Holiday gift shopping can be a real grind, especially for those coffee geeks in your life who already own every single piece of obscure Scandinavian brewing technology known to man. We’ve put together this guide on just the right cups to get for every type of coffee lover, to help you get some ideas percolating in time for the holidays!
7. “Coffee And Cigarettes” Designer: Carlo Trevisani $84.15 The ultimate combination of vices for a meditative moment at a Parisian cafe, or a kaffee und kuchen with friends in Vienna, or the two five minute breaks in your eight-hour bar shift. This cup doubles as a convenient and tasteful ash-tray as you savor your post-coffee cigarette. Kind of gross? Yes. Gorgeous design? For sure. Just a tad conflicting? Well, that’s life honey. Shop for the Carlo Trevisani Coffee and Cigarettes mug.
6. “The Floating Mug” Designer: Tigere Chiriga $30 Successfully funded by a Kickstarter campaign this summer, this cup has just entered its first production run. Inspired by a banana hook, the mug has a chic look that suspends the cup over a built-in coaster, meaning you’ll never have to worry about coffee-rings on your tables again. Pre-order the Floating Mug.
5. “Ego Coffee Cup & Saucer” Designer: Stefan Lindfors $52.00 This cup reflects the best of Scandinavian design–clean, simple lines and materials with a striking, clever form. A definite show-piece, this cup would look perfect perched on the reclaimed-wood bar in the breakfast nook of your TriBeCa loft. Shop for the Ego Coffee Cup & Saucer via Hive Modern.
4. “Caffeine Mug” Design Haus: ThinkGeek $5 Whether it’s identifying organic acids or taking a break from meth-cooking to induce vacuums to cut down on tannins, chemistry is a very important part of coffee. Get this cup for the aspiring food scientist or armchair chemist in your life. Shop for this product via ThinkGeek.
3. “Crinkled Cup” Designer: Rob Brandt £5.95 They claim this is supposed to look like a crushed plastic coffee cup, but it sure looks an awful lot like a classic keg party Solo cup to me. Perfect for that recent grad who’s having some trouble transitioning from late nights playing beer pong to early mornings getting ready for work. Shop for the Crinkled Cup via Haus London.
2. “Canon Camera Lens Mugs” Design Haus: Photojojo $24-30 Geekery begets geekery, and I know a lot of combination coffee and photo geeks. Get them one of these mugs to stash in their lens bag. Also available in Nikon lens styles for the true partisan. Shop for the Canon Camera Lens Mug via Photojojo
1. “Tea Cup” Designer: Isamu Noguchi $110 Isamu Noguchi is perhaps most famous for his coffee tables, but this elegant cup and saucer speaks to a wide range of talents. The cup’s outre form was actually inspired by an ancient Japanese tea cup. If money is no object, this cup is perfect for someone interested in owning a serious piece of design history. Shop for the Noguchi Tea Cup via Noguchi Museum.
