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Coffee Lids for Take-out Cups

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A Critical Assessment of Coffee Lids.

My name is Tim, and I am addicted to coffee. The black wonderfulness is an essential adjunct to my part-time limousine driving job. The hours are crazy, so the caffeine helps. A LOT! This makes me an expert on drinking and driving. Java, that is :-D

My experiences of the traveling coffee cup lids are the focus of this lens. There are only three requirements a lid should exhibit.

One, it should keep the coffee in the cup ie: not allow spills from around the lid on rough roads.

Two, it should allow easy access to the beverage when ingestion is required.

Three, when drinking, no dripping on my clean white shirt should occur.

Simple, right?

Exhibit One: Seven Eleven 16 ounce Decaf.

First Prize!

This is the best take-out coffee lid. No surprise, this thing looks like an adult sippy cup. Note the lip-shaped raised mouthpiece and replaceable cover in case of turbulence. Pity the coffee's so awful, although for $1.29 what can you expect?

Exhibit Two: McDonalds Large Regular Coffee with One Cream.

Second Prize!

In second place is the McDonald's distinctive black lid with brown cup. This too has a resealable cover for the...er...hole, and a reasonably shaped mouthpiece. Despite its lowly parenthood, the coffee's pretty good, and I believe Mickey D's is about to take on Starbucks in a big way. For less than two bucks, this represents top value, and won't spill on your shirt.

Exhibit Three: Starbucks 12 oz Regular Decaf with a Room aka stupid in a cup.

Third (and last) Prize.

Where would a discussion of coffee be without the venerable Starbucks? Frankly, everything about this thing is wrong. The cup burns your hand without one of those ridiculous sleeves. The price for regular filter coffee is exorbitant. And the lid. That lid is what inspired me to write about these things. That execrable thing is guaranteed to put fifty cents worth of brown stuff all over your shirt and tie while driving to an important meeting.

Damn thee Howard Shultz, damn thee Mr Solo, the lid vendor.

Findings

Listen up, coffee vendors! This isn't a complicated deal. Traveling coffee is big business, so a little thought about delivery systems will garner you lots of return business. It is instructive (and indicative of how far it has fallen) that the Starbucks cup and lid is so inferior to that of its competitors. As an example of business arrogance, this could be a B-School case study.

I only drink Starbucks as a last resort. How many others do the same?

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Flickr's Contribution to the Coffee Lid Competition

Regular grind by vhhammer
// OBSERVE // The Particular Afternoon Tea // Where The Cocktail Is Served In A Tea Pot // @ The Westin Hotel // Dublin // Republic Of Ireland // Enjoy The Unusual BY HENDRICKS GIN // by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO // WORLD // TRAVEL ]
// OBSERVE // The Particular Afternoon Tea // Where The Cocktail Is Served In A Tea Pot // @ The Westin Hotel // Dublin // Republic Of Ireland // Enjoy The Unusual BY HENDRICKS GIN // by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO // WORLD // TRAVEL ]
// OBSERVE // The Particular Afternoon Tea // Where The Cocktail Is Served In A Tea Pot // @ The Westin Hotel // Dublin // Republic Of Ireland // Enjoy The Unusual BY HENDRICKS GIN // by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO // WORLD // TRAVEL ]
شارع زايد الأول by علي - ali
أي والله by علي - ali
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Leave me a note, if you fancy.

  • Baricus701 May 10, 2010 @ 6:43 pm | delete
    I prefer the McDonald's lid. Great analysis!
  • TimTam Dec 27, 2010 @ 3:39 pm | delete
    Thank-you! It's the small things that count. And this is about as small a thing as I can think of :-)
  • Jaimie Dec 10, 2009 @ 1:27 pm | delete
    I don't drink Starbucks coffee, it tastes like shit. And they're WAY overpriced. C'mon, it's coffee.
  • TimTam Dec 10, 2009 @ 5:42 pm | delete
    My sentiments, exactly, Jaimie.
  • TimTam Mar 25, 2009 @ 9:51 am | delete
    Oh, very good point there Signal20Gator. I don't even see the paper cups anymore even if they are there! My experience is exactly as you report - I left a half-drunk cup of coffee in a paper cup in my car cup-holder overnight once, and the result was predictable. Empty cup in the morning, coffee somewhere in the nether regions of my Camry.

    I have found another decent lid....that of the Dunkin' Donuts variety, which is similar to the 7/11 style. I'll update the lens after thorough testing.

    Thanks for stopping by!
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TimTam

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