Coffee Cup Guide

The Italian cappuccino cup is smaller than the standard cappuccino coffee cup. Most cappuccino cups are also narrower at the base and wider at the rim. This is for the same reasons as the espresso cup, except with the cappuccino cup, the espresso shot remains more concentrated in a narrow base. This dome-shaped cup will also allow the perfect foam topping. Cappuccino cups should also have matching saucers. Americano coffee drinks are also served in these types of cups.

With French coffee, it’s common to drink a café au lait from a bowl-type coffee cup called a bol, which is usually made out of porcelain. When drinking café au lait from a bol, it should be held with both hands, as they tend to not have handles, and drunk like soup.

The cortado is quite a new face in the world of coffee. Starting in the Blue Bottle Café in San Francisco, Gibraltar tumblers were used to make this drink. Being a little too small for their cupping coffee, the baristas started accidentally making cortados in these glasses. 

Founder, James Freeman, says the Gibraltar as a cortado glass “has had surprising international success, appearing on menus in the United States, Europe, and Japan".

To make Turkish coffee, an ibrik or cezve, the name of the pot with a long handle, is used for brewing. Then, it’s poured into a separate coffee cup. Often referred to as a demitasse cup, the Turkish coffee cup is in fact different to ones used for espresso.

Turkish coffee has a much higher temperature than espresso because of how it’s made. Therefore, the coffee cup must withstand the temperature and hold a steady high temperature as the coffee grounds settle. This coffee drink is also designed to be enjoyed for a long time, not shot like espresso. Turkish coffee cups are often made of porcelain and have the right level of thickness to maintain this temperature.