When I say “close friends”, I am not referring to actual people, but am in fact talking about mugs. Why? Because let’s face it, if you’re going to be a writer, you probably need to take up coffee drinking at some point (or at the very least, tea drinking), and even if you don’t write but enjoy reading, you’ll probably know nothing beats the feeling of sitting down with a good book and a cuppa.
However, the purpose of this post isn’t to discuss any deep and profound philosophies of drinking coffee, but rather to show you some photos of some of my favourite mugs from which I drink this life-saving liquid. It has occurred to me recently that I collect mugs (it takes me a while to realise I’ve started collecting something else, as I tend to collect collections of things), and this revelation was mostly caused due to a distinct lack of space in my kitchen cupboards. At any rate, I won’t show you all of them, but just a few of my favourites (and I’ll explain along the way why I like them so much).
Enjoy! And maybe make a cuppa for yourself while you’re at it…
A mug of George Orwell’s classic Nineteen Eighty-Four. Readers who have followed my blog since the early days (i.e. January, February), will remember I also have a similar one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
On the left, a mug of The Beatles, with the pattern from the album A Hard Day’s Night. On the right, a mug of Led Zeppelin, featuring the cover of their first, self-titled album (the back of the album cover is on the other side of the mug), along with the four symbols along the bottom that featured on later albums. Both of these bands share the prestigious position of being my favourite band.
On the left: “Keep Calm And Have A Cuppa”. On the right: “No coffee, no workee!” Two good philosophies to live by, I think. Yes I have used the mug on the right at work before, just for a bit of fun.
On the left: “D’oh for it” with a picture on the back of Homer running. On the right: “I couldn’t agree more with whatever you said!” also with a picture of Homer. What can I say – I like The Simpsons. Always have, too.
Yes, this is a mug shaped to have bits of liquorice allsorts decorating the outside and sticking out. This photo doesn’t show it, but this mug is actually enormous, so I tend to use it for hot chocolate mostly.
To finish off this post, some coffee quotes I like:
“The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
“As soon as coffee is in your stomach, there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move…similes arise, the paper is covered. Coffee is your ally and writing ceases to be a struggle.” – Honore de Balzac (1799-1859)
“Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical.” – Jonathan Swift
“Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.” – Author Unknown
“Deja Brew: The feeling that you’ve had this coffee before.” – Author Unknown
“Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat.” – Alex Levine
Are you a coffee or a tea drinker? Do you depend on it for reading/writing, or is it just a nice way to relax?
Wanton Creation 
I love this post! Especially Simpson’s mugs! I love Simpsons too! hahahah
Hahaha, glad you liked it! I actually have a third simpsons mug, but these two were the better two! It’s funny, after I wrote this, I watched The Simpsons. 😀
Lucky you!! I couldn’t watch them today on the TV, on Saturdays and Sundays sometimes the channel that offers the Simpsons plays car races xDDD Today is one of those days hahahahaha
Ohhh hahaha, that’s annoying! It’s on everyday now at least once, some days several times. 😀
My daughter did a 100 day challenge once. She did a different illustration every day for 100 days and the subject she chose was her beloved coffee pot
http://studioanjou-100daycoffeepot.blogspot.co.uk/
My husband loves his tea but he has a collection of mugs, all the same, thing is he loves his favourite mug and so he has a collection of – well – his favourite mug!!!
Oh wow, I love your daughter’s blog – what a brilliant idea! 🙂
So does your husband have the same mug, but lots of the exact same mug? That’s odd, but I kind of like that in some weird way haha. I can just imagine opening up the cupboard and seeing the same mug in large multiples…I guess the closest I would come is those Penguin Classics mugs (which I intend to collect the rest if I can – I think there’s a dozen or so, and they all look the same except for the book titles).
Yes, my husband has lots and lots of the same mug. It’s a bit strange, actually there is “the White One” of which there are about six and “the Yellow One,” of which there are about four. He needs the right one to fully enjoy his drink. I have to say that tea drinking is almost a religion to my husband.
Haha, I think tea drinking is like that for a lot of people. Tea is definitely growing on me, but it isn’t a necessity yet, as where without coffee I literally cannot function in the morning.
