Paper Cups With Handles

When a Handle Beats a Sleeve

A paper cup with a handle works like a disposable mug. The customer hooks a finger through the handle and never has to grip the hot wall of the cup. That is useful in a few clear situations: sit-down service where there is no lid, older guests or kids who find a hot cup hard to hold, events where people stand and mingle with a drink, and food that is eaten with a spoon, like soup or cocoa with marshmallows.

You find handled paper cups at hotel conference breaks, church and community hall events, senior living dining rooms, school fundraisers, train and bus station kiosks, festival tea tents and coffee vending machines. Cafes use them for dine-in drinks when they want a mug feel without washing mugs. Soup counters use them so customers can carry a cup of chili back to their table without a sleeve.

We make them in custom sizes from 8 oz to 20 oz, in white SBS, brown kraft, E-flute corrugated or recycled board.

Handle Styles and Sizes

Handles come attached during production or supplied as an option to fit on site. Standard loop handles, kraft handles and custom shapes are all possible. Here is a quick guide to matching handle style with the drink and setting:

For size, 8 oz is the classic coffee or tea mug portion. A 12 oz handled cup suits cocoa and larger coffees. The 16 and 20 oz sizes suit soup, chili and big drinks where the extra weight makes the handle more welcome. Reinforced handles are worth choosing for the larger sizes, since a full 20 oz cup puts more load on the joint.

If tea is the main drink you serve, see our paper tea cups with handles, which come in smaller sizes and styles built around tea service.

Storage, Stacking and Service

The one thing to plan for with handles is space. Cups with attached handles do not nest as tightly as plain cups, so a carton holds fewer of them and takes more shelf room. If storage is tight, perforated fold-out handles or flat-packed cups are the answer, since they stack like regular cups and only open up when used.

Vending machines are a special case. A machine drops a cup from a stack before it pours, so the cup has to separate cleanly and fit the machine's cup ring. Fold-out handles are the usual choice here, because a fixed handle would jam the stack. If you run vending, send us the cup currently in your machine and we will match its rim and height before printing.

Weight is the other thing to think about. A handle carries the full load of the drink on one small glued joint, so the bigger the cup, the more that joint matters. Test a full sample cup by holding it by the handle alone for a minute before committing to a large run.

At a busy event, set handled cups out in rows with the handles all facing the same way, so guests can pick one up without fumbling. Keep cartons sealed until use to stop dust from settling inside the cups.

Handles and lids can go together, but most handled cups are used without lids, since they suit drinks sipped in one place. If you also need lids, ask for them in your quote so the rim size matches. For soup, chili and other spoon foods served this way, our soup paper cups cover lid and wall options in more detail.

Designing Around the Handle

A handle changes where people look at a cup. The customer holds it from the side, so the face of the cup opposite the handle faces outward. Use that:

• Place the main logo on the side facing away from the handle, where others see it.
• Put a smaller mark or message on the handle side, which the drinker sees.
• Keep artwork clear of the handle's glue points so nothing is hidden or distorted.
• Print the handle itself in a brand color for a neat, finished look.
• Use bold type on kraft and corrugated board, where fine detail softens.

CMYK and PMS printing, offset and digital, and gloss, matte or spot UV finishes are available. White SBS shows color best; kraft gives a warm, natural look.

How to Order Paper Cups With Handles

1. Decide on the drink or food, the size and how many you need for each event or month.
2. Pick a handle style: attached loop, kraft, fold-out or custom.
3. Send your logo and tell us where you want it relative to the handle.
4. Approve the digital proof. Free samples are available so you can test how the handle feels when the cup is full.
5. After approval, production runs 4 to 6 business days. Shipping is free to the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia.

The minimum is 100 cups, which suits a single conference or fundraiser. Volume discounts apply for vending operators and caterers ordering larger runs. If you prefer a natural look across your range, our kraft paper cups pair well with kraft handles.