• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

I Need Coffee

By Coffee Fans, For Coffee Fans!

  • Coffee Brewing Guide
  • Support
  • About INeedCoffee
You are here: Home / Coffee Business / Coffee Cup 2.0

Coffee Cup 2.0

October 1, 2007 by Michael Allen Smith

Coffee Cup 2.0

Every year coffee hobbyists are exposed to many new brewing or home roasting gadgets. Not only is innovation occuring at the gadget level, but it is also occurring with the disposable coffee cup. Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t think there was anyway to improve upon the standard coffee house disposable cup. Let me share with you what I discovered.

Seeing Temperature

The first problem with coffee cup lid is there is no way to tell how hot a drink is without putting it up to your lips and tasting. We’ve all done that quick kiss sip. Pull up just the minimal number of coffee droplets to detect if the drink is safe enough not to burn the mouth. It would be so much easier if we could just read the temperature, but who wants to carry a thermometer with them at cafes?

Smart Lid Systems from Sydney, Australia has come up with a solution. The lids change color based upon the temperature of the beverage. If the coffee is too hot to drink, the lid is a bright red. And if the coffee is a safe temperature, the lid turns brown – the color of coffee.

Smart Lid transformation
Smart Lid transformation

Besides saving you from burning your mouth, the lid has an additional safety feature. If the lid color isn’t solid across the top it indicates that the lid may not be securely fastened. Secure the lid and the color should become uniform.

Ending Spills and Locking in Warmth

The little opening that we sip our coffee from is the coffee escape hatch. Coffee exits that escape hatch either by our direction via lifting the cup and drinking from it or by accident. You may be transporting just one beverage to the drink holder in your car or maybe your bringing back a tray of drinks for the office. A turn or a tap on the breaks and coffee comes flying out.

For a few years cafes tried to solve this problem by taping the opening. This idea lost popularity once people realized that the steam from the coffee would loosen the tape making it functionless. A company called JavaStix has come up with a solution. Using their JavaStix, the coffee opening is closed and secure. And when it comes time to drink the coffee, the stick is removed easily without burning your hand.

JavaStix
JavaStix

A Cup Sleeve With Style

Many years ago fans of quality coffee ditched the styrofoam cups in favor of paper. The problem of burning your hand grabbing a hot paper cup was first solved by using two paper cups. This was clearly wasteful and thus was born the coffee sleeve. Even though this was less paper waste, it was still wasteful. Cardboard cup sleeves are almost always discarded with the empty coffee cup.

WishingFish.com has a stylish solution. They created a line of designer coffee cup sleeves called Cup Couture. These cup sleeves are reusable, easy to store and easy to clean. Some of the styles they offer are Giraffe, Tigress and Chinchilla.

Imagine strutting out of a coffee house in fur (well faux fur), but the fur is covering your coffee cup not you. It’s sure to be conversation starter. WishingFish.com estimates that a coffee drinker can save 6-10 lbs of paper waste a year by substituting the cardboard sleeve with a reusable sleeve. That’s a conversation worth having.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Michael Allen Smith

Michael Allen Smith

Michael Allen Smith is both a coffee fanatic and a web developer. In April 1999, he combined these two interests and started the coffee website INeedCoffee.com. His personal blog, which covers a wide range of topics, is Critical MAS.
Michael Allen Smith

Latest posts by Michael Allen Smith (see all)

  • Can you brew coffee with a piece of aluminum foil? - November 4, 2019
  • Espresso Tamping Visual Tutorial - October 7, 2019
  • Step By Step Bonavita Immersion Coffee Dripper Tutorial - September 21, 2019
Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: Coffee Business

About Michael Allen Smith

Michael Allen Smith is both a coffee fanatic and a web developer. In April 1999, he combined these two interests and started the coffee website INeedCoffee.com. His personal blog, which covers a wide range of topics, is Critical MAS.

Primary Sidebar

Essential Coffee Gear


Essential Coffee Gear

Our guide to some of our favorite coffee gear.

French Press Guide

AeroPress Brewing Guide

Iced Coffee Tutorial

Connect

  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search

Newsletter

Sign up here to receive our newsletter delivered by Feedburner.

Recent Posts

  • A Small Screwball Cake Recipe for Two
  • How to Brew Fine Drip Over Coffee With a Stainless Steel Filter
  • How To Make Coffee Using A Thermos Flask
  • Can you brew coffee with a piece of aluminum foil?
  • Roasting Coffee to the “Rate of Rise Kick”

Popular

  • Coffee Grind Chart
  • French Press Coffee Tutorial
  • Stovetop Espresso Brewing Tutorial
  • How to Brew Vietnamese Iced Coffee
  • The Upside Down AeroPress Coffee Brewing Tutorial
  • How to Brew Espresso in a Moka Pot
  • Advice on Starting A Coffee Business
  • Coffee Brewing Guide
  • Chemex Coffee Brewing - History and Tutorial
  • The Coffee Martini (3 Recipes)
  • Avoiding Plastic - 3 Stainless Steel Electric Kettle Options
  • Top 10 Dangers of the Coffee Enema
  • Latte Lingo: The Vocabulary of Coffee
  • Preparing Traditional Turkish Coffee
  • Why Mormons Don't Drink Coffee or Tea

Categories

  • Brewing Coffee
  • Cafe Culture
  • Coffee and Health
  • Coffee Business
  • Coffee Comics
  • Coffee History
  • Coffee People
  • Espresso
  • General
  • Grinding Coffee
  • Recipes
  • Roasting Coffee
  • Tea

Industry Offer

Sponsor or Advertise on INeedCoffee
Reach an average of 100,000 coffee fans every month.

Before Footer

Copyright © 1999-2019 INeedCoffee is a project by coffee fanatic Michael Allen Smith. User Sitemap | Privacy Policy