I always want to imagine myself cuddled with a good book while drinking coffee (whether hot or the ice-blended one) or hot chocolate. Sadly, though, I haven’t done that. Maybe one day…
I think I’m more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker. However, I have to limit myself to drinking those because caffeine has strong effect on me. There were nights when I want to sleep, but my body wasn’t cooperating with me. hahaha! The best tea I’ve drunk so far was apple tea. I was able to try that when I was on a trip in Turkey.
You have such wonderful mug collections! I know a person who collects Starbucks mugs with countries written on it – I’m sure you’re familiar with that. It’s nice to collect stuffs. As for me, I collect postage stamps. haha!
Really, you’ve never read a good book while drinking coffee? Oh my, you really must when you get a chance!
I wish coffee had a strong effect on me sometimes. I’ve had several coffees today and I’m still sleepy. I once drank 14 coffees in a day, and by in a day I mean over a period of about 9 hours, and then I went home and promptly napped for 2 hours. I guess I’m a bit special
Apple tea is nice, I’ve only had it a couple of times but I remember liking it! 🙂
Thank you, I’m glad you like my mugs! I do know the mugs you are talking about – that is pretty awesome your friend collects those. I agree, it is good to collect things. I should perhaps not collect as much as I do, but oh well. 😛
I didin’t anwer your question: I only drink coffee during the owrst exams period, because the effects on me are brutal xDD It’s like a medecin. I prefer juices, milk with chocolate or hot chocolate hahahaha
Ahh yes, I drink plenty of juice, and hot chocolate in the winter (though our winters aren’t very cold here in Australia, but still…cold enough for hot chocolate). I used to drink so much coffee when I was at university…who am I kidding I still do! 😛
Tea drinker here!! And I have a brand new writer mug to drink it!! Cool mugs, by the way 🙂
Oooh a writer mug? Sounds awesome! And thanks, glad you liked them! 🙂
Every morning starts with 3 cups of Westrock Arkansas National Guard brand coffee. I only use one mug. It belonged to my grandmother, and I grew up watching her drink her coffee from it.. It has a 60’s stylized drawing of a frazzled woman in a kitchen with the caption “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” on it. Tea is an evening thing, hot Earl Grey with local honey and cream in it. That only ever goes into a large cut glass mug that belonged to my grandfather. I loved your mugs!
Oh wow, I love that you use those two mugs with such personal history in them, that is amazing and really quite touching! And I agree with your tea choice – I love Earl Grey, probably my favourite of the black teas. 🙂
I’m a self-confessed coffee-addict! Cannot think of life without it. And I love having a cup of coffee by my side while reading and/or writing. 🙂 And, I share your love for mugs, as well!
Hahaha, I had a feeling you liked your coffee (you might have said so before, but I would have guessed this anyway – it’s a good thing I assure you). Glad you know where I’m coming from with the mugs thing! 🙂
I love your mugs — especially the 1984 one! And I have a Beatles one, too, except mine is Sgt. Pepper’s. I got it from the Beatles Cafe in the St. John’s Wood tube station near Abbey Road when I studied abroad in London. I was a massive tea drinker that semester — I drank about three cups a day. Since getting a coffee maker a few years ago, I’ve been mostly been drinking coffee, though. Can’t start the morning without it! A nice cup of tea in the evening is really lovely, though; love a nice herbal blend.
Question for you: do you like cream and sugar in your coffee or a bold, black cup?
Ahhh there’s a Beatles Cafe?! That’s so awesome. Have to visit that when I visit London later this year (in the 21 years since I left England I’ve never been back, how terrible am I?). I agree, for me I need coffee in the mornings to function, but by night time I prefer tea – I tend to have a lot of different teas to choose from at any given time, too!
As for how I like my coffee – it changes, to be honest. Generally I don’t have sugar in my coffee either way, and at home I alternate between putting milk in it and just having black coffee (if I’m really tired, or hungover, it’s always black and strong…actually it’s always strong anyway). If I’m out having coffee, I will often get all sorts of different coffees, depending on what I feel like and what kind of day it is temperature wise.
What about you, what do you have in your coffee?
Have a great trip! I’ve been home for two years and I still miss London every day. How long are you going for?
I started drinking my coffee black in the mornings a few months ago; a strong black cup of coffee is perfect for starting the day, but I do like cream and sugar if I’m just relaxing with a cup later in the day. I’m the same, when I drink coffee out I like to try different flavors and things.
I’m not entirely sure how long I’m going for, probably a couple of weeks, maybe a little more. Sadly it depends on how much funds I can build up in the very near future.
