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Photo /LINO Espresso and Saucer Stone, notNeutral
A CUP

OF DESIGN

W hat makes a good cup of coffee?

Well-roasted beans, excellent
brewing skills, beautiful latte
art… Yet, there’s still one import-
ant element that hasn’t been fully valued yet —— the
coffee cup. When it comes to wine, people always
care about the glass just as they do about the origin A Desire of the Coffee Cup Design oration further led to a bigger collaboration with
The Coffee Collective, a Copenhagen-based
or the brand. No matter if it is a Riedel or Spiegelau
wine glass, or even a champagne glass, the right “We knew that the coffee community cares specialty coffee shop.
glass will maximize the taste of different types of so much about the origin, roast, and brew meth- It is not difficult to see that coffee cup
grape. Coffee, which has a complex flavor wheel od, so we thought it would be a shame not to put design has recently become a serious matter for
just like wines, also deserves a cup that is just right. equal importance on the actual method of con- more coffee brands and shops. Magdalena, the
suming the beverage,” said Mark Vecchiarelli, ceramist of the MK Studio, told us: “Yes, defi-
chief marketing officer for KRUVE. KRUVE is nitely in the past five years, there are a lot more
one of the pioneers in the coffee cup design specialty coffee bars who are pursuing perfec-
industry. The company’s EQ Glassware with its tion. To do that, they want something different
special design to ‘harmonize all your senses’ and special that will define their style and max-
when drinking coffee won the 2019 Best New imize the drinking experience.”
Product from the Specialty Coffee Association. With the third-wave coffee booming around
Surely KRUVE is not the only company in the the world, people nowadays require high-quality
industry that dedicates itself to coffee cup design. coffee. That is to say, people want coffee where
Founded in 2001, and as part of the architecture “beans are sourced from farms instead of countries,
design company Rios Clementi Hale Studios, roasting is about bringing out rather than inciner-
notNeutral completed its first coffee cup design ating the unique characteristics of each bean, and
project with the American coffee brand Intelli- the flavor is clean and hard and pure” as described
gentsia Coffee to help the coffee company create by Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan
a family of coffee cups for their new shop in Gold. To meet that requirement, single-origin
Venice, CA, USA. Now, notNeutral has developed beans can now be easily ordered online. Profes-
a range of fine coffee cup collections, such as sional roasters are accessible worldwide. After all,
LINO and FINA which have been recommended to better present and enjoy coffee, we still need a
by Forbes and many other media. well-designed coffee cup.
Nevertheless, the business of coffee cup “We were in the right place at the right
design doesn’t only stay inside the design sectors. time. Collaborating with Intelligentsia baristas,
Ceramists and artists have stepped in as well. For we were able to provide something to the third-
example, MK Studio which specializes in ceram- wave coffee market that simply didn’t exist yet.
ic vessels first designed and produced coffee cups Customers and brands began to realize that up-
for coffee professional Mikaela Gervard in 2016. dating the vessels we drink and brew coffee from
Gervard eventually took out 2nd place at the can be improved and/or reinvented,” explained
World Barista Championship that year with the Clancy Pearson, senior designer for product and
Photo / Propel Espresso Glass, KRUVE
MK Studio’s customized coffee cup. The collab- technologies for notNeutral and RCH Studios.
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