Baristas and a latte artist spill on the fine details that make up a quality coffee cup.
Whether it’s stamped with a pithy phrase or features a high-quality ergonomic design, a really good mug can produce extra delight for your chosen morning beverage.
At your local coffee shop, the cups
Annika, a barista at Atomic Coffee Roasters in Kingsland, highlights the way a collection of cups can enhance the homely atmosphere of a cafe (whether they’re slick with uniformity or thrifty one-of-a-kinds).
“Each cafe also has its own signature cups — it gives each place a personality.”
The mugs handed out to a never-ending line of coffee-guzzling patrons, for Annika, also symbolise the larger purpose and potential of a cafe as a community gathering place.
“Putting it in a real cup, having it here, dining in, the whole experience is a lot more fun for us.”
For a morning cup of joe, the barista keeps a couple of mugs at the cafe. Those cups fit the specific requirements for a daily long black or iced coffee.
“I have two cups here, one made by a friend and another little cup from West Coast Stoneware. [I like] the shape of them, wide at the top, kind of like a candle cup. The way you can hold each cup is so nice and they don’t get too hot. I like really thick cups and I don’t like handles.”
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.The barista also looks forward to seeing what customers bring in-store to house their takeaway coffees too (much preferring them to disposable cups).
“It’s always really exciting when someone brings their own cup because it’s fun to see everybody’s different personalities in them. There are lots of usuals where we know their cup and it’s really cute.”
Johnny and Chowder, holding down the counter at Chur Bae, have a preference for practical and stackable mugs in the cafe space. Johnny highlights the importance of serving a warm-feeling cup of coffee to customers. Meanwhile, Chowder ruminates on how the size of mugs of coffee might be shrinking due to our collective changing tastes (and investment in the flavour of the coffee itself).
“I think it’s more acquired to taste, aye? The ratio is really important for the coffee and the milk. Having a massive bowl is obviously so wholesome. But these days, people want a stronger hit — more coffee taste rather than milky. I think these days coffees are getting smaller, they’re more acquired to people’s tastes.”
Ricky, a barista busy at work at Cityworks Best Ugly Bagels, highlights that it’s not all about taste. Rather, there’s fun and drama to be found in the way a specific glass can complement the experience of drinking coffee.
“I have a preference for a latte in a glass. It’s the best idea because the customer can see the foam, the latte art and the three layers of the coffee — the shot, the milk and the foam. It’s very exciting to watch. When it goes to the customer, it drips down and you can see them mixing together.”
Yu Hsin (Dennis) Hsueh, a barista at Demi Urgos Espresso in Hamilton and an award-winning latte artist, gets specific about the best type of cup for creating unique patterns.
“My personal preference would be 190ml-300ml latte cup or cappuccino cup. It has a nice round body shape and a wider surface for me to create latte art.”
But the real trick for those intricate patterns goes beyond the final vehicle (and, of course, the many years of practice).
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.“My secret of latte art is to find the right size of milk pitcher for latte art. My personal preference, I like to pour with my 600ml pitcher. It creates a consistent flow on the surface.”
Dennis’ personal favourite caffeine concoction is best housed in a specific cup too.
“My morning coffee routine; I will have a double shot oat flat white in a 190ml Acme cappuccino cup. Then, if I still need a coffee, I will have long black with cream or V60 filter coffee from Grey Roasting Co.”
Add To Cart
These characterful, sturdy mugs will (metaphorically) sweeten your cup of joe.
