A majority of coffee cups on the market are too damn big, and they're at the detriment of coffee drinking. The secret to better coffee? Go small. No, we're not saying drink less coffee — just reach for a tiny cup.
How did we get to these super-sized mugs? Blame McDonald's for getting consumers to super-size everything. With extra-large sodas, Americans were slowly being conditioned to crave extra-large everything. Hell, at Starbucks you can get a 30-ounce cup of coffee and no one bats an eye.
This shift to quantity over quality led to drinkers gorgining on coffee for its caffeine rather than the joy of drinking it. Much like drinking espresso from a dainty demitasse cup, which prioritizes sipping over shotting, drinking coffee from a small vessel encourages you to savor what's in your cup. In comparison, drinking from a large mug sees you chugging a seemingly never-ending supply of coffee until you've suddenly knocked back one last lukewarm gulp.
Pouring smaller servings also retains your coffee supply's heat. Larger volumes of liquid have greater heat energy, so it takes longer for it to cool down. Each time you top off your tiny cup, there will hardly be a difference in a lost of temperature from that cup and the prior.
Lastly, our shift to quality coffee is dictating the size of our coffee cups. Third Wave coffee normalized spending more money on expertly brewed joe despite smaller quantities. Small cups emphasize the quality of the coffee and its preparation. So how about this: go small, or go back to sleep. Here are a few cups to start your downsizing journey.
Five to Buy
