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Jack Reacher's ideal coffee mug

11/27/2016

14 Comments

 
As you probably know by now, I work by myself in a studio, doing a job that doesn't always require my full brain. I have strategies for keeping myself entertained, my favorite is probably audiobooks. (Shout-out to my local public library, where I get them for free.)

A have listened to the entire series of Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. I am crazy for Reacher. I admire his minimalist and independent life, and his unflappable personality. His senses of duty and justice are worthy enough to forgive all of the neck bones he has crushed. 

(By the way, book Reacher does not bear any resemblance to movie Reacher. And I'm not just talking about physical appearance. Book Reacher has no ego, he doesn't care about praise or credit. Movie Reacher is very self-conscious. Do I look tough enough? Can they tell I'm short? I don't begrudge Lee Child for taking the biggest movie rights deal he could get. He earned it. As for Tom Cruise, buying something is not the same as earning it.)

One of Reacher's quirks is his addiction to coffee. He never turns down a chance to drink coffee. He'll drink any coffee, good or bad, at any time of day, from any cup. But he knows what type of cup he prefers, and notices when he's using one that he likes.

"A bad coffee mug has a thick lip—too wide, too shallow, too much mass—it will cool the drink too fast. A good coffee mug is cylindrical in shape, narrow in relation to its height and with a thin lip."

For years I have only made mugs in one size: enormous. They hold about 20 oz. This is how I drink coffee, one giant cup in the morning. Customers regularly ask me for normal sized mugs, but I have never felt compelled to make them until now. Now I want to make a mug that Reacher would like. 

But before I could do that, I had to reconcile my confusion about Reacher's description of an ideal mug. I understand why a wide or shallow mug would allow coffee to cool too fast. But I was surprised at the idea that a thick-walled mug would hasten the cool-down. I always assumed a thicker-walled ceramic vessel would be a better insulator, not worse. Then I started to think about it in terms of refractories, which are all of the dense objects that are inside a kiln when firing. Refractories mostly refer to kiln shelves and posts, but the pots themselves are refractories too. We potters know that the more refractories we have in a kiln, the more energy it takes to fire, because refractories absorb a lot of energy before they can act as insulators and radiators of energy. 

Does a thick-walled mug absorb heat like a refractory? I decided to find out for sure, in a situation that simulates coffee drinking, not kiln firing. I made two nearly identical vessels. One with a thin 1/8 inch wall, and one with a thicker 1/4 inch wall. I filled them with equal amounts of boiling water, then started taking the water's temperature. I measured the temperature at one minute intervals, for ten minutes.
Picture

I ran this test four times. I made sure to return the cups to room temperature in between, by running them under cool water. The results had some small variations but were overall consistent. In the first two minutes of the test, the thick cup lost 3 or 4 more degrees than the thin cup. After two minutes (I'm guessing this is when both cups were sufficiently heated through) both cups lost heat at the same rate per minute. The difference is small, but technically Reacher is right.

"No doubt about that," Reacher would say. To himself inside his head.
Picture

Cylindrical in shape, narrow in relation to its height and with a thin lip. Glazed in a no-fuss colorblock of gray and off-white. Holds 10 to 12 oz. Positioned next to my "Enormous Coffee Mug" the official name on the hang tag will be "Normal-Sized Mug," with the subtitle "aka Jack Reacher's ideal coffee mug." These will be available for sale for the first time at my Open Studio, coming up on December 10-11. 

And no, I am not admitting that I drink too much coffee. I am only admitting that some people prefer to drink coffee in smaller quantities throughout the day. 
14 Comments
Carol
11/27/2016 10:19:40 am

Enjoyable read. Like your evidence based approach. Look forward to your open house.

Reply
Brenda Neall link
11/28/2016 12:26:25 pm

Hi Mia .... Love the mug and overall, the simple grace of your forms and glazes ❤️
I totally get and appreciate the Reacher connection 😉 .... I'm a big fan as well and agree with the casting mismatch. If you enjoy Lee Child, I bet you'll also like Robert Crais and his Joe Pike/Elvis Cole series.

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Melody link
11/30/2016 09:53:51 am

Haha, what a fun origin/inspiration story for your new coffee mugs! I feel inspired to (a) drink some coffee and (b) read the Jack Reacher books myself :) Thank you!

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Pres link
12/6/2016 04:43:07 am

Mea, happy to see another fan of the Reacher books, and a great potter also. Interesting article, but then maybe Jack picks his mugs for their head banging qualities! ;-)

best,
Pres

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Jonathan
12/16/2016 11:53:13 am

I bet you always got an A on your science fair projects.

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Marinda
12/26/2016 12:34:07 pm

I, too, am a Jack Reacher fan... and now a fan of your normal sized coffee mugs! Well done - this is good information to have -
blessings on your studio!

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Bruce Chitiea
2/3/2017 02:16:09 pm

Another Reacher reader. Tom Cruise analysis correct. Which actor would fit the Reacher mold? I'd wondered if anyone had jumped on his explication of coffee cup dynamics. Awesome. You did the work! Count me as a new fan.

Reply
Giselle
4/3/2017 10:00:23 pm

I believe I can explain why the thicker cup cools the water more quickly at first.

It's simply because although both pots were room temperature, the thicker pot absorbed more heat from the boiling water in the first couple of minutes.

When I worked in a restaurant we were supposed to preheat the cups with boiling water before filling them with coffee to keep the cup from cooling off the coffee too quickly.

I would be curious to find out if the thicker coffee cup kept the coffee warm longer because it had absorbed heat.

Reply
Kathlyn
11/29/2017 06:34:14 am

In all the fifteen year since I first began pottery, I have never made a coffee mug. I never wanted to make one until I know I would really use. Now I have some very good advice about making a proper mug.
Thanks trying it today.

Reply
Torii cooper link
4/11/2018 08:39:47 pm

I LOVE this!! Not only do I love Reacher, but I love that you were inspired by him to investigate this. The perfect cup for Reacher is genius and inspiring! Thank you for sharing this. It's very rare for me to comment, but I found your inspiration very inspiring.

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Chris oshea
4/14/2018 09:57:12 am

As a former soldier who is living the reacher lifestyle (cheap motels, coffee, new clothes every other day, day labor jobs) I have to say, id love to test test mug out.

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Nadine Hermon
4/16/2018 06:21:55 am

This is awesome! I too love Jack Reacher and listen to the books. In addition I am looking to open a coffee shop and whilst visiting other coffee shops (for research purposes) I can't understand why the so-called experts who run UK high-end, independent coffee shops all serve the drinks in thick-walled cups. I couldn't comprehends that Jack Reacher could be wrong, so on Googling it was so happy to find your post! Love love love!

Reply
Rae Reich
6/8/2018 11:32:03 am

Thanks for the Reacher research. Totally makes sense. I'm curious, too, about how long both test mugs kept the water at what temp. For decades I was never seen without a huge mug, (and I really never minded drinking cooled coffee) but lately I find it's nice to have just-right-hot coffee a little more often. Mea, you never fail to inspire!

Reply
Jack Frost
11/14/2018 03:29:08 pm

When I read the description of Reacher's ideal mug a few weeks ago I thought of how a cast iron bathtub absorbs heat from the wash water faster than does an acrylic tub and leaves the water cooler faster. Reacher's description made perfect sense to me. Thanks for the empirical test.

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    Mea Rhee (mee-uh ree),
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