According to the Oxford Handy Dictionary, a cup is a "drinking vessel usually with one side handle." If there are two side handles, it is a soup bowl. If there is only one , it is either a tea-cup or a coffee-cup.
While there is usually one or maximum two types of tea-cups on the basis of their design, there are at least three distinguishable kinds of coffee-cups: (1) "mocca" or "espresso," (2) "cappuccino," (3) mug.
"Mocca" or "espresso" cups are very small and narrow china vessels with the cubic capacity usually of no more than one deciliter. Their use is widespread especially in Eastern Europe from Poland to Croatia. In this part of the world, people never seem to stop or slow down. They are constantly in the human-race almost never taking the time to enjoy the little pleasures of life. This may be the reason why they do not "waste" time with leisurely leaning back and relaxing sipping a "normal" cup of coffee or cappuccino. They just gulp down a small amount of the suspiciously dark drink killing fatigue in ten seconds and out they are again on the run. Therefore, the little porcelain cups decorated with fine flowery pattern or little dots make up an inevitable part of all "nice" girls' dowry and are the adornments of all elderly ladies' show-case. Because espresso coffee is made under steam pressure in those well-known coffee machines of metal that can be found in 99% of the households of all Hungarian coffee fans, it is stronger than anything. Drinking more than one deciliter of it at one time may make anyone's heart beat with a double or triple speed. That is why there are special cups designed especially for this kind of coffee. They resemble a liquor glass both in shape and size, the only difference is that they are always made of china and liquor glasses are always without a handle. Both types of "drinking vessels" serve similar purposes, though: to improve one's momentary general feeling as soon as possible.
"Cappuccino" cups are wider and deeper than their above mentioned "colleagues," simply because of the fact that cappuccino is a thinner kind of drink made with more milk and sugar than coffee. Cups designed especially for it are about 7-8 cms deep with the upper diameter of about 10 cms which makes it capable of containing two deciliters of drink. Because Hungarians seem to be devoted to black coffee, cappuccino cups are rather rare. They are not, or just rarely available in stores, and they are sometimes missing even from reastaurants. In Southern Europe, on the other hand, where people apparently take life less seriously and prefer passing their time on the sunny terraces of the numerous cafes instead of preying their minds, the habit of sipping a "long" cappuccino is more common. Maybe if the bourgeois lifestyle takes stand in Hungary again and life means something joyful and pleasant and not just "making a living," it will gain ground hereabouts, too. The process has started but it is not in its full bloom, yet.
The well-known ordinary mugs, which are "pillars" of most people's everyday lives, make up the third group of my categorization. Mugs with the cubic capacity of 2.5-3 deciliters are the best "drinking vessels" for the so called "long coffee." A coffee is long when the proportion of water is higher in the mixture than that of coffe, therefore it much more resembles hot water with coffee aroma than coffee in the espresso sense. Drinking two or three whole mugs of it has no negative impact on anyone's blood pressure, so it would be a worthless idea to try with smaller vessels. We can get a "liquid" of this kind if we buy one of those fancy coffee machines made of plastic that are available all over the Western world but nowdays also in our region.
It is very hard to decide which of the three types is the best. Naturally it is very subjective. If you are a fan of espresso coffee, you will vote for those fancy, tip-top cups. If you are in favor of "long coffee," cappuccino, or even Turkish coffee, on the other hand, your choice will most likely fall on mugs. All have their advantages and disadvantages: "mocca" cups are narrow and small, as I have already stated at several points, therefore they are rather inconvenient to drink from especially for people with long nose. Once a cup or even a glass is small in diameter, it is very probable that its upper edge just hits the tip of a long nose while its lower edge is in the mouth. It may be very frustrating and embarassing... "Cappuccino" cups are very elegant in my opinion, and it is also very pleasant to drink from once you have managed to reach your mouth without spilling the sweet drink. Since they are not deep but wide, it is rather hard to keep the drink inside and not pour it on your lap or the table cloth. If cups of this latter type are elegant then mugs, especially the ones with bright colors and cute patterns are cosy. They are designed for informal occasions and are the actual parts of our lives: they may express something about us and our personality. For instance, if you are keen on elephants, you may have a mug with smiling little elephants on, but the range of possibilities and varieties is practically endless. Although mugs are rather informal and we usually do not serve coffee in them when our grandmother comes for a visit, I think they are the best and most convenient "drinking vessels with one side handle." They are deep with a relatively thick wall which makes it impossible to bite in two when lazily "chewing" on a cup of coffee when watching TV or reading the newspaper (it is a crucial point of view by all means ). The handle is of a normal size, too which means you can get a steady hold of it reducing the risk of dropping the mug to the minimum (it cannot be said about "mocca" cups and their "Liliputhian-size" handles). So they are apparently not only fancy but also practical.
There is a fourth group of coffee-cups that is worthwhile to mention although its "representatives" are completely different from the previous types. I am thinking about those white or brown plastic cups, or rather "drinking vessels," that we are all so familiar with from buffets and drink automats. They are far from being nice or well-designed. Their value does not lie in their esthetics but on a deeper level: in their production price. They are disposable, therefore they have to be as cheap as possible. Once they are cheap, the emphasis is on practicality and not on appearance. The question of practicality is reduced to the lowest possible level, though: they should be able to hold about two deciliters of hot drink for long minutes and that is all. And all the disadvantages are rooted here: because they have to be cheap, the amount of plastic used in the production is very low. Therefore they are light and the walls are thin making it very easy to press the cup from the side spilling the drink to the floor. The adjustment of a handle would increase the expenses, too, consequently it is always missing, which is the worst of all the disadvantages of plastic mugs: once the drink is hot , the thin plastic gets hot easily, too, and once the cup you are holding is hot, you may easily burn your hand or drop your drink losing everything you have come for.
But in the case of coffee automats and school buffets (for example) the design of the cup you are served with counts the least. You just want a good cup of coffee and do not care about the rest. That is why they are cheap and practical (if a coffee cup without a handle can be practical at all) rather than satisfying to the eye. But it is you (or a close companion of yours) who pick your very own coffee cup of either type, therefore they should serve some esthetical criteria too. That is why they are rather expensive. And they are not disposable, only some semi-fixed assets of our lives which should last some
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