The Best Mug Ever
Stoneware

I take mugs very seriously, because without a hefty mug to carry your tea, is life really worth living? For a few years we’ve made TRiCKETT mugs and they were good. More than good, actually. But I wanted perfect, and now, after three years of research, development and an almost concerning amount of thought about drinking vessels, I think we’ve got just that.

We start, my fellow mug enthusiast, with my favourite shape of mug, the classic American diner mug. This wonderfully chunky design has its roots in the early 20th century and is closely associated with the mugs used by the US military. The originals were considerably smaller than ours, but that unmistakable shape remains.

These mugs were designed to be sturdy. They needed to withstand constant washing, transporting, stacking and the occasional bashing about. The thick stoneware walls also helped keep drinks warmer for longer. No delicate little handles, no wafer-thin porcelain, just a proper, substantial mug designed to do its job exceptionally well.

Our mugs are produced by Ohio Stoneware in Zanesville, Ohio, a city with a long and distinguished history of American pottery production. Ohio Stoneware is one of the few remaining genuine American stoneware manufacturers still making this wonderful shape, and they know a thing or two about producing proper, hard-wearing ceramics.

Everything is American, from the stoneware itself to the transfers, which involve ringing up Pat to discuss your requirements and, if you’re lucky, having a conversation about college football. This actually happened, and I enjoyed it enormously.

Now, when I say these mugs are heavy, I mean HEAVY. They’re at least 50% heavier than a comparable mug from one of Britain’s leading manufacturers. I know because I weighed them myself. See? Dead scientific, us.

Each mug holds 12.5oz, or approximately 370ml, which I consider the optimum volume for a brew. Big enough to give you that lovely little bit extra, but not so enormous that you’re drinking from something resembling a promotional sports shop mug that goes brown at the bottom after three uses. Yuck.

The shape is particularly lovely to hold, with a substantial handle, a reassuringly thick rim and a wonderfully balanced feel. It’s the sort of mug you instinctively reach for every morning, even when there are another 15 perfectly serviceable mugs in the cupboard. Each one is hand-decorated around the rim, with matching TRiCKETT transfers on both the front and back. I absolutely hate it when mugs only have a logo on one side. What about the other side? What has it done wrong? Because a mug this good should be used rather than admired from a safe distance, they’re both dishwasher and microwave safe, including the decorations. No special treatment required, just years and years of proper brews.

These are traditionally made and hand-finished, there will be very slight variations in shape and decoration from one mug to another. That’s part of the charm. These aren’t anonymous, mass-produced mugs made to be as cheap as humanly possible. They’re proper pieces of American stoneware, made by people who know exactly what they’re doing.

I am not going to sit here and tell you that this is the cheapest mug you’ll ever buy, because it isn’t. What I will tell you is that it represents three years of research, considerable investment and working with some of the finest makers in America to create something I genuinely believe is one of the best things we’ve ever put the TRiCKETT name on.

It’s heavy, hard-wearing, wonderfully practical and, most importantly, makes having a brew feel like a proper occasion.

A mug to use every single day, for years and years to come. And hopefully long enough that somebody eventually inherits it and wonders why on earth their relative was so enthusiastic about a mug from Accrington.