Rosenthal Thomas Loft White Mug – Modern Coffee Cup Made of Porcelain – Unique Design with Concentric Lines – 10 oz

Rosenthal Loft (by Thomas) mugs come in two sizes: the smaller (9 ounces), which comes as part of the 16-piece service for 4, and the larger (13 ounces), available as open stock from several vendors. The trouble is, many sites don't tell prospective buyers which size they're looking at, pricing, and possibly buying. Nine-ounce mugs are useless for serving or drinking in our house; I'll keep them, but only for scrambling eggs or, for example, mixing small quantities of tartar sauce. The 13-ounce size mugs are, like the 9-ounce mugs, lovely to look at -- but as another reviewer has said, difficult to hold without putting some part of your hand into direct contact with the hot wall of the cup.I love my set, which I assembled from one 16-piece service for 4 and many other pieces we are more likely to use every day -- bread and butter plates, for example, and plenty of salad plates for serving sandwiches and such. The pattern is lovely, but under some light will give an impression of grayness (from the micro-miniature shadows, I suppose, cast by the tiny ridges of the design.If you find plain white dinnerware boring, but patterns annoying to live with as time passes, Rosenthal's Loft is a lovely, high-quality, affordable compromise. Played against strong colors (in the food or table linens), in a suitably lit room, it's just spectacular. Don't be surprised if you should discover your guests turning it over to see who made it; personally, I find the Rosenthal name and the words "Made in Germany" comforting.

best coffee mug for the $$$ . perfect weight and balance. well crafted.

This cup is very elegant but it is really hard to hold. If you're a righty, it tilts left unless you put a lot of pressure on your thumb against the told part of the handle. Also, in order to hold it, you have to slide your 3rd and 4th fingers through the holder but it ends up touching the cup, which may be hot from coffee or tea. My mother and mother in law both made the same comment - that the ergonomics of the cup is NOT GOOD. Oh well, at least it's kinda pretty though.