Two bucks. Maybe three, if you add oat milk. That is what a sleeve is worth to most coffee drinkers, which is exactly why almost nobody thinks about it. Then the drink leaks through the seam on your walk to work, or the logo flakes off onto your thumb, and suddenly you are thinking about it. Your coffee’s packaging carries a job you never assigned it: it keeps your hands dry, it holds a temperature, and it quietly tells the world whether the shop that made your drink has their act together.

Let’s talk about the cup. Not the drink inside, the thing around it, because it turns out that cardboard and paper are where a lot of the flavor experience quietly succeeds or fails. Continue reading Why the Cup Matters: A Coffee Lover’s Guide to the Packaging Behind Your Daily Brew →