Without espresso cups and saucers how exactly is one supposed to drink espresso? That’s a bit of an exaggeration but nevertheless I wanted to start off bold. We’ve chatted a lot about coffee, wooden coffee tables, semi automatic espresso machines, the coffee cup press, chocolate covered coffee beans, coffee pods generally, Melitta coffee pods specifically as well as the Melitta coffee maker amongst others, but it has only been very recently that we’ve spoken about coffee cups or coffee mugs at all.
Let’s get to espresso cups and saucers
I’ve written about disposable coffee cups, paper coffee cups and glass coffee cups but that’s about all. We’re going across the pond as they say and we’re going to enjoy espresso cups and saucers just like the Italians do. If you’ve ever been to any Italian coffee shop in Italy you’ll appreciate being served and espresso cup and saucer with your little biscotti on the side and the small silver espresso spoon lying daintily on the saucer.
Traditionally, I’ve seen cappuccino cups and saucers similarly designed to an espresso cup and saucer set except the former of course are bigger by half or more. Espresso cups and saucers are really demitasse cups and can quite literally be called espresso demitasse cups. Demitasse coming from the French originally which literally meant “half cup” and that is pretty much what espresso coffee cups are. They’re half the size coffee cups.
What are the sizes of espresso cups and saucers?
I would consider espresso cups and saucers to be anywhere from around 2 (60 ml) ounces in size to 4 (120 ml) ounces. Bigger than that and you’re getting int cappuccino cups and saucers. The espresso cups and saucer sets that I saw in Italy were probably closer to 4 ounces though many coffee shops served 2 to 2 and a half ounce espresso cups. You don’t want anything smaller than that, because a double espresso is usually 2 ounces and a triple 3 ounces and so on.
You can find espresso cups and saucers at most home accessory stores as well as online and at some of the bigger box stores like Walmart. I prefer to buy my espresso cup and saucer sets from Amazon or the odd Italian store that is still in my neighborhood. Occasionally you can find some real gems there, right from Italy though they don’t always keep espresso cups and saucers in stock. Whereas Amazon has a great selection pretty much all of the time.
There is nothing really like enjoying a cup of tea or a cuppa as they say in England in fine china. The same can be said for espresso. If you really want to enjoy a fine espresso or a doppio for that matter then you owe it to yourself and if not yourself then certainly your guests to invest in a decent set of espresso cups and saucers. Of course, you’ll need some quality espresso coffee beans such as the Lavazza Rossa if you want a legitimate taste of Italy and a stove top espresso maker or cappuccino machine for the best results. Oh yes, and not to forget, place a yummy almond vanilla biscotti on those espresso cups and saucers and your guests will be tickled pink!