Now, we know what you're thinking.  Teacups?!  Why is Custom Glassware talking about teacups?!  Let us explain:

Regardless of whether or not we sell them, teacups are still a considered a drinkware item.  And since we still consider ourselves to be pretty competent about all items drinkable, and as glassware aficionados, we feel like it would be unfair if we didn't share our knowledge with the rest of the glassware community.  Plus, we were all out of coffee this morning, and tea was the topic of conversation, so just bare with us...

Teacups, not surprisingly, are used almost exclusively for tea. They are typically small ceramic cups with small, elegant handles and sit on a saucer. Sets are a cup and saucer purchased together that have matching patterns and designs. It is believed the first teacups seen in Europe came from a Japanese town, but tea cups in Asia were typically without handles. Handles on teacups are not found often in the eastern world; they are normally confined to Europe. Chinese teacups are even smaller than your standard teacups, they normally about 30ml (milliliters) of tea. Fine teacups are made of white translucent porcelain and normally have elegant floral designs. Teaspoons are often included in these expensive and extravagant sets, and are made of a precious metal, typically silver.

The saucer included with most teacups is a very small dish that is designed for supporting a cup, and can help protect surfaces such as wood or granite from heat damage. It has practical uses as well, such as preventing spills, overflow, splashes, and rips that could potentially damage the color of wood or the surface. It can also be used as a placeholder for sugar, cream, or other additions for the tea.

See?  Wasn't that informative?  Now you can go and tell your friends all about the things you learned today, including the origin of teacups, their typical design and the components that come with them.  But after you're done bragging to your friends, come take a look at some of our other products or read through a couple of our other posts, like this one about how to wash wine glasses or how come hurricane glasses for ice cream parlors are actually pretty common...