ogatasan wrote:let me point out that i would have preferred to pay for the cup or buy a set just there.

I have a bathmat from the Peabody in Memphis, a set of 'monogrammed' towels from the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, A set of salt and pepper shakers (two sets, actually) from each a Hilton resort, a Loew's Resort, and a Westin resort, and an ashtray from a small pub in Nurnberg. I asked for each of them. I offered to buy each of them (the Publican took a Euro for the ashtray). The set of towels were the result of asking for some torn, worn, or stained towels to use as rags, the bathmat was what I got when I asked if the hotel had anything I could use as packing material, to get some mics I purchase in Memphis back home. I have an entire chess set made of salt and pepper shakers, and it' so odd, most of them have been given to me, with of the pawns, and knights being the exceptions. Only one place I ever went to asked me to purchase sets of S&P shakers when I inquired about them.
Ya should have told them that you wanted to add to your collection, you may have been able to add matched pairs.

ogatasan wrote:niko, bay area sounds tempting and i like your alien cup (it wouldnt go missing, no worries)

No worries at all!
Only the finest cups come out for any H-B Members that visit me.

this is to niko and everyone curious about Illy cups -though i am sure you already knew they are being produced by a number of manufacturers

http://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/markprince/12-12-2003

Today I received a couple of black AFC Cafe Cappuccino 6 oz. cups and saucers from Great Infusions Co. My normal 'milk cup' has always been 5 oz so these are a slight bump up from my accustom cup size.

I like them. When compared to my 5 oz cups they look quite large. They have more rounded shape that should make pouring art easier, should being the operative word. I do manage to pull off a decent rosette now and then, but when I want to pour one, I get a pine tree. At least it still tastes good. Unfortunately I stretched the milk a little to much so it did not pour so nice.

I think I like the black over the brown AFC. The black body of the cup with the white rims coddling the soft brown crema tented milk with the white accents make a nice contrast in color. The spousal unit also thinks they look nice.

That is a little better.

Fr. John wrote:These have been my hands down favorites for lattes and capps for a couple years. I've yet to find better.

Villeroy & Boch

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Those are beautiful cups - I've been a fan of Villeroy & Boch ever since working at Le Manoir in Oxford. We have demitasse from the 'Look' range, cappuccino mugs and cafe au lait mugs from their 'New Wave' range:





The mugs are really comfy to hold.

I didn't post on this thread before because I could not find a professional quality photographic image of my preferred cup, until now. I have referenced these cups in the write ups of various blind tasting experiments I've done with my Cimbali Juniors as "Revol espresso cups" or somesuch.

Revol is one of several high quality French porcelain manufacturers. Here is the picture I finally found of these cups, whose reference/model number is RAPTMLI



It's a very simple cup with a classic form, however superior in my view to all the similar ones I have found. It holds only 2oz (6cl), which makes it a little smaller than most of the somewhat similarly shaped cups produced by others, including the Italian manufacturers such as I.P.A. It is also just a tad thinner and more delicate in shape. The thickness up at lip level is completely perfect in my view. The handle is actually comfortable to hold, uncommon in a cup of this size.

I have a lot of different cups made by many different manufacturers, but if I had to get rid of all of them and just keep one, this is the one I'd keep.

Unfortunately, these are almost impossible to find, especially in N. America. I bought 8 or 10 of them from Williams Sonoma on a closeout years ago, then proceeded to break several and was unable to find replacements. After a lot of effort, I found that I could order them from a Vancouver, Canada, shop, W.H. Puddifoot:

2375 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V6M 2A3

Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 5:30

Phone: 604-261-8141
Toll Free: 1-877-261-8141
Fax: 604-263-2468
E-Mail: mail@puddifoot.com

They are even hard to find in France, however Revol has a factory store in St. Uze, in the middle of nowhere, in between Tain l'Hermitage and Lyon, where they can be bought also. If you can find St. Uze, you can find the store

I have now managed to buy quite a few of these, but the search took a very long time. They are also quite expensive; about $6.50USD each at the French factory store, but close to double that from the Canadian retailer.

ADDENDUM: I just found that a retailer who lists products on the Amazon website (but it is not Amazon itself) claims to have these available for $14+ each. This is a new development. I have no knowledge as to whether or not these cups are actually in stock, even though the website states that they are.

ken

Ken Fox wrote:ADDENDUM: I just found that a retailer who lists products on the Amazon website (but it is not Amazon itself) claims to have these available for $14+ each.

Nice keyword to search on, ChefTools lists it among their cups & mugs. The Revol website has photos of their wares, but not much else. Oh, and there is a map if you happen to be in Saint-Uze and want to find their factory store.

I have added another cup to my collection. While I was in New York I stopped by grumpy cafe and picked up two demi's.

HB wrote:Nice keyword to search on, ChefTools lists it among their cups & mugs. The Revol website has photos of their wares, but not much else. Oh, and there is a map if you happen to be in Saint-Uze and want to find their factory store.

Oh very nice! I'll bookmark it and let Santa know. Thanks for the heads up!