Yeah, I am definitely becoming a black coffee convert first thing in the mornings…it is a pretty amazing way to wake up! 🙂
I’m eyeing the Zeppelin and Beatles mugs with rising clouds of envy. I have a t-shirt with the Hard Day’s Night pattern, though. It’s the comfy-est t-shirt I own. 🙂
Hahaha, I thought you might like those two mugs in particular, especially the Zeppelin one. I had to buy the Zeppelin one twice because the first one broke haha.
I think I have a Hard Day’s Night t-shirt somewhere too, but I think it never fit me for some stupid reason. I am slowly trying to collect all The Beatles albums on t-shirts, think I have about 4 or 5 of them now? Eventually if I can’t find them I’ll just make them myself. 🙂
Definitely a tea drinker. I can drink coffee if I really am in a need for caffeine but I don’t really enjoy it
Tea, however, is one of my addictions. I drink 5 or 6 cups a day, when I read, when I write, when I study… And if I wake up too late and don’t have time for my first cuppa of the day before heading to the university, you can be sure that I’ll have a bad day (mostly because I’ll be horrible to everybody).
I’m a total fan of the Penguin Books mug’s series…But I don’t know where to find them here…
Ahh, see that’s no fun drinking coffee if you don’t enjoy it! 😛 Tea has some caffeine in it I guess, but not as much as coffee.
I am the same as you with my first coffee of the day – without it I am barely functional, just a complete wreck really. After that if I don’t have time for another I can survive, I just might get a bit grumpy after a while.
Yeah, the Penguin Books mugs are hard to find, some book shops sell them but not many. I know Borders here sold them until it shut down completely. I imagine you could order the mugs online? Probably from the Penguin site? I might try there myself actually…
It has been decided with or without my consent-the truth will never be found. An odd compulsion has over taken my mind with queries concerning bring back objects through astral projection. If any of your mugs go missing my apologizes. I don’t believe I should be to blame for what happens on an astral plane. 🙂
Robert Plant I’m sure would agree, at least in song. Orwell would have more writing material to work with on the other side if this actually occurred. I would love to read his take on astral projecting objects. Hehe
Oh, dear me, I do covet thy collection. 😀
Hahahaha, I love it! If my mugs go missing through such an occurrence, I would probably allow such occurrence to take place. 🙂
It seems my mug collection has been a bit of a surprise hit with people, which is good because I wasn’t entirely sure when I first thought it up. I think I need to buy more mugs so I can do a part 2. 😛
They are quite a hit and a great collection. Please forgive me, I am not only geographically challenged, but also culturally challenged to some areas – Do you have what we call Flea Markets? Funny name I know. It isn’t where you go to pick out a pet flea or buy so many and teach them tricks for a flea circus. 🙂 It is where a lot of people in one place sale different things. I ask because I picked one up just this weekend at such a place. They’ll be a pic of it with the other finds this week sometime on my blog. I couldn’t rest the coffee mug. It was yelling at me at soon as I saw it! When coffee mugs yell; you buy them! 😀
Oh yeah, we have similar things here, I think we just call them markets though? (We like to be as lazy as possible when naming things in Australia). There’s some huge markets of the kind you’re talking about in Sydney, which are quite fun to visit every now and then when I head down there.
I look forward to seeing this mug and your other finds when you do post them up – I know what you mean, sometimes you see these things and you know you must have them, end of story! 🙂
NIce mugs! Especially the “No coffee no workee” one. Coffee is The Essential Brew of Life, if you ask me. Cannot function without it and nothing beats sitting down at the keybord, with an empty document open, and a big cup of coffee steaming away at the desk.
I really like the No Coffee No Workee one too – it rings a very certain truth. I agree – it is one of the best feelings in the world to sit down with a coffee and start writing. 🙂
“One day I realized that sadness was just another word for not enough coffee.” — Scott Adams
Hahahaha I really liked this quote! Sharing it around a bit at work! 🙂
Fun mugs. I’m not a coffee drinker but I am addicted to tea. Tea helped get me through grad school!
Hahaha, I like how many people seem as addicted to tea as I am to coffee! 🙂
I don’t drink coffee or tea when reading or writing. Being honest, when I get really into something I kind of forget to do anything else…like sleep or drink or eat…yeah.
