Oojami

Buying guide

Iced coffee cups with lids: how to choose

Updated

Short answer

For iced coffee, the best disposable cup is a 16 to 20 oz clear PET cup with a strawless sip lid. PET stays clear and rigid under ice, and a sip lid means you need no straw. Oojami's clear cups with sip lids are this kind: 100 cups and 100 lids per pack, in 12, 16, 20 or 24 oz. One iced coffee a day uses about 30 cups a month.

A good iced coffee cup does three things. It stays rigid when it is full of ice. It lets you see the drink. It has a lid you can drink from while you walk. A clear PET cup with a snap-on sip lid does all three.

What to look for

Point Choose Why
Material PET (plastic code #1) Clear and rigid. It bends a little under pressure but does not crack easily.
Not ideal PS (code #6) Clear, but brittle. It can crack when you squeeze it.
Not ideal PP (code #5) Flexible, but cloudy, so the drink is hard to see.
Lid Strawless sip lid You drink from an opening in the lid. No straw to buy.
Other lids Flat lid with a straw slot, or a dome lid Need a straw. A dome lid leaves room for whipped cream or cold foam.
Size 16 to 20 oz Leaves room for ice, coffee and milk. See cup sizes.
Pack Cups and lids in the same box Lids fit by rim, not by ounces. A matched set removes the guesswork.

Clear PET is for cold drinks only. It softens with heat, so do not use it for hot coffee.

Our cups

Oojami's cups are clear PET, BPA-free and recyclable. Each pack has 100 cups and 100 snap-on strawless sip lids. A flap on the lid opens for sipping and closes again to cut splashes. The lid resists spills, but it can drip if you tip the cup, so keep a full cup upright. The last sip can collect in the lid: tilt the cup a little more, or take the lid off.

For most people the 16 or 20 oz size is the one to buy. Choose 12 oz for a small drink with little ice. Choose 24 oz for a large drink, or when you want a straw: its wide opening takes one.

Other cups people buy

  • Solo UltraClear and GUSTO are clear cold cups that answers often name. They are a good buy when you want a foodservice brand, or a lid style we do not make, such as a dome lid.
  • Great Value (Walmart's brand) and Hefty Chill-To-Go are on store shelves. They are a good buy when you need cups today and cannot wait for a delivery.

Check what is in the box. Some packs come with lids and some do not, and a lid from one brand may not fit a cup from another.

How many cups you use

This is simple math: one cup per drink.

Iced coffees Cups a month One 100-pack lasts
3 a week About 13 About 7 months
5 a week About 22 About 4 months
1 a day About 30 About 3 months
2 a day About 60 About 7 weeks

If you make iced coffee for guests at home, count guests times drinks. For example, 4 guests who have 2 drinks each, every weekend, use about 32 cups a month. One 100-pack lasts about 3 months.

Do plastic iced coffee cups sweat?

Yes. Any single-wall cup, plastic or glass, gets wet on the outside when it holds ice. The cold wall cools the air next to it, and water from the air collects on the cup. The wetter the air, the more water you see.

To keep hands and tables dry:

  • Use a coaster or a napkin under the cup.
  • Put a cup sleeve on it.
  • Use less ice and colder coffee, so the cup is not as cold.
  • Use a double-wall tumbler. The outer wall stays warm, so it sweats much less.

Disposable cups or a reusable tumbler

A reusable insulated tumbler is the better buy for many daily drinkers. It keeps ice frozen for hours, it does not sweat, and you buy it once. If you drink iced coffee every day at home and you do not mind washing a cup, a tumbler makes sense.

Disposable cups are the better buy when:

  • You make drinks for guests and do not want to wash 10 cups after.
  • You need several drinks ready at once, such as a batch for the week in the fridge.
  • You want to hand someone a drink to take with them.
  • You often forget the tumbler.

Many people keep both: a tumbler for their own daily drink, and a pack of cups for guests and busy days.