Hello all,

I realize that this would strike the rest of the world as a crazy question, but I'm guessing that it might garner some sympathy and suggestions here. Anyway, as everyone is probably aware, there's a movement afoot to get people to switch to reusable containers (travel mugs, etc.) instead of using single use containers. I'd like to reduce the amount of waste that I produce, so I'm not opposed to the slight inconvenience of switching.

I much prefer my own espresso, but when I'm teaching, I'm in the habit of grabbing a double espresso (charbux... sigh...) between my two classes. In fact, in the past 6 months, I've gradually switched completely away from coffee. As such, I don't need a 14oz travel mug and I'd much prefer something the appropriate size (something I can throw in my bag as I head off to class). Any suggestions? A lid would be nice, but I could probably suffer with carrying it carefully back to my office. Otherwise, I guess that I could just pick up a plastic or metal espresso cup. Or, what the strongest ceramic cup on the market? I'd like something that I wouldn't have to worrying about banging around in my bag.

Thanks for any suggestions.

My first impulse was to explain to you the difference between an espresso and a latte, but your home equipment list suggests you already know that. But, I am still at a loss as to why you would want to carry around a 1-1/2 oz. drink in any container while its crema disappears. By the time you drink it, it won't really be an espresso anymore.

Yeah... I know... I kinda anticipated this reply. Still, I have two points of defense. First, and the better defense, is that it's a kiosk-type operation, so there's no option of getting it in a ceramic cup, so if I drink it there or not, I'm still using a paper cup (which I'm hoping to avoid). Second, I enjoy sipping drinks and I'm lactose-intolerant, so if I'm not drinking coffee, then it's espresso. Also, I don't really have an aversion to cold espresson (or cold, good coffee).

So, even if you only accept the first defense as legitimate, then I still would like to find a durable espresso cup. Any suggestions?

arced wrote:Yeah... I know... I kinda anticipated this reply. Still, I have two points of defense. First, and the better defense, is that it's a kiosk-type operation, so there's no option of getting it in a ceramic cup, so if I drink it there or not, I'm still using a paper cup (which I'm hoping to avoid). Second, I enjoy sipping drinks and I'm lactose-intolerant, so if I'm not drinking coffee, then it's espresso. Also, I don't really have an aversion to cold espresson (or cold, good coffee).

So, even if you only accept the first defense as legitimate, then I still would like to find a durable espresso cup. Any suggestions?

If you are going to drink it all in 10 minutes, the cheapest double-walled vacuum cup you can find will do. By the way, there are a lot of coffee solids suspended in that espresso, which will continue to (over-) extract in your cup. I wouldn't wait any longer than 10 minutes.

Thanks for the recommendation, but do you know of any small double wall mugs? I'd actually much prefer to have something pretty small to throw in a bag, rather than a large mug that I have to carry separately. Thanks for the advice on the 10 minute rule, I didn't know that. That said, the Kid-O that I just pulled on my Elektra lasted about 30 seconds...

arced wrote:Thanks for the recommendation, but do you know of any small double wall mugs? I'd actually much prefer to have something pretty small to throw in a bag, rather than a large mug that I have to carry separately. Thanks for the advice on the 10 minute rule, I didn't know that. That said, the Kid-O that I just pulled on my Elektra lasted about 30 seconds...

I have never seen a "travel demitasse," and I think we have already covered the reasons for that.

arced wrote:As such, I don't need a 14oz travel mug and I'd much prefer something the appropriate size (something I can throw in my bag as I head off to class). Any suggestions? A lid would be nice, but I could probably suffer with carrying it carefully back to my office. Otherwise, I guess that I could just pick up a plastic or metal espresso cup. Or, what the strongest ceramic cup on the market? I'd like something that I wouldn't have to worrying about banging around in my bag.

The easiest solution is a double-walled stainless steel demitasse:


From Sweet Maria's and the Eternal search for the perfect drinking cup

Otherwise the Nuova Pont demitasses are quite sturdy; espressoparts, Sweet Marias, Great Infusions, Amazon et al sell them. I don't own one of the Danesi demitasses pictured in the thread above, but they look pretty thick.

Below is a smaller travel mug from Liquid Solutions I got at a SCAA conference from Olympia Coffee:



It holds only 8 ounces. Unfortunately my searches turned up no resellers of this size (all were 12 ounces, including REI).

Thanks for the suggestion of the stainless steel cup. That looks perfect. It seems like it could get knocked against the podium and survive. I'll shoot an email off to Sweet Maria's and see when they're re-stocking them. I knew I'd get the answer on H-B!

If you're environmentally conscious, you'll get a laugh out of these

luca wrote:If you're environmentally conscious, you'll get a laugh out of these

Those are actually pretty funny. I might actually have to buy one of those...

Back to the 'travel demitasse'... I am environmentally conscious (in that I think about the environment and want to minimize my impact), but I'm actually not sure whether a stainless steel demitasse would meaningfully lessen my impact on the environment. It's hard to figure out what's worse, a bunch of used paper cups or the energy required to mine and produce a stainless steel cup...