Coffee kit · 7 min readThe right cup for every coffee, from espresso to latte
How big a cup each espresso drink needs, what porcelain and glass change, and the cups and glasses on Amazon UK that cover every size.
Coffee cup sizes follow the drink: about 80ml for an espresso, 90 to 135ml for a cortado, 150ml for a flat white, 150 to 200ml for a cappuccino and 230 to 300ml for a latte, going by the cup makers and coffee references below. For most kitchens that means Loveramics Egg porcelain in the two or three sizes you drink, at £10 to £12.50 a cup on Amazon at the time of writing (October 2026). Add Bodum Pavina double-walled glasses if you like to see the layers, or a Libbey Gibraltar if cortados are your drink.
What size coffee cup does each drink need?
Between about 60ml for an espresso and 300ml for a latte, so smaller than most kitchen mugs. Nobody publishes an official standard for café cups, and Coffee Chronicler's guide to latte cups says plainly that 'there are no hard and fast rules', but the cup makers and the coffee references land close together. The table sets out what goes into each drink and the cup sizes the sources give.
| Drink | What goes in | Cup size the sources give | Loveramics Egg size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | About 25ml of coffee for an Italian espresso, more for a double | 60 to 90ml | 80ml |
| Cortado | Espresso and roughly the same amount of warm milk | 90 to 135ml | None in the Egg range |
| Flat white | A double espresso and a thin layer of textured milk | 120 to 200ml | 150ml |
| Cappuccino | Espresso, steamed milk and a thick layer of foam | 150 to 200ml | 200ml or 250ml |
| Latte | Espresso and more steamed milk, with less foam | 230 to 300ml | 300ml |
The widest spread is the flat white. Loveramics sells its flat white cup at 150ml and Coffee Chronicler gives 120 to 150ml, while Wikipedia's entry cites Tourism New Zealand on a 175ml cup and Australian cafés on one of about 200ml. Tourism New Zealand's point, quoted there, is that the same shot in a smaller cup tastes stronger. Pick the size for how much milk you like, not for the name printed on the box.
The espresso cup is much bigger than the espresso. The Istituto Espresso Italiano describes a certified Italian espresso as about 25ml of coffee, so an 80ml cup leaves room for a double shot and for carrying it without spilling.
Which cups and glasses should you buy?
Loveramics Egg for porcelain, Bodum Pavina for double-walled glass, and the Libbey Gibraltar for cortados. All three are sold on Amazon UK by the cup or the pair, so you can buy only the sizes you drink.
Loveramics Egg: best porcelain cups, in every size
Loveramics makes the Egg in five sizes, 80ml, 150ml, 200ml, 250ml and 300ml, from porcelain fired at 1300°C, and says every size is dishwasher, microwave, oven and freezer safe. It was the official cup of the World Latte Art Championship from 2015 to 2023, according to Loveramics. Asser Christensen of Coffee Chronicler, a licensed Q Arabica grader who has used one, describes its 'heavy ceramic construction' and says the egg shape and handle give it 'balance in hand'.
His reservation is the price. He found it hard to tell the Egg from a cheaper Coffeezone cup and was 'honestly not sure' the finer finish justifies the difference. On Amazon at the time of writing the 150ml flat white cup is £11.70 on its own, and the saucers are sold separately, as they are on Loveramics' own shop.
Skip the Egg if you want a boxed set with saucers at one price. Every cup and every saucer is a separate purchase, which adds up across four sizes.
Bodum Pavina: best double-walled glasses
Bodum makes the Pavina from mouth-blown borosilicate glass with two walls and a silicone vent in the base that equalises the air pressure between them. Bodum says the double wall keeps hot drinks hot, means 'no more burnt fingers' and stops condensation, and that the glasses are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe up to 180°C. The 250ml pair suits a flat white or a small latte; the 80ml pair is for espresso.
The complaint owners make is fragility. In a long-running Home-Barista thread, one owner reported that most of a dozen Pavina glasses broke, while others described a year or more of daily use without damage. Bodum's reply to that owner advised warming the glass with lukewarm water before a hot drink and using an uncrowded top rack in the dishwasher. Another owner has been moving away from them for espresso because they 'keep a shot too darned hot' to enjoy as it cools, though he still uses the larger size for cappuccino.
Skip the Pavina if cups in your house get knocked about in the sink. One owner in the same thread passes on a warning that a ring knocking against the side can be enough to shatter one.
Libbey Gibraltar: best glass for a cortado
The Libbey Gibraltar is the glass that gave a drink its name. Wikipedia's cortado entry describes San Francisco's gibraltar as a cortado defined by its 135ml (4.5 US fl oz) Libbey Gibraltar glass: about 60ml of double espresso topped with about 75ml of steamed milk. Coffee Chronicler notes that small tumblers of the Duralex type are used for gibraltars. On Amazon UK it comes as a pair for £19.95 at the time of writing.
It is a single-walled tumbler with no handle, built for a small drink you finish quickly. Skip it unless you drink cortados; at 4.5oz it holds nothing bigger.
How do the cups and glasses compare?
