Know Thy Mugs Inside Out

Some coffee cups are blatant afterthoughts. A coffee cup, after all, is an easy choice as a promotional gift. But it wouldn't hurt to devote a little time into learning about them so you know from the heart what you are giving away. Have pride in knowing your coffee cups, especially since they will be carrying your company name. Understand what personalized coffee cups are made of, how they are structured and which detailing techniques are applied.

Some types of cups are used exclusively for drinking specialty coffee. Which type of beverage would your personalized coffee cup be used for? Espresso is usually served on a miniature coffee mug or double-walled crystalware that resembles a brandy glass. If your coffee cups would be given to average hot-beverage drinkers, cappuccino cups and their twin, the teacups, should be your choice. Both types frequently have wide, shallow bowls that encourage sips rather than gulps. With their daintily small sizes, personalized coffee cups as a promotional item do not have much room for logos. This is the reason why it should be accompanied by a saucer, which can showcase your brand and company logo in all their glory.

A variation on the personalized coffee cup giveaway is its bigger brother, the coffee mug. Sturdily built and often with a rim as wide as the base, a coffee mug can hold hot chocolate and even soup. As a promotional item, a coffee mug allows you to display your logos not only on the ample surface of its body bu

also on its handle, base and inner rim. While a coffee cup has more pleasing physical features, a personalized coffee mug charms with its technical construction. A comfort item in the workplace or at home, a coffee mug is designed specifically to withstand chilly winds or air conditioning. Its stout structure and shapely handle demand that the mug be held with two hands, instantly setting the coffee drinker in a cuddled-up position iconic of coffee commercials. When hot beverage is a requisite, the thick walls of a coffee mug will absorb much of the heat from the liquid, which often nears the boiling temperature of water. The coffee mug's deep bowl leaves an insulating area at the inner rim, preventing hot liquid from cooling too quickly. Lastly, a coffee mug comes with an indented base that separates the beverage from the surface upon which the mug is set. This base forms the characteristic O stain. As a bonus, personalized coffee mugs can be used as pencil holders or utensil caddies.

Coffee cups and personalized coffee mugs come in various materials. Ceramics are the most popular, but each type features a different texture, finish, color, and durability and heat-retention properties. Earthenware gives coffee cups and personalized coffee mugs an unfinished but warm look, while bone china and purer porcelain render an enameled sheen. Coffee cups and coffee mugs made of stoneware echo Zen aesthetic. Additionally, some designs are in strengthened glass such as Pyrex. On the other hand, highly durable and break-resistant materials, including plastic, steel and enameled metal, are found in coffee cups and coffee mugs for travel or camping. In terms of imprint, silk-screening works best on porcelain, while heat-transfer printing is ideal for plastic, steel and enameled metal. Decals suit glass and the other ceramics the greatest. All imprint designs are fired onto coffee cups and coffee mugs to ensure permanence.

Remy is a Promotional Adviser specializing on Customized Mugs