Disposable cups and stirrers

What counts as a disposable?

Disposables are the parts of serving a drink that you use once and throw away. In a coffee and tea setting that mainly means cups and stirrers, along with the small extras that go on a tray beside them. They exist for one reason: there are places and moments where washing up simply is not going to happen.

An office kitchen at nine in the morning, a queue at a fair, a meeting room with twenty visitors, a building site canteen, a market stall in the rain. In all of those, a cup that can go straight in the bin is worth more than a cup that has to go back to a sink someone has to staff.

Choosing a cup size

Cup size is the decision people get wrong most often, and it is worth thinking through before you order in quantity. A drink served in a cup that is too big goes cold and tastes weak; the same drink in a cup that is too small ends up on the saucer.

• Espresso — a small cup. The point of a short black coffee is its concentration, and a wide cup lets the heat and aroma escape before it reaches anyone.
• Regular coffee and tea — the everyday middle size, the one that suits a filter brew or a stirred tea without a top-up.
• Cappuccino and latte — a larger cup, because the milk needs room. Underestimate here and the foam goes over the rim.

If you serve a mix of drinks, two sizes usually cover far more ground than one compromise size that suits nothing.

Stirrers

A stirrer is a small thing that becomes obvious when it is missing. Wooden stirrers are the standard for a reason: they do not melt, they do not bend in a hot drink, and they are pleasant enough in the hand that nobody thinks about them. They come in bulk because that is how they get used — a box lasts an office a long time, a busy event gets through one in an afternoon.

Keep them somewhere dry. Wood picks up damp and odours, and a stirrer that has been sitting in a humid cupboard next to cleaning products will pass that on to the drink.

Working out how many you need

The arithmetic is simple, but it is easy to be caught short. Count the people, count the drinks each of them is likely to have across the day, and then add a margin, because the second and third cup are the ones that get forgotten. For an event, remember that some people take a fresh cup every time rather than refilling the one they have.

Buying in larger quantities makes sense when you have somewhere dry to keep them. Cups nest and store compactly, but they dent, so keep the sleeves upright and off the floor rather than stacked under something heavy.

Serving well with disposables

A disposable cup is not a reason for the drink inside it to be an afterthought. Two things make the difference. First, brew properly — the same coffee that tastes good in porcelain tastes good in a paper cup, and the same weak coffee tastes weak in both. Second, warn people that the cup is hot, or give them something between the cup and their hand.

Milk and sugar are worth planning at the same time. Sachets and portions keep a tray tidy and save someone refilling a jug all morning; you will find them under milk and sugar.

When a reusable cup is the better call

Disposables are a tool for a particular job, not the default. If the same eight people drink the same coffee at the same table every day, cups and saucers cost less over a year and drink better. It is worth keeping a set for regular use and a supply of disposables for visitors, events and the days when the dishwasher gives up.

Our accessories range covers the reusable side, and the coffee accessories pages hold the equipment that goes with it.

Coffee and tea to serve in them

Whatever you pour it into, the drink is the part people remember. For an office or an event, look at fresh roasted coffee if you grind on site, or instant coffee where there is a kettle and nothing else. For tea, tea bags and tea sticks both work without a pot or a strainer, which is usually what a disposable setting calls for.