How to Bundle your Espresso Machine
If you're shopping with Whole Latte Love, you should know about our Bundler.
Flow Control: The New Era In Coffee
Flow control is all about controlling the flow rate of water during pre-infusion.
Pour Over Brew Method Demystified
Learn the art of pour over. The end result is balanced, complex, and—if you’re lucky—a meditative state.
What is Drip Coffee?
Discover the nuances of coffee brewing and get the right brewer for you.
A Beginner's Guide to Coffee Grinders
Get a grasp on grinders. Know their burr type, materials, and the features your machine needs to brew a consistent shot.
Coffee Flavor Affected By Grinders
Learn about coffee grinders affect the taste of your coffee.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHOOSING COFFEE
Start your journey into the wonderful world of specialty coffee and espresso with this diverse collection of beans.
Shop Lavazza Coffee!
Today, Lavazza is heralded as "Italy’s #1 Coffee" and, with over 75% of Italy drinking their coffee, it’s hard to argue.
Scale in Dual-Boiler Machines
For proper machine maintenance, we stock genuine parts and premium care products.
Support Library
Don't know what part you need? Check our support wiki for part diagrams and guides to help troubleshoot issues.
BWT Water Filters for Espresso Machines
Build the perfect coffee bar and make sure it stays that way with a state of the art water filtration system.
The Importance of Espresso Tampers
Choosing a quality tamper is often overlooked as an important consideration of brewing good espresso.
Technical Support
Discover useful specs, troubleshooting guides, and brewing tips from our huge support library.
Whole Latte Love on Youtube
With over 1,000 videos, our channel has everything from espresso machine reviews, tech and maintenance guides, coffee recipes, and more!
Machine Video Library
We’ve taken our expert YouTube videos and carefully collected them into specific playlists for each machine.
WHAT ESPRESSO MACHINE BEST SUITS MY BUSINESS?
Peruse a collection of powerful super-automatic and semi-automatic machines designed for professional use.
Whole Latte Love Blog
Advice, staff picks, mythbusting, and more from the Internet’s leading coffee experts. Let us help you.
by Whole Latte Love Updated: January 27, 2021 1 min read
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive promotions and regular updates on everything coffee!
Before you take another sip of your coffee, read on to discover the illustrious history behind the mug in your hand.
Our predecessors probably probably drank out of mugs tediously carved from bone or wood. The oldest mugs discovered by archeologists date back to the Neolithic Stone Age, some 10,000 years B.C. These drinking vessels, found in China and Japan, were durable yet lacked handles.
Eventually, bone and wood gave way to pottery and handles came about. Until the invention of the pottery wheel, clay mugs were made and decorated by hand. As with most ancient pottery, these clay cups had thick walls that made them cumbersome and difficult to drink out of.
By 2000 BCE, metal mugs made of gold, silver, bronze, and lead became popular. Aside from the obvious dangers posed by a lead cup, these mugs made drinking hot beverages particularly painful.
It wasn't until 600 CE, when porcelain was invented in China, that the world finally got a mug that was "just right." Well suited to hot and cold drinks, porcelain mugs are also relatively thin and lightweight. Til this day, they remain a coffee lover's favorite.
If you're an espresso drinker, you may be surprised to learn that up until 1992, espresso cups were only available in plain white. At most, some featured a logo for decoration. According to American Chronicle, Illy was the first company to marry art and espresso. Its groundbreaking decision to commission architect and designer Matteo Thun to reimagine the espresso cup lead to the creation of Illy's Art Collection sets, which many credit with ushering in the collector's cup era.
That mug you're holding has come a long way, baby.
Sign up to receive Whole Latte Love emails and take advantage of our biggest sales of the year before anyone else, as well as receive email-exclusive coupons, content, and more.