Well, this used to be a thread asking if anyone could identify the solid white cup below. However, since that didn't pan out, I have edited this posting and will just make it about my slowly budding (and believe me, it will be very slowly, especially if my school axes me next month due to budget) illy collection thread. Afterall, not many people will understand my love and passion for these cups like some of you will. Feel free to join in of course, as it will probably be another year until I can post here again for any new cups of my own

I think this is my primary reason for loving espresso actually: I am a cupaholic. Though I also really enjoy espresso too.

First up, This is a cappuccino cup, looks like an illy. I like to imagine it has an official title such as "The White Cup" or the "la bianca" when I am drinking it. It certainly is excellent quality though, much much nicer than the IPA logo cups.



Bottom of cup

Well, in order to collect, I have to collect cheap. My first one up is my World Cup. I purchased it for way more than I should have, but it was the first official "collection cup" I bought. Though, not even the nicest of the world cup collection cups. 21 bucks for this beast. Oh yea, I am also a dealaholic, so whenever I update the thread I will also mention what I paid. Though...not much of a deal here perhaps

Now, this is one I am fairly proud of. I saw it listed on craigslist for 25 dollars, and I convinced her to ship it plus 15 bucks. She was nice enough to send 5 dollars back as well, since she didnt spend it to ship, though I kind of wish that she had packaged it better. One of the handles on an IPA cup was busted, I epoxied it together but it is very noticable, so I hid it in the shots. One of the extra saucers is chipped as well. Overall though, I think 5 Rufus Willis cups 8 design saucers, 4 logo cups (one not pictured) and 5 IPA saucers is a pretty dang nice grab for 35 bucks. But...I have to say, the IPA logo cups are a huge dissapointment. They dont really set in the saucer as well as in the Collection cups or my "la bianca" lol, and they are kind of wavy and less refined. A little bit lighter as well, though the larger circle is pretty nice for the larger cup, unlike the solid white one. I can see a difference in quality though, and I am not impressed with the quality of these particular logo cups. Anyway, despite those negative notes, overall I couldnt be much happier with my find!

The set:




As I present on the shelf:




And I love how the saucers match the design of the cup. Really fantastic. It was kind of hard to find good pics of each of the cup designs online, and probably nobody cares that much so I wont post it here. But, if somebody out there wants to see them up close for some reason, let me know and I will drop them in.

Saucers:

Wow these are nice cups I'm a bit of a cup fan. Just wanting to know why is there such a following with Illy cup collecting?.

Below is a cup I like but cant justify the cost.

Hey, that is an interesting looking cup. I say you should save up for and get it a try if it is really what you want.

While obviously we all have to use moderation in our purchases, I actually went on a quest to figure out which cups I would most prefer to have. The reason I did this is a result of my studies of wine tasting. What we have found is that as humans we are very easily manipulated by our predispositions and bias. When presenting a white wine to professional wine connoisseurs they will come away describing it in traditional white wine flavors, but if you add some red dye to the wine and serve it to them immediately afterward they will describe it's taste and smell in a completely different way. In the same way, if you tell them that a wine cost more, it almost always results in higher ratings than the same wine costing less.

Thus, in experimenting with myself, I have found that the more valuable I consider something, the more time I take appreciating it and the more I do, in fact, enjoy the experience. Thus, by placing my beverage in a cup that I truly cherish and appreciate I find that my drinks taste better overall, simply because the experience has become more meaningful and valuable to me.

I believe that the vessel is actually quite important, though we obviously can do without until our finances allow us to get a vessel appropriate to our means. More important is, of course, how we perceive the drink. And far more important than that is how we perceive life. And so my final conclusion is that in order to truly love espresso one must truly love life, but that an excellent cup can add a lot, if a firm foundation is already established.

Love your cup philosophy.

I like many things and could probably spend $1Billion in a day quite easily, but then I would have excess in things I wouldnt use.
I have some cups currently I love and are not as expensive.

My mum is ceramic mad and collects a lot of ceramic goods, so from this I have learned to appreciate ceramic wear allot.

I also beleive the vessel make the drinking experience better. For this reason I have stopped drinking coffee at work as I'm not a fan of takeaway cups.