The Loveramics Egg runs from 80ml to 300ml in one porcelain shape, sold a cup at a time, and the Bodum Pavina comes in pairs of borosilicate glass. Both makers say their cups go in the dishwasher and the microwave.
| Spec | Loveramics Egg Espresso Cup 80ml | Loveramics Egg Flat White Cup 150ml | Loveramics Egg Cappuccino Cup 200ml | Loveramics Egg Café Latte Cup 300ml | Bodum Pavina Double Wall Glasses 80ml (pair) | Bodum Pavina Double Wall Glasses 250ml (pair) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon price | £10.00 | £11.70 | £11.70 | £12.50 | £18.99 | £13.67 |
| Capacity (ml) | 80 | 150 | 200 | 300 | 80 | 250 |
| Material | Porcelain, fired at 1300°C | Porcelain, fired at 1300°C | Porcelain, fired at 1300°C | Porcelain, fired at 1300°C | Double-walled borosilicate glass, mouth-blown | Double-walled borosilicate glass, mouth-blown |
| In the pack | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Saucer | Sold separately (11.5cm) | Sold separately (14.5cm) | Sold separately (14.5cm) | Sold separately (15.5cm) | None | None |
| Dishwasher safe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microwave safe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Libbey Gibraltar is not in the table because Libbey's own spec sheet for it was not available to check, so its care instructions are not stated here. It holds 4.5 US fl oz (133ml) and comes as a pair.
Does the material change the coffee?
It changes the temperature more than the taste. Coffee Chronicler recommends preheating porcelain and ceramic cups on top of the espresso machine to keep the drink hot, and says double-walled glasses protect your fingers while keeping the drink warm. If your machine has no cup warmer, fill the cup with hot water while the shot pulls and tip it out just before.
- Porcelain, as in the Loveramics Egg, is fired at 1300°C and is dishwasher and microwave safe, according to Loveramics, and Coffee Chronicler calls the Egg durable. It wants warming first.
- Double-walled glass, as in the Bodum Pavina, holds an air gap that keeps the outside cool and the drink hot, by Bodum's description. Some owners on Home-Barista report breakages.
- Single-walled glass, as in the Libbey Gibraltar, shows the layers of a cortado and has no insulating layer at all.
Colour may matter as well. In a 2014 study in the journal Flavour, George Van Doorn, Dianne Wuillemin and Charles Spence found that people rated a café latte as more intense from a white mug than from a transparent one, and less sweet from white than from transparent or blue. The study measures perception, not chemistry, but it suggests the same coffee can taste different in white porcelain and in clear glass.
Will the cup fit under your coffee machine?
Only if it is shorter than the machine's maximum cup height, so check that figure against the tallest cup you plan to use. De'Longhi gives 12cm for the Dedica EC685, for example. Loveramics does not list heights for the Egg cups, so measure the gap between your drip tray and the spout before you buy a latte glass, and stand the cup in place before you pull the first shot.
Getting a takeaway cup under the spout is a separate problem, covered in the travel mug guide. Best travel mug for coffee
What does a set of good cups cost?
Between about £20 and £46 for a set that covers what you drink, at Amazon prices in October 2026. A single Loveramics Egg flat white cup at £11.70 costs about the same as three coffee-shop flat whites at £3.50 to £4.
| Set | Pieces | Price | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loveramics Egg, one each of 80ml, 150ml, 200ml and 300ml | 4 cups | £45.90 | £11.48 |
| Loveramics Egg flat white cups for two | 2 cups | £23.40 | £11.70 |
| Bodum Pavina, 80ml pair and 250ml pair | 4 glasses | £32.66 | £8.17 |
| Libbey Gibraltar pair | 2 glasses | £19.95 | £9.98 |
Saucers for the Egg are extra. The bigger number is what goes in the cup: the median whole bean coffee we track costs 63p a cup on an 18g dose, against £3.50 to £4 for a coffee-shop flat white.
Who can skip all of this?
- Anyone who drinks mugs of filter coffee or Americano. The mug you already own is the right size for it.
- Anyone happy with their cups. No cup improves the coffee itself; what changes is how hot it stays, and, if the Flavour study holds, how it seems to taste.
The verdict
Buy the Loveramics Egg in the sizes you actually drink, starting with the 150ml flat white cup if milk drinks are your habit. Add a pair of Bodum Pavina glasses if you want to see the layers and will handle them gently, and the Libbey Gibraltar only if cortados are your drink. Whichever you choose, warm it before the coffee goes in.
- Loveramics, Egg product page (EU shop)Five sizes: 80ml espresso, 150ml flat white, 200ml and 250ml cappuccino, 300ml café latte. Porcelain fired at 1300°C; dishwasher, microwave, freezer and oven safe; saucers 11.5cm, 14.5cm and 15.5cm; official cup of the World Latte Art Championship 2015 to 2023.
- Loveramics, Egg 150ml flat white cup and saucer (US shop)The shop's drinkware menu sizes cortado cups at 4oz, flat white cups at 5oz, cappuccino cups at 5 to 6.5oz, large cappuccino cups at 8oz and latte cups above 8oz.
