Black, one sugar.

We all love our coffee, don't we? I love my coffee. I don't drink tea but love my coffee. I love the ritual of making coffee. Favouring the stove-top method, epitomized by the classic Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker, every morning I love the process of emptying, rinsing, filling, waiting...pouring and of course, drinking. Black, one sugar please.

I've taken to using this cup. IKEA, Älmhult, 25p. No handle.

I believe IKEA to be a pretty ethical company (do correct me if I'm wrong) so I assume that that price is rock bottom for a sound reason (perhaps because it's got no handle, for example). But it's a beautiful cup. Well proportioned and exactly the right size for the amount of coffee my "everyday" coffee maker makes and it sits perfectly in my hand. "But it's got no bloomin's handle!", I hear you cry, "what good is a coffee cup without a handle!". Well, you see, I think that's exactly what makes this cup so beautiful, so very well designed. Because you can only hold it comfortably when the coffee is exactly the right temperature to drink. There's no sitting around, holding your cup, waiting for it to cool down; it's too bloody hot for that! And when it's ready, it nestles in your palm so not only do you experience your perfectly brewed cup of the black stuff at the optimum centigrade but you get the added comfort of a warm cup in the hand. And the value of that on a cold winter morning is not to be under estimated.

So whether intentionally or not (and I suspect the "not" may be more likely) the cup is more than a mere vessel for your essential AM caffeine fix, it amplifies the morning coffee experience. Which is pretty good going for a 25p cup*.

* Although technically, I think it's a beaker, if you want to be pedantic.
 

Comments

[Gerrit]

just sipping on a double/triple espresso from my gaggia -- in a handleless cup/boule from kahla: http://images.google.de/images?q=kahla%20milchkaffeeschale

actually IKEA is known for avoiding taxes the best it can, while pretending to be the nice scandinavian store...

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6919139

i really enjoy your blog, best greetings from hamburg/germany,

gerrit.

[Mitternacht]

What a lovely evocation! I usually don't use the handle of my favourite cup exactly for the same reason :)

[S.Lemon]

Ah yes, the handleless mug (cup? beaker?) should never be underestimated.

[Richard]

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Great to know there's people out there.

[Shabbir Hussain]

Ah!!! Now should I use this to shut my tea-obsessed, coffee hating racist cousins. :)

[Ian]

You have become my new hero. Many years ago (in the days before I'd heard of IKEA) I was in Stockholm for a training course, and the company served their coffee in those exact mugs. I fell in love with them and have been looking in vain for them ever since.

Today my search has ended. Although I need to organise a trip to IKEA now.

[Phill]

The process of using my Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker is part of the escape that black with one gives me too. Streets ahead of pressing one button and a wurr of liquid is made.

Off to have a late AM hit.

[John]

Coffee making rituals are fantastic. Always enjoy Haruki Murakami's way of making mundane things seem magic, like making coffee in his novels.

[Ken]

I agree on both. Coffee as a ritual and the cup, much more intimate!
Here's a print i'm just about to finish:
http://www.kenkirton.com/?p=447

[Dan]

Couldn't agree more with the enjoyment of the ritual that is the coffee making process, especially with the Bialetti Moka.

I'd agree that Ikea is ethical, but I'd go a step further and say that even an ethical large company could not be as virtuous as a small/locally owned shop/producer.

While in Alaska, I came across these mugs (which incidentally are made in Oregon). Normally a lover of the clean aesthetics of Ikea, I'm more of a sucker for function (as they say, form follows function). Hence my infatuation with the mug. With no handle (persay), they abide by the same idea that when able to handle, able to drink. But for transferring from stove to studio, there is a small lip to grab onto. Each is handmade, and therefore slightly different, just adding to the beautiful genius.

http://www.clayinmotion.com/handwarmers.htm

[Lestaret.wordpress.com]

Mmm, black coffee, nice mugs. It's a graphic designer thing. I've just printed this:
http://lestaret.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/hand-printed/

[Chris]

Your cup may be elegant, but to me it would be impractical. You see, I usually make my morning coffee in the kitchen and carry it through to the dining table next door. A handle allows me to carry my cup without burning my hands.

That said, I do agree with you about enjoying the feel of a warm cup on a cold winter's day, but this can easily be achieved by holding one's cup with the handle facing outwards. I'm a handles man. Can you tell?