Coffee Top Caddy: Yea or Nay?
Josh Harris has designed a coffee lid that doubles as a caddy for creamer and sweeteners. The design is obviously clever but you have to ask—is it a solution to a problem or a solution looking for a problem? What say you, serious coffee drinkers? [via Gizmodo]
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20 Comments:
Great idea, but a wasteful one at that. First of all, those cups are made out of styrofoam - then add on top of that all the unnecessary garbage from the creamers/sugar/carrier. In our current world of reusable bags & coffee tumblers, how could we ever condone this?
Mdotmet at 8:37AM on 04/13/09
"Serious" coffee drinkers don't drink Dunkin' Donuts coffee with cream and sugar but I'll answer anyway. It's a solution looking for a problem.
phaelon56 at 9:02AM on 04/13/09
I don't take cream or sugar, so I hardly acknowledge the problem.
shoneyjoe at 9:10AM on 04/13/09
At DD, they generally add that stuff (milk, sugar) for you because they know you're on the go and have no time to open those little plastic milk sarcophaguses. But it's still a cool idea.
hmcnally at 9:11AM on 04/13/09
I worked at SBux for a while...if someone was buying for an office, we'd just set them up with a bag filled with sweeteners...we'd pour fresh cream into a smaller cup so they could take that as well. Otherwise, we'd put the cream/sugar in that they requested so they didn't have to worry about it.
That said, now that I work in an office, I have a french press here. I get exactly the coffee I want...brewed the way I like...and I can add what I want. And it's cheaper. Yay.
lawofmurphy at 9:35AM on 04/13/09
Definitely a solution looking for a problem. Seems more like a waste of time. It would make more sense to have a collective caddy in the carrying dish. Then you aren't excluding the people that like triple shots of cream in their extra large coffees.
jlweber at 9:37AM on 04/13/09
We would get Dunkin' Donuts coffee for group meeting and they either put the creamer and sweeteners in the middle of the coffee caddy (as shown in the picture above) or give us a bagful. These solutions seemed to work well for us.
The coffee top caddy doesn't seem all too secure, especially if you're rushing back in a busy city and can easy bump into others. Plus, I doubt that the employees at DD have the time and patience to place those things on there nicely. Seems like dumping them into a bag or on a tray is the quickest and most efficient.
tina_eats at 9:43AM on 04/13/09
I think its great design. I really do. I agree with Tina_eats as it doesn't look very stable. I also agree with Mdotmet when they say it's a wee bit wasteful. I think it should be an option for people on the go. They shouldn't provide it to EVERYONE. Regulars I'm sure would be more opt to spring for the regular lid. But for people that have far distances to walk, I'm all for it. Interns, look out!
rockinTACO at 9:47AM on 04/13/09
As someone who worked at a coffee shop (but not DD) and handed more cups of coffee with creamer and sugar out the drivethru window then I'd care to count...this is actually a really good idea.
For the select few who request their cream and sugar on the side it is a pain in the butt (when you are being timed) to hand them their coffee and then a few creamers and then some sugar and a stirrer and napkins. I always tried to balance everything on top but this would have made it a lot easier.
As for trays...if you only order one coffee you don't get one and those bags people dumped everything in...if that was for one coffee I know my boss would have flipped out about wasting a bag. Stupid but that's how those places are.
So I've got to say that this isn't a solution looking for a problem, this was probably thought of by someone who worked at a coffee shop or who drinks a lot of coffee with cream and sugar on the side.
That being said, yes it's all very wasteful, let's outlaw drivethrus and make everyone bring their own cup. I'd be all for that.
swampyankee at 10:08AM on 04/13/09
It needs velcro.
LunaPierCook at 10:10AM on 04/13/09
Down with anyone who doesn't use a reusable mug for drinking coffee (and not to mention anyone who doesn't drink SHADE GROWN!!!!)
pbelardo at 10:33AM on 04/13/09
@pbelardo
Yeah...and shade-grown wine grapes! Wait....that may not work...
lawofmurphy at 11:07AM on 04/13/09
Not only is it not especially stable - the standard fiberboard cup carriers are designed to hold four cups and already have a small circular indentation in the center - like the one pictured. The space can either hold a 4 oz "to go" cup and lid with creamer in it or serves as a convenient space to pile up a few creamers and sugars. This just isn't a useful innovation.
phaelon56 at 11:59AM on 04/13/09
Another over-engineered gimmick that adds more complexity than needed. I'm sure the servers will find it too fiddly and just throw the creamers in a bag like the always do.
On the other hand, my dad tells this story about a guy he worked with in the 60s, when the lids were nothing more than fitted flat plastic, and everyone would take the lid off to drink their coffee. This guy used to tear a little half moon shape off the edge of the lid, so he could drink his coffee in the truck without taking the lid off. Everyone was amazed at the ingenuity, and soon all his coworkers started doing it.
And then one day, coffee lids started appearing with a pre-perforated tear-off section, which evolved into the lids you know today.
If I was alive at the time, I probably would have said it was an over-engineered gimmick, and I can tear my own coffee lid without perforations thank you very much!
kevster at 12:08PM on 04/13/09
Um, I like this idea. I take 3 creams and three sugars in my coffee so this could help out quite a bit!
bitchinlifestyle at 12:34PM on 04/13/09
It may be over engineered, but it doesn't seem to use any more resources than the current system, same cups, same molded lids (different design), same creamers and sugars.
the_o at 12:38PM on 04/13/09
i can't wrap my head around why anyone would want to ruin perfectly good cup of coffee with cream & sugar in the first place...it's like people who order steak well done.
gastronomeg at 1:26PM on 04/13/09
I think it's clever--but don't they usually add the cream and sugar for you at DD?
cakespy at 2:30PM on 04/13/09
i doubt the sugar and cream would stay put in that contraption, other then that it could be useful.
good to see josh harris designing imaginary products, i guess he never found a way to monetize his own narcissism. unless, of course, this is a different josh harris...
sloppy at 4:06PM on 04/13/09
More plastic to go into landfills.
kitchenbea at 7:26PM on 04/13/09