When I do curl up with a book and a drink (on the rare occassion) it’s normally hot chocolate or water. Usually water because I’d rather open a bottle then boil milk and mix hot chocolate in a mug. Surprisingly I have a ton of mugs that I don’t use.
Wow…you brave soul, doing such things without caffeiney substances of any kind. Mind, I have falling into a writing trance such as what you are describing, where I forget about everything for long stretches of time.
It’s one of those odd things – I think everybody has mugs, regardless of how much or little they drink coffee or tea or whatever.
I love the ‘Keep Calm and Have a Cuppa’ mug.
At the risk of sounding a bit ‘born-again’ (if you know what I mean), I gave up caffeine over a year ago, and haven’t looked back. My addiction was getting to be a problem, and giving up wasn’t fun at all, but I don’t need a cuppa to start my heart in the mornings any more! 🙂
A cup of hot chocolate though … that’s another matter.
Haha, there’s a few of those Keep Calm type items around myhouse. My mum and dad have the proper Keep Calm and Carry On poster on the British flag as you walk in their front door, which is awesome. So apparently they passed that on to their children, the love of Keep Calm items! 😛
Ah wow, that is awesome you have kicked the habit completely! One word of advice – don’t go back, whatever you do. Because I kicked the caffeine for a full year, back in 2007. It was great. I also coincidentally took that year off uni, between degrees. At the end of the year, almost precisely at the 12 month of no caffeine point, I suddenly decided to enrol in uni again for a post-grad degree, and the same day thought “hmmm, I wonder if I’d like coffee anymore?” I decided to find out…and 5 years later I still drink it. So the moral of the story is: Coffee isn’t like junk food where when you stop consuming it and then return, it tastes gross – coffee tastes just as amazing after a lengthy absence, and will command you back to it if you let it! 😛
Oddly enough, I love hot chocolate but rarely make it, and if I do, it’s at night time because it makes me sleepy.
I love coffee! And I love this post. You’ve inspired me start my own mug collection.
Ah awesome, glad to hear! And thank you. 🙂
Pingback: Reading Digest: The Popularity of Others Edition « Dead Homer Society
I’m not really addicted to tea or coffee. I’ll drink both but I never really crave it. If I’m not working I’ll have a cup or two first thing in the morning, but I usually flavour it. I get flavoured coffee syrups from a coffee shop nearby called Sheffield’s. My favourite is hazelnut but I was recently turned onto the Carmel and Amaretto flavours. As for tea, my friend turned me onto David’s loose teas and even gave me a strainer for it. The pamphlet listing all the teas makes me want to run out and buy a bit of each, just to see what they taste like.
If I’m working, though, I don’t drink either. When working with special kids, I can’t really jump up and leave them 5-6 times when I have to use the loo – which would be the result if I drank tea or coffee first thing in the morning!
I think what I’m really addicted to is collecting mugs! I love your collection Those are definitely some cool ones, especially the music-themed ones and the Simpson ones. The Liquorice Allsorts one is lovely, too! Before we renovated, we had space above all our kitchen cupboards where we displayed the best mugs, but they really got grimy. When we got new cupboards, I made sure we had at least one with a glass front so we could show off all of our mugs. Thanks for sharing yours. 🙂
Oooh the caramel coffee sounds nice, I’ve had those from coffee shops before. I am quite addicted to loose leaf tea as well – so much so I just bought three bags just this afternoon! I bought my favourite green tea, Mountaintop Oolong, as well as a lychee flavoured green tea, and a dragonpearl tea that I think was called Buddha’s tears (it’s a bit pricy though…$400 a kilogram. So I only bought a very small amount, as you can imagine). I also was given for free a little packed of white tea, which oddly I am yet to try. This has all made me realise something – I need to write a post about tea, as well. I can take a photo of my awesome teapot when I do it….
I’ve gotta admit, I have found myself going back to drinking less coffee when I am working as well, for a somewhat similar reason to you – I am too busy at work running around with the kids to be able to go to the toilet all the time.
That’s a really good idea, getting a glass door on a cupboard so you can show off your mugs. One day I’m going to borrow that idea! Would love to see some of your mugs some time! 🙂
I’ll go grab my camera! lol
Pingback: Tea for one (dedicated to tea) | wantoncreation
Pingback: Mr Tea | wantoncreation
Pingback: Things I drink when reading and writing part 3: Cider and Ginger Beer | wantoncreation