Just coffee mugs, again...

Coffee mugs, one of my favourite things in life, come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colours and designs.

They are tall and short. Narrow and wide. They have big handles that you can get many fingers in, or small handles that you can't.

They are made of a variety of materials and they keep your coffee (or other hot beverage) hot for varying amounts of time.

They are thick walled or thin walled. They are dainty or not. They are pretty or they aren't.

I have discovered that I have an ideal coffee mug.

Firstly, I don't care whether I drink COLD coffee or not. I know this is a turn off for lots of people... but I would rather drink a cold coffee than not have one. I'm willing to admit that other people have other opinions on this, and I'm cool with that. (Only a slight pun is intended!) However, the shape of a coffee mug has some bearing on how long your beverage stays hot - that's why I mention this.

I HATE coffee mugs that I can't hold onto 'properly'. I need to be able to get my index, middle AND ring finder INTO the handle of the mug. If I can't, I feel like the whole thing is going to dump into my lap (and I don't need any help to be klutzy - I'm perfectly capable on my own, thankyouverymuch!)

So. Big Handle.

I want a BIG mug. I don't want to have to go back to the coffee maker (more on that appliance in another post!) and refill and refill and REFILL! I want a MUGFUL! So a good size is important.

I like the mug to have a 'nice' shape. I haven't exactly figured out what that is yet... but I can tell you, I have two Tim Horton coffee mugs that I bought at Christmas time. And I have two or three old white Tim Horton mugs. The old white mugs are shorter and wider at the top. The two new ones are taller and narrower at the top. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that they hold the same amount of coffee. (Although I haven't tested that!) I don't like the two new red ones - the top is too narrow.

When my real estate agent gave me coffee mugs as a gift, they were shaped like a straight up and down cylinder that had been squeezed in the middle (clear glass with a flower shape impressed in them.) And I loved them. (I think I must have sold them all in a yard sale - it must have been snowing at the time. What was I thinking!?)

Those mugs that Shell gave away with gas in the 80s? Exactly up and down cylinders - don't like them at all.

 I have a short, BIG, straight up and down cylinder, made of clear glass, with a Guiding logo on it (White Oaks Area, I think). I LOVE it! I usually like clear glass mugs. I have two mugs with white holly leaves on them (also clear glass). I got them at Sobeys at Christmas and talked myself out of buying 6 of them (I didn't really NEED 6 more coffee mugs) but they are PERFECT. I bought two. When I went back to get two more, they were all gone. :-P

I have four mugs - BIG, nice wide open mouths, perfect handles, made out of some sort of pottery - they are white and have a little pale blue coffee pot on them. I bought them at Loblaws, and they are nice BUT one of them chipped, and now I don't 'trust' them. :-(

In short; I have definite tastes in coffee mugs. I'm not entirely certain what they are, but I can tell you that I like a clear glass mug, with a wide mouth, a big handle, and I want it to hold LOTS of coffee!

Enjoy!