Designer Recommended: 10 Products to Up Your Coffee Game
We share some recs from our creative circle to up your coffee game. Design by Barbara Cadorna.
We can’t remember the last time we ordered a cup of coffee without being asked what type of milk we wanted. (Oat, almond, cashew? Or, perhaps, lavender and bee pollen for an added kick?) And, if we take it plain without special instructions (i.e. wanting it double blended to give it added texture), then we risk offending the barista. Next time we’re going to order something absurd like a “cold dirty hot chocolate” just to see the reaction we get.
Now more than ever, coffee is an iconic symbol, even a way of life. Illustrator Christoph Niemann likes coffee so much that he has tea for breakfast, because the first cup of the day is so good that he wants to be fully awake to properly appreciate it. That’s deep.
As coffee lovers, we’ve pulled together the best recs from people in our creative circle to help up your coffee game. It includes our editors’ very own coffee line, mugs made of milk glass, and the coffee maker that not one, but three of our very own team members own.
Miller frequents this Brooklyn-based café to buy his morning coffee. Image: Sey Coffee.
1. Sey Coffee
“Hand-picked at peak ripeness. Floated to further remove defects. Fermented for 30 hours. De-pulped, then dry fermented in parchment for an additional 48 hours. Washed. Dried on raised beds for 20-25 days.” This isn’t a riddle, this is Sey Coffee’s roasting process. The Brooklyn-based café is a sweet spot for Danny Miller, and they currently sell a collection of six different coffees online, each seasonally sourced and full of a diversity of flavors.
Coalesce is more than a digital agency — they also make a great line of house brew. Image: Moonbean.
2. Moonbean Midnight Darness Dark Roast Coffee
This coffee is out of this world. Made by the digital agency Coalesce, this line of house brew tastes great with its perfectly-balanced aromas: notes of nostalgia, cosmic serendipity, and a dash of marshmallow. The best part is that the coffee comes with character — Joy, the owner and operator of the galaxy-famous Moonbean diner who is also a robotic space pigeon.
Smyth calls this coffee a “hugely underrated” product in the U.S. Image: Nescafé.
3. Nescafé Clasico Dark Roast Instant Coffee
Nescafé coffee, really? Yes, really! Hamish Smyth believes this instant coffee is a “hugely underrated” product in the U.S. We trust him, especially because he worked as a barista in Melbourne and has a strong taste for it. As a 100% responsibly sourced coffee brand in Europe, this is the type of coffee that tastes good and does good.
Miller created these stackable mugs with his team. Image: High Tide.
So, it’s a mug made of milk glass. Designed by High Tide with illustration work, the cup is perfectly weighted and beautifully designed. And they’re stackable! “I suggest everyone get themselves one because they’re both beautiful and very enjoyable to drink out of,” Danny Miller, Founder, High Tide, says.
Urushibata loves this coffee, which channels a wide range of flavors including black grape, dark chocolate, and cane sugar. Image: Red Bay.
Red Bay Coffee Roasters was founded in 2014 by Keba Konte, a renowned artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area specialty coffee and hospitality industry. It’s the go-to daily brew for Shake Shack Creative Director Cathie Urushibata. And for good reason — like John Coltrane, it channels a wide range of flavor notes, including black grape, dark chocolate, and cane sugar.
McCue loves this travel coffee mug for its vacuum insulation. Image: Zojirushi.
The thought of lugging a coffee bottle to work used to make me feel old. Dated. Then the Zojirushi travel mug came into my life. The design is sleek. Cool. And to say it keeps the coffee hot is an understatement. If anything, it almost keeps it too hot. (It’s got vacuum insulation!) Every weekday morning, I fill it up to the top with my home-brewed Anderson’s coffee, drop it in my bag and take the subway down to our Chinatown office. When I arrive, I fill up the page and empty the bottle. With any luck, I finish my morning of writing before the bottle runs dry. –Matt McCue, Editor, Creative Factor.
Three of our team members swear by the Barista Express, the Mercedes of espresso makers. Image: Breville.
7. Breville the Barista Express
When we heard that not one, but three people at our office had the same coffee maker we thought, how cute. Then we realized we might need it, too. Coalesce partners Justin Rancourt, Staton Piercey, and Tucker Margulies all swear by the Barista Express, the Mercedes of espresso makers. With it, you can brew third wave specialty coffee at home from bean to espresso in less than a minute. But wait there’s more! This machine is designed to ensure precise temperature control, optimal water pressure and create true microfoam milk essential for latte art. Says Rancourt, “It helped get me through my first year of sleep deprived dad life.” Score one for tired parents everywhere.
The most easy-to-use coffee machine out there. Image: Nespresso.
If you’re looking for something a little less fancy, but just as flawless for a quick and decent cup of coffee, this coffee maker is for you. I bought it two years ago for my college dorm because it’s small and convenient, and I use it when I’m in a rush to get my caffeine boost before a morning class. Seriously, it takes about 30 seconds to make your espresso and there’s nothing to clean up afterwards. Plus, it’s got a lot of character. What’s not to love? —Madeleine Magill, Contributing Editor, Creative Factor.
It’s just more fun to sip from something that sports colorful fowl. Image: Uncommon Goods.
9. Uncommon Goods Fowl Language Mug
Ok, we admit, funny bird names crack us up. You try to say Blue-footed Booby or Rough-faced Shag with a straight face. Sure, we could drink our coffee from a single-color mug, but it’s just more fun to sip from something that sports colorful fowl. It’s especially great for birder friends and/or creative dad types who would get a “chuckle” out of it (like our editor). Fun fact: The mugs are sold by Uncommon Goods, a company that Dave Bolotsky started from selling his craft show finds and sells thousands of hand-packed items from all over the world.
These delicious Italian cookies come in a pretty pink tin. Image: Sant Ambroeus.
10. Sant Ambroeus Classic Cookie Tin
Here’s the nice thing about Italian pastries. They walk the line between sweet and savory, meaning they are completely justified to eat while sipping your morning brew. At least, that’s the theory we at Creative Factor HQ subscribe to. We recently picked up a box of these cookies on the walk to our office one morning. They’re all made with European butter and flavors include shortbread, double chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. All fat free, too, we presume. Good news is that they are small, so you can eat one, or three, and not feel a trace of guilt. Plus, you get to keep the pretty pink tin.
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