- Bodum, Pavina double wall glass 0.08 l, 2 pcs (4557-10)Mouth-blown borosilicate glass, silicone vent in the base, keeps hot drinks hot and fingers cool, dishwasher, microwave and oven safe up to 180°C.
- Bodum, Pavina double wall glass 0.25 l, 2 pcs (4558-10)Same construction and care instructions as the 80ml glass, at 250ml.
- De'Longhi, Dedica Style EC685.M product page15 bar pump, Thermoblock, 1.1 litre tank, 1,300W, 149 x 330 x 305mm, 4.22kg, 120mm maximum cup height, ESE pod compatible.
- Istituto Espresso Italiano, Certified Italian EspressoA certified Italian espresso is approximately 25ml of coffee.
- Wikipedia, CortadoEspresso with a roughly equal amount of warm milk; the San Francisco gibraltar is about 60ml of double espresso and 75ml of milk, defined by the 135ml Libbey Gibraltar glass.
- Wikipedia, CappuccinoEspresso and milk make up roughly 150 to 180ml in a cappuccino as served in Europe and the US.
- Wikipedia, Flat whiteCites Tourism New Zealand on a 175ml cup and Australian cafés on a cup of about 200ml, and on a smaller cup giving a stronger flavour.
- Wikipedia, LatteA caffè latte served in a 230ml glass or cup.
- Coffee Chronicler (Asser Christensen), cups for latte art and cappuccino, April 2024Cup size guide (espresso 60 to 90ml, cortado 90 to 120ml, flat white 120 to 150ml, cappuccino 150 to 180ml, latte 300ml); advice to preheat porcelain; hands-on notes on the Loveramics Egg and its price.
- Home-Barista forum, 'Warning: Bodum double wall insulated glassware is potentially dangerous' (thread from 2007)Owner reports of breakage and of years of daily use; Bodum's reply advising lukewarm water before hot drinks and an uncrowded top rack in the dishwasher.
- Van Doorn, Wuillemin and Spence, 'Does the colour of the mug influence the taste of the coffee?', Flavour, 2014A café latte was rated more intense from a white mug than a transparent one, and less sweet from white than from transparent or blue.
- We Try Coffee catalogue medians, September 202663p a cup across 812 whole bean coffees and 71p across 483 ground coffees, both priced on an 18g dose.
Questions people ask
What size cup is used for a flat white?
Usually about 150ml. Loveramics sells its Egg flat white cup at 150ml and Coffee Chronicler's size guide gives 120 to 150ml, though Tourism New Zealand describes a 175ml cup and Australian cafés often use about 200ml, according to Wikipedia. The same double espresso in a smaller cup gives a stronger-tasting flat white.
What coffee cup size is right for an espresso?
Between 60 and 90ml is typical. Coffee Chronicler's guide gives 60 to 90ml, and Loveramics makes its Egg espresso cup at 80ml. The cup is far bigger than the drink: the Istituto Espresso Italiano describes a certified Italian espresso as about 25ml of coffee, so the extra room is for a double shot and for carrying it.
How big is a cappuccino cup?
Between about 150 and 200ml. Wikipedia gives 150 to 180ml for a cappuccino's total volume in Europe and the US, Loveramics sizes cappuccino cups at 5 to 6.5oz with a large size at 8oz, and the Loveramics Egg cappuccino cup holds 200ml. The extra space over a flat white is for the thicker layer of foam.
What glass is a cortado served in?
Often a small, plain tumbler of about 90 to 135ml. In San Francisco the gibraltar, a cortado-style drink, is named after the 135ml Libbey Gibraltar glass it is served in, according to Wikipedia. The Libbey Gibraltar 4.5oz is sold in pairs on Amazon UK, and Loveramics sizes its cortado cups at 4oz.
Should you preheat coffee cups?
Yes, for espresso and small milk drinks. Coffee Chronicler recommends preheating porcelain and ceramic cups on top of the espresso machine to keep the drink hot. If your machine has no cup warmer, fill the cup with hot water while the shot pulls and empty it just before. Bodum advised one owner to warm Pavina glasses with lukewarm water before hot drinks.
Are Bodum Pavina double-walled glasses dishwasher safe?
Yes. Bodum says Pavina glasses are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe up to 180°C, and a pair of 250ml glasses is £13.67 on Amazon at the time of writing. Bodum's customer service advised one Home-Barista owner to use an uncrowded top rack, and some owners there report breakages of the thin, mouth-blown glass.
Do Loveramics Egg cups go in the dishwasher?
Yes. Loveramics says Egg cups are dishwasher, microwave, freezer and oven safe, made from porcelain fired at 1300°C. On Amazon UK the cups are sold one at a time without saucers, from £10 for the 80ml espresso cup to £12.50 for the 300ml café latte cup at the time of writing.
Does the colour of a coffee cup change the taste?
It can change how the taste is perceived. In a 2014 study in the journal Flavour, Van Doorn, Wuillemin and Spence found a café latte was rated more intense from a white mug than from a transparent one, and less sweet from white than from transparent or blue. The coffee was the same; only the mug changed.
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