Coffee and Tea Cups Printed for Your Counter

Who this range is built for

Most of the people who order from this page run a counter where hot drinks go out all day. That might be a high street coffee shop, a station kiosk, a farm shop café or a converted horsebox at a weekend market.

Some buyers only need one cup that does everything, and our everyday printed paper coffee cups are usually where they start. Others run a longer menu and want a separate cup for tea, hot chocolate or drinks that leave the shop with a lid.

Whichever describes you, the cups on this page share the same print options and the same proof process. The differences sit in the wall, the board and the extras.

• Independent coffee shops and roasters
• Bakeries and sandwich bars serving coffee with lunch
• Mobile coffee vans and market stalls
• Tea rooms and garden centre cafés
• Office canteens with a barista station

Every cup in the coffee and tea range

The table below sets each cup side by side, so you can see which one fits the way you serve. A few overlap on purpose, because a café that wants a natural look and a café that wants a tough, lidded cup will often land on different pages.

If two rows look close, read the key detail column. That is usually the one thing that decides it.

Picking the wall before anything else

The wall decides how a cup feels when it is full of a drink at around boiling point. It also has the biggest effect on the price per cup, so it is worth settling before you choose colours.

Single wall is one layer of board. It is fine for tea handed straight to a seated customer, but a full flat white can feel warm on the fingers, so many cafés add a sleeve.

If you want the hands-free option, our double wall paper cups for hot drinks trap air between two layers and carry well without anything extra. Ripple wall goes a step further with a fluted wrap that grips well, even through gloves.

Matching cups to the drinks on your board

A menu with cappuccino, latte and americano needs different heights more than different styles. Most cafés settle on 8oz for small, 12oz for regular and 16oz for large, then add a 4oz if they sell a lot of espresso.

Tea is a little different. Many tea drinkers want a lighter, slimmer cup with room for milk and the string of a bag, which is why printed paper tea cups in cuppa sizes run from 6oz to 8oz rather than the coffee ladder.

Hot chocolate brings its own problem, because cream and marshmallows need space under the lid. Ordering one size up, or a wider cup, saves the topping from being squashed.

White board or kraft brown

White board shows colour at its truest, so bright brand palettes and photographs look crisp. It also suits a clean, modern counter.

Brown kraft board gives a warmer, more natural look before any ink goes on. Our kraft coffee cups with a natural finish suit dark inks such as black, forest green or navy, because pale colours sink into the brown.

You can order both in one go if you want a different feel for coffee and tea. Each board gets its own proof, so you see how the same logo sits on each.

Lids, handles and other extras

Cups that leave the shop need lids that fit first time. When you order printed cups together with matching lids, each lid is sized to the rim of the cup it goes with, and you avoid the odd mismatch from two suppliers.

Handles are a niche choice but a useful one. Tea rooms and conference caterers who serve seated guests use them when washing mugs is not practical.

Sleeves and carriers sit on their own page, but they are quoted in the same order if you want them.

• Sip lids for coffee and tea
• Domed lids for hot chocolate with toppings
• Card handles for seated service
• Printed sleeves for single wall cups
• Carriers for two or more drinks

How to choose and order your hot cups

Most first orders take one conversation and one round of proofs. Working through these steps in order stops you paying for a size or wall you will not use.

If you are unsure on any step, our team gives free design help and will talk it through before you commit.

1. List every hot drink on your menu and the size each one is served in.
2. Choose a wall for each size, thinking about how far customers carry the cup.
3. Pick white or kraft board and decide on one side, two sides or a full wrap.
4. Send your logo or artwork as AI, PDF, EPS, SVG, PNG or JPG.
5. Read the free digital proof closely and request edits until every size looks right.
6. Approve, then expect production in 4 to 6 working days and tracked delivery in 2 to 3 more.

Cups for trade that happens outside

Coffee vans, festival stalls and seaside kiosks put cups through more than a café counter does. Wind catches open drinks, queues mean cups are held for longer, and customers often walk a fair distance.

For that kind of trade, sturdy cardboard cups with fitted lids are worth a look, because the board is firm and the lid arrives matched to the rim.

Ripple wall is the other common pick for outdoor trade. The ridges give a confident grip, and the cup still looks smart in photos taken at a market.

Mistakes we see on first orders

Most problems with hot cups come from decisions made in a hurry. None of them are hard to avoid once you know to look.

The most common is ordering single wall for very hot drinks without a sleeve, then hearing complaints. If your drinks go out piping hot and get carried, a ridged ripple wall coffee cup or a double wall cup saves the trouble.

Another is designing one flat artwork for every size. A logo that fills an 8oz cup can look lost on a 16oz, so we resize the layout for each height on the proof.

• Choosing the wall last instead of first
• Pale ink on brown kraft board
• Forgetting space for toppings under a lid
• One artwork stretched across every size
• Ordering lids from a different supplier

Price, proof and delivery

Printed hot cups start from £0.25 per cup, and your exact price is set out in a written quote. The quote shows the wall, board, print coverage and any lids or sleeves you asked for.

Every order comes with free design help and a free digital proof, revised until you approve it. Tracked delivery costs nothing to UK addresses, and the same applies.

If anything arrives misprinted or damaged, tell us within 10 days with photos and we reprint or refund it. You can start an order for your cups whenever you are ready.