot of science behind making a perfect espresso cup.

Espresso coffee cups generally range in size from 2-3 ounces and if you load up your espresso with extra goodies you may want to go with slightly larger size cups.

There are a variety of materials used to make espresso cups, but they are traditionally made from porcelain. You can also find espresso coffee cups made from glass and stainless steel.

Function – Besides containing the espresso, the number 1 job of an espresso cup is to make sure that the espresso stays warm until you are done drinking it. Pre-heat your espresso cup prior to use by giving it a bath in hot water. This will help keep your espresso warm for a longer period of time. For porcelain cups, the thicker the porcelain is the more heat it will retain. Glass espresso cups have a double walled design to insulate your espresso and keep it warm longer. You will also find Stainless steel cups that are thermally insulated with double wall construction.

Aesthetics- Let’s not kid ourselves. A good looking espresso cup adds to the pleasure of the entire espresso drinking experience. Some folks are all about the material, some about the functional design (those double walled glass cups look cool!) and some get excited about the art. Ever since Illy started making designer cups in 1992 they have had a strong following. There is even a strong collectors market for designer espresso cups. When a particular pattern is retired from production, they almost automatically become more valuable.

There is another term that you should be familiar with when looking for espresso cups and that is “bar set”. The bat sets are the cups and saucers that are typically used in restaurants. They are often must sturdier in design, but a notch lower on the quality side of things. A bar set could be exactly what you are looking for due to the construction and price range.

There is a lot to consider when purchasing your next espresso cup set. Make sure the cups perform well, find cups that excite you due to their artistic qualities and make sure they are within a price range you can afford.

Happy espresso drinking!

Espresso Cups and The Materials They are Made From

Espresso cups come in quite a variety of designs and styles. We are going to cover the materials typically used to make espresso cups. Espresso and Demitasse cups are typically made from porcelain, glass or stainless steel.

Porcelain Espresso Cups

The traditional material for espresso cups is porcelain. Porcelain espresso cups are a ceramic and are strong, hardy and have a nice translucency. There are typically two types of porcelain cups: art or designer cups which are made to higher quality standards (but slight less durable) and Bar cups that are much more durable but are made to a lower quality. In 1992 Illy began making porcelain espresso cups with art designs where only all white or company logo cups were available previously.

In general the thicker the porcelain is the better. This is due to the fact that thinner porcelain will not hold heat as long as thicker porcelain. If you pre-heat your espresso cup before putting the espresso in it, your drink will stay hot for a longer period of time. The thin walled cups cool down quicker and this will cool your espresso faster as well.

Glass Espresso Cups

Glass and crystal cups are easy to manufacture and they have a naturally good look to them. You will find a lot of glass espresso cups that are double walled. The reason for this is to increase the thermal properties of the cup to keep your espresso hot longer. Glass espresso cups add artistic flair through their initial shapes and by etching designs directly on the glass.

Stainless Steel Espresso Cups

Stainless steel has a very modern appeal to is so it may fit your style and décor better than other materials. Stainless steel cups are most often polished to a mirror like finish but they can also be found with satin finishes. Stainless steel espresso cups are also made as double walled cups to improve upon their thermal properties.

Other materials

Espresso Cups are made from other materials but they are much less common.

If you are a traditionalist, porcelain espresso cups are the way to go. If you like the looks of glass or stainless steel cups then you are good to go with those. If you are into the art and collectability of demitasse cups then the porcelain designer espresso cups will fit your bill. Porcelain, glass or stainless steel, you won’t go wrong with any of these types of Demitasse cups.