A coffee cup is a container that coffee and espresso-based drinks are served in. Coffee cups are made of porcelain, ceramic, or tempered glass and they can have a handle for portability. Ceramic and porcelain provide insulation, maintaining the beverage hot. Tempered glassware needs a double wall construction in order to provide insulation.
A coffee cup may also be a disposable cup in which hot beverages, including coffee, can be contained. Disposable coffee cups may be made out of paper or styrofoam.
Shapes and Sizes
Cafe drinkware
There are cafe cups in various sizes, standardized to reflect paper cup sizes. They are typically 225, 336, 460 and sometimes 570 ml. Slight variations are to be expected, but these sizes are the standard. These are the cups that house mochas, lattes, and other coffee drinks.
Cappuccino
Demitasse
The Demitasse is a cup specially crafted for espresso or for Turkish coffee. It is 60-80 ml in capacity, and could be accompanied by a saucer.
Many times a cup refers to the brewed beverage and its attributes as a final result of brewing.
Cup of Coffee
Many times a cup is the term we use for the result of brewing coffee, and not the recipient. When we say “This coffee machine makes a great cup.” we refer to the brewed result and not the recipient.