Blame flows to the barista, the beans or the machine. Very often the culprit is holding the drink.

The mass problem

An espresso is about 25 millilitres at roughly 90 degrees. A porcelain cup weighs 200-300 grams. If the cup is at room temperature, the coffee’s heat flows into the porcelain — the shot drops several degrees in the first moments, before it reaches the customer.

This is why the cup warmer on top of every espresso machine exists, and why baristas treat the cup as part of the machine.

The volume problem

Pour 25ml into a 90ml tulip bowl and the shot sits deep, holding its layer of crema on a narrow surface.

Pour the same 25ml into a 200ml cup and it spreads across a wide floor: the crema thins and breaks, the surface area triples, and the heat leaves through it. Nothing the barista did or could do changes this.

The bowl problem

A tulip interior narrows toward the rim and folds the crema in on itself as the shot settles. A straight or flaring wall lets it slide thin.

It is a small curve with an outsized result, and it costs nothing to specify — it just has to be specified.

What to do about all three

Buy 60-90ml cups with real wall thickness, keep them on the warmer, and check the bowl shape once at ordering time.

The cup is the cheapest component of an espresso programme and the only one that touches every single drink. It is worth ten minutes of specification.