What are the Best Paper Coffee Cups for my Coffee Shop?

You know the feeling. The backpacks are loaded up, the school buses are rolling, summer’s almost gone – and we’re all thinking about those warm drinks again. With coffee season and cold weather brewing, now’s the time to get moving on stocking up on the best paper coffee cups (a.k.a hot cups) – especially those sporting your custom design or logo. Customizing your coffee cups can take a little time, and you don’t want to miss out on getting your name out there to the pumpkin spice latte loving masses.

Paper coffee cups are better (in general) for those hot drinks. Plastic cups should be reserved for cold drinks since it can melt and warp if filled with hot beverages. Paper coffee cups will help keep your customers’ drinks warm and their hands safe. And the best part is, there’s a wide range of options from which to choose.

Did You Know…?

Americans love their Lattes – Cappuccino too. According to the National Coffee Association’s National Coffee Data Trends 2022 report, those two are the most popular espresso based beverages in America. Bringing up the rest of the roster, in order of popularity, are Espresso, Café Mocha, Americano, Macchiato and lastly, Flat White.

I lean toward the Lattes, but they’re all a comforting respite during a busy day.

Our Cups Runneth Over

If your customers are looking for one of those espressos or lattes, we’ve got you covered with just the right size – no matter what you go through the most.

When it comes to providing options for paper coffee cups for your store, MrTakeOutBags.com has several fantastic styles. Let’s take a closer look:

Ripple Wrapped – Our ripple wrapped paper coffee cups create air channel gaps that promote insulation. The corrugated style keeps customers from scorching their hands and keeps drinks hot, meaning that with this style, no sleeve is necessary. They are price competitive versus purchasing sleeves and cups separately. And, they’re made using responsible forestry practices. Take a look at our Ripple Wrapped Coffee Cups
Double Wall – Having to shield your customers with a sleeve to protect their hands is no longer a worry with the two layers of paper making up the double wall coffee cup. Made with premium paperboard, many of these cups are 100 percent compostable, microwave safe, contain a lining made with plant-based materials and can be custom printed in up to four colors. See our selection of Double Wall Coffee Cups
Single Wall – For a business just starting out or an office that goes through a lot of paper coffee cups, this is the most economical option. That being said, for direct-pour drinks such as hot coffee, a second layer of some type might be in order. Many of our coffee shop clients purchase coffee sleeves – which also can be customized – or double up the cups when they serve the hottest drinks. Here’s a peek at our whole selection of Paper Coffee Cups, including many single wall options.

Match your Paper Coffee Cups with the Correct Lids

Once you’ve selected the right paper coffee cup for your business, the next step is just as important – a lid that fits.

Without a tight-fitting lid that’s made to pair with the cup you’ve purchased, all that delicious roasted coffee may wind up on the ground – or worse. Here at MrTakeOutBags.com, we make it super easy to avoid that mistake.

When you select a coffee cup on our website, just click on the thumbnail to get all of the details then scroll down and look at the right side of the page. There, you’ll find our Related Products section, which will point you to the right lid for your cup.

Some of our hot cup lids feature cream, sugar and decaf buttons to push in for your customers’ convenience when sorting out that office coffee run order. In addition, we offer black, white and brown lids that complement and contrast the color of both our stock cups and can best match your brand colors.

Want to see for yourself? Check out our Lids for Paper Coffee Cups right here.

It’s just as important to make sure your coffee cup lids don’t leak. There are a few important tips that can help assure that, such as making sure your lids snap into place. We’ve put together a short educational video to show you how.

Are my Paper Coffee Cups Recyclable?

While the Earth-friendliness varies from cup to cup, most paper coffee cups use a “poly” or plastic liner that deems them NOT recyclable. The reason for this is that the paper and plastic components are not easily separated.

That being said, compostable coffee cups do exist, such as our ripple and double-wall options. In addition, coffee cup lids come with an embossed recycling code with a number, which will indicate how they can be recycled. Again, this will vary from lid to lid and region to region. Check your municipality’s rules on which codes can be tossed into that recycling bin.

Our compostable lids are what’s known as PLA. This stands for Polylactic Acid. In simpler terms, that means it’s the type of plastic that is derived from renewable resources, such as cornstarch.

The bottom line here is to do your research. Read the descriptions on MrTakeOutBags.com for the cups and lids you are interested in and look carefully at the “green” symbols above the description details for each item.

How do I get Branded Paper Coffee Cups?

So you’ve opened your shop, you’ve selected your cups. All that’s left is to put your name on them. No sweat! There are multiple ways to get your logo to the java loving masses:

For starters, you may want to consider a branded coffee sleeve. These sleeves may cost less than having your cups printed, they fit various cup sizes, and some have a glue dot to help keep them in place on the hot cup. While this will also mean another product to inventory and stock, it may be a fantastic option to get you started. Here’s a look at our branded coffee sleeves.
While branded cups may cost a little more, the “WOW” factor can be a whole lot more. No matter what your color scheme is, we can help you to show it off on a multitude of sizes and styles of paper coffee cup. Want to take a closer look? Here’s a primer on custom paper coffee cups. There, you’ll see a slew of beautiful cups we’ve done for our special clients like you.
Can’t go the custom printed route just yet? You can still stand out in the crowd. Our red, blue or black ripple cups can help to set your shop apart until you’re ready to brand your takeout packaging with your unique logo.

To sum it up, we not only offer a great selection of stock items for your café or coffee shop – we also give you the tools, time and talent to make them “all yours.”

Now go ahead, grab a piping hot cup o’ Joe, pull out that laptop and give us a look at MrTakeOutBags.com, your coffee cup go-to for a successful customer experience.