Customized Ripple Wall Cups.

A fluted outer ply forms air channels around the inner cup, and that trapped air does the insulating. The miniature corrugation is bonded to a food-grade paperboard cup, so the hot liquid is separated from the hand by two layers of board and a run of air pockets. The counter skips the sleeve, which saves a component and a second of service time per drink.

The ripple also gives grip. A smooth double-wall cup insulates about as well, but the texture is what people notice.

The inside face is sealed with a single-sided PE coating, or PLA where composting is available. Hot drinks only need the inner surface coated, so the outside fluting stays as bare kraft or white board. The inner cup is virgin fibre paperboard, which is the food-contact layer.

This format is built for hot drinks. Cold drinks sweat on the outside and the fluting takes up the condensation, so we point iced-drink orders to a different cup.

Yes, the rim is rolled outward to the standard hot-cup profile, so a matching sip lid snaps on. Lids are matched by rim diameter: 3.2 inches on the 8-ounce, 3.5 inches on the 12-ounce and 3.6 inches on the 16-ounce. We specify the lid with the cup rather than leaving it to be sourced afterwards.

A 4-ounce espresso size is available with its own lid fit.

Bold artwork prints well across the fluting, and fine detail and photographs do not. The flutes break up thin lines and small type, so we keep text at roughly 8 point and above and use solid shapes with strong contrast. Kraft with one or two spot colours is the category standard and suits the texture, and white fluting gives a brighter ground for CMYK built with the ridges in mind.

A blind emboss pressed into the fluted surface and a matte coating are both available on the premium tier.

The common sizes are 8, 12 and 16 ounces, with a 4-ounce espresso cup on request. Capacity is measured to the brim, and the rim diameters are 3.2, 3.5 and 3.6 inches respectively, which is the figure the lid is chosen against. Height follows the capacity at the standard hot-cup taper.

Tell us which drinks you serve and we will match the range to your menu rather than sending every size.

The minimum is 500 cups in one size and one print. Cups are a fast consumable and most coffee shops order in the thousands, where the price per cup drops after the first 1,000. A single order can go up to 100,000.

Each size counts as its own run because the blank and the die are different, so plan the minimum per size.

Standard turnaround is 7 to 10 business days after artwork sign-off. The rush option delivers in 5 to 7 business days and suits a store opening with a fixed date. Spot-colour plates are made in that window and are kept for reprints so the brand colour matches next time.

Printed samples take 5 to 7 business days and the fee is credited to the bulk order.

With a PLA lining the cup composts in a commercial facility, and the standard PE-lined cup does not. The kraft fluting and the paperboard inner are unbleached and bleached fibre respectively, and both take the PLA route where a venue has composting collection. PE-lined cups are accepted by some paper recyclers but not all.

Choose the lining against your local disposal stream rather than the claim you want to print on the cup.