Mugs

How much a mug holds, and how tall it stands

Start with capacity. The capacities we list run from 140ml to 550ml, so check the millilitre figure on the product page before you choose. A smaller mug suits a short coffee, such as a cortado or a flat white, or warm milk for a child. A mid-sized mug takes a proper brew with room for milk, and the largest hold a long milky coffee or a generous hot chocolate.

Height matters if you brew straight into the mug. Listed heights run from 7.5cm to 13cm, so measure the gap under your coffee machine's spout before picking a taller design. Listed diameters run from 7cm to 14.5cm: a wider mug lets a drink cool a little sooner and is easy to cradle in two hands, while a narrower one holds its heat for longer and takes up less room in the cupboard.

What ceramic and stoneware mean for a mug

Ceramic is clay that has been shaped, dried and fired in a kiln until it hardens, then usually coated in a glaze that seals the surface and carries the colour. Every mug in our range is ceramic, and many are stoneware.

Stoneware is a kind of ceramic fired at a higher temperature than earthenware, which fuses the clay into a dense, hard body. That density is why stoneware tends to feel solid and reassuring in the hand. The glaze matters as much as the clay, since it is the surface your lips touch, and most of our mugs are marked food safe on their care rows.

Reactive glazes and hand-painted mugs

A reactive glaze is mixed so that it moves as it melts in the kiln, pooling in hollows and breaking into speckles and streaks where it thins over a rim or a ridge. We stock reactive glaze mugs, and their colour can vary from one mug to the next, even within a set. That variation is the nature of the glaze rather than a flaw.

Hand-painted mugs show the movement of the brush, so expect small differences in line and shade between pieces. A few pair a printed design with hand-painted details, and a few have embossed, striped or crackle patterns. If close matching matters to you, check whether the product details name a reactive or hand-painted finish before you buy.

Blue, multi-coloured and Christmas mugs

We stock plenty of blue mugs, and blue sits easily on a white tablecloth or a scrubbed wooden table. Multi-coloured designs mix several shades on one mug and bring cheer to a breakfast tray. We also stock a few mugs in green, rose, brown, grey and white, so a quieter palette is possible too.

Christmas mugs are part of the range as well, with festive designs for hot chocolate on a December evening or a small present for a neighbour. Bring them out with the decorations and pack them away with the baubles in January.

Single mugs or a set of two or four

A single mug is the simplest way to replace a chipped favourite or add one design you love. We stock single mugs alongside sets of two and sets of four, with a few sets of three or six. A set of two suits a couple or makes an easy housewarming gift; a set of four covers a family breakfast or friends round for coffee.

You can also build a set of your own. Choose singles in one colour family, such as several blues, and your household can tell their mugs apart while the shelf still looks planned. A few of our mugs come with a lid, handy for a drink carried to a desk or the garden.

Dishwasher, microwave and oven: reading a mug's care rows

Most of our mugs are dishwasher safe and most are microwave safe, and many can go in the oven, but a mug safe in one may not be safe in the others. The care rows on the product page say which. A few are marked not dishwasher safe, and some are marked not microwave safe or not oven safe, so check before you warm milk or bake a pudding for one.

Ceramic dislikes sudden changes of temperature, so let a chilled mug come to room temperature before it meets boiling water or a hot oven. Tea and coffee leave a brown film over time, especially on pale glazes; a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water on a soft cloth lifts it without scratching. Skip harsh scourers on hand-painted and reactive finishes, and hand wash anything not marked dishwasher safe in warm, soapy water.

Mugs with a teapot, a jug and the rest of the table

Mugs rarely work alone. Set them on a tray with a teapot and a milk jug in a related glaze, and morning tea looks planned without matching exactly. Blue mugs sit well beside white plates, and a reactive glaze picks up the tones of a stoneware bowl or a linen napkin. On an open shelf or dresser, group mugs by colour rather than design and let the glazes vary, adding a piece at a time.