Kraft Coffee Cups

Kraft Cups Behind the Espresso Bar

Kraft coffee cups are the natural brown cups you see at independent roasters, specialty cafes, coffee carts and drive-thru huts. The unbleached paper suits the coffee itself: brown, warm, a little rough around the edges in a good way. For a shop that roasts its own beans or sells single-origin pour-overs, a kraft cup quietly says "we care about where this came from" before anyone reads a word.

This page is about cups for coffee service specifically: espresso drinks, drip, cold brew and tea. If you need kraft cups for soup, desserts or cold drinks at a market stall, our broader page on kraft paper cups for food and drinks covers those uses.

Sizes Mapped to the Coffee Menu

Most cafes stock three or four sizes. Start from your best sellers rather than the full size range.

Single wall kraft paper coffee cups are the cheapest option and the most common wholesale request. They work well for iced drinks and for hot drinks served with a sleeve. Double wall gives an insulated hold without a sleeve, and ripple wall adds a ribbed grip that pairs nicely with the textured look of kraft.

Printing Coffee Branding on Kraft

Kraft board is brown, so ink behaves differently than on white. Dark colors like black, espresso brown, deep green and navy print with strong contrast. Light and bright colors fade into the brown unless a white ink layer goes down first. That is why many roasters choose a one-color black or white logo on kraft. It looks deliberate, costs less to set up, and suits the material.

The cup is also a good spot for the details coffee people actually care about. Some roasters print a small line about the house blend, a farm name or the roast date range for their seasonal espresso. A QR code that links to the bean shop works well, as long as it is printed large enough to scan through the fiber texture. Leave a plain panel for baristas to mark drink codes; brown cups take marker well.

Roasters who sell retail beans can carry the same artwork onto their custom printed coffee bean bags, so a customer who loves the drink can find the bag on the shelf.

Daily Service Tips for Kraft Coffee Cups

• Drips and spills show less on kraft than on white, which helps at busy self-serve lid stations.
• Black lids look sharp on kraft; white lids give a lighter, cafe-style contrast.
• Keep stacks away from the steam wand and the ice well, as the outer fiber can pick up moisture.
• A single-wall cup plus a kraft sleeve gives two places to brand and suits shops that change seasonal designs often.
• Kraft varies slightly in tone between batches, so compare a new carton with the old before mixing them on the counter.

Adding Sleeves and Seasonal Runs

Many cafes keep a plain kraft cup all year and change the sleeve for each season. That keeps cup stock simple and makes it cheap to run a new design for fall or the holidays. Others print the cup itself and use plain sleeves only on extra-hot drinks. Either approach works. What matters is that the cup and sleeve look like they belong together, ideally sharing one ink color. Our article on choosing a supplier for printed coffee sleeves is useful if you plan to brand both.

Kraft Cups for Carts, Pop-Ups and Roasteries

Mobile coffee businesses get a lot from kraft. A cart at a weekend market or an espresso trailer at a wedding has no shop interior to set the mood, so the cup does that job. The brown board and a simple stamp-style logo look at home next to wooden crates and chalk menus, and they suit the outdoor setting better than bright white.

Roasteries with a tasting bar often order a small 4 oz cup for cupping flights alongside their regular sizes. Printing the same mark on both keeps the brand consistent from the free sample to the full drink. Drive-thru stands lean on 16 oz and 20 oz cups and benefit from double wall, since customers hold the cup while driving.

A short note on storage at events: kraft absorbs moisture faster than coated white board, so keep the cartons in a closed tub rather than under a market table on damp grass.

Ordering Kraft Coffee Cups

1. List the cup sizes you serve and roughly how many of each you use in a month.
2. Choose single, double or ripple wall for each size.
3. Send your logo, ideally as a vector file, and say whether it should print in black, white or full color.
4. Review the digital proof and request a free sample cup to test with your hottest drink.
5. Approve, and your cups are made in 4–6 business days. Rush production is available.

The minimum is 100 cups per design, with volume discounts on larger orders. Design help is free, and so is shipping to the USA, Canada, UK and Australia.