It’s lovely, that’s what it is!

Espresso is the beverage. Demitasse is the cup. A demitasse is about half the size of a regular teacup. Most of the espresso I’ve had has been served in porcelain demitasse cups, though often seen in a small, handless mug made of clear glass.

It has a saucer, too

Espresso is served in demitasse cups, as Rhizo indicated. I do not drink coffee (or espresso), and so I'm not sure what I would use it for.

InterestIng. i had no idea. Lars, put it in a display case like my mom, along with a hundred other items.

Demitasse 🥰

Pretty! We each inherited a silver demitasse spoon from Grandma. I have no cups. :0)

I learn something new nearly every day, including today.

The only coffee I drink anymore is one cup (demitasse I guess) of espresso. That would be a lovely vessel to drink it from!

The word demitasse translated to English means "a half cup".

I think a traditional espresso cup is smaller, only a few ounces. As it is Wedgewood, from a country without an espresso coffee tradition, I suspect it may be just a small coffee cup and not one intended expressly for espresso.

Wedgwood

It's a demitasse, yes, and, as I understand it, it was invented (if that's the right word) in France for drinking coffee. So, it is in fact really an espresso cup, though one probably wouldn't see it in Italy, where espresso cups are about the same size but pretty much always white china. I'd certainly use it for espresso if I had one as lovely as that.

Espresso coffee drinking gained popularity in the UK in the 1950s. It is quite possible that Wedgwood would have made a cup that folks used for espresso. It is perfect for that.

This reminded of my late mom's antique demitasse set in a painted glass front case that hangs on the wall. It has silver holders for the cups, and tiny silver spoons as well. My parents used to use it for fancy company dinners.

" Espresso coffee drinking gained popularity in the UK in the 1950s. "

Haha, hardly. The only thing that gained popularity sustenance-wise in Britain in this period was access to eat what they considered to be "normal" food again after a long gap of shortages of basic items. They weren't drinking espresso. Wartime rationing continued until the mid-1950s, later than anywhere else. It tightly retained its peculiar and nowhere copied food practices until the UK's entry into what was then the EEC in the mid-70s. Clinging to its uncopied food practices until exposure to better and more delicious Continental styles became more widespread.

I'll bet to this day, more espresso is served at Starbucks stores in the UK than in all other venues combined. In Western Europe and some other places, with a longer reputation for good food and espresso coffee, every cafe (which are all over) and small restaurant has proper espresso machines.

I disagree, elm. From wiki,

“In the United Kingdom, espresso grew in popularity among youth in the 1950s, who felt more welcome in the coffee shops than in pubs. Espresso was initially popular, particularly within the Italian diaspora, growing in popularity with tourism to Italy exposing others to espresso, as developed by Eiscafès established by Italians in Germany. Initially, expatriate Italian espresso bars were seen as downmarket venues, serving the working-class Italian diaspora and thus providing appeal to the alternative subculture; this can still be seen in the United States in Italian American neighborhoods, such as Boston's North End, New York's Little Italy, and San Francisco's North Beach. As specialty coffee developed in the 1980s (following earlier developments in the 1970s and even 1960s), an indigenous artisanal coffee culture developed, with espresso instead positioned as an upmarket drink.”

My grandmother, who lived in England, loved to do what was considered ” all the rage”. She had to buy a place in Spain to holiday because of that. She made sure my sister and I had all the latest Mary Quant stuff….well, because. This was all in the ’60s. She also had many cups that she used for espresso, probably because it was the trendy thing to do.

Why wouldn’t Wedgwood latch onto that and start marketing them to trendsetting/wealthy Brits? I’m not sure but I think that pattern could be from the mid ’50s.

I also remember a scene in ”Quadrophenia” (I think) where they talk about drinking espresso in the cafe that they frequented.

I have two sets of British grandparents. One pair came from the 1950s Britain that you mentioned. The other pair did not. My parents grew up in two very different worlds, both in Britain.

I also have two sets of British grandparents....😉 And I'm still here.

While espresso did become popular in the coffee bars of the 1950s it was not being drunk in homes since nobody had the machine to make it. Consequently it wasn't being drunk out of Wedgwood cups. That cup would simply be sold as 'a coffee cup' which would be understood as being smaller than a tea cup and was used to serve filter or jug coffee. There would be a matching coffee pot in the set. Everyone's parents had a set brought out for parties, although for daily drinking most people drank instant. You could call the cup a demi tasse if you wanted to be posh. But it wouldn't be called an espresso cup.

Fwiw if you buy espresso cups in Italy they are tiny and contain only a single mouthful. Much smaller than the cup in the OP. DD received a set as a wedding present from the Italian family.

Incidentally, the espresso (known as expresso) served in coffee bars was actually more like cappuccino ie with frothed milk and was not served in Italian style tiny cups

.

There was no widespread "Italian diaspora" in Britain in the 50s and 60s. The similar phenomenon in the US dates back to the 19th century and continued thereafter, it's a very different story. Nothing more than dribs and drabs happened in the UK until after EEC membership.

As before, people in Britain were happy to find employment and just to eat after a slow recovery from the war years. And to drink themselves into drunken stupors in pubs. A tea and beer culture, a greasy food culture - yes.

Don't try to make it up as you go, facts are facts.

Floral, yes, I thought so, espresso did become popular in the 1950s in Britain. It would not surprise me if my grandmother had had an espresso machine. She loved to be ”bohemian chic”. I can see Wedgwood marketing their stuff to those people.

I think there are different Britains. Just as there are different USAs and different Canadas.

What people experienced in their lives in those countries, or any country, vary from region to region. Yes, it is a fact. My mother talked about rationing, my father talked about holidaying in Paris and skiing in Switzerland.

Like I said, my parents came from two very different Britains. 🙂 They didn’t even speak the same English.😉

Thanks floral. Facts are facts. I'll add that I think "coffee bars" serving espresso were few in number in the UK during the period being discussed. A small coffee cup, not an espresso cup, in a country that didn't much know espresso in the 50s and 60s.

Totally disagree.

Bye!

Cheerio! Ta-ta for now!

https://www.vads.ac.uk/customizations/collection/DCADB/pages/html/coffeebars.html

Use your demitasse cups for serving small portions of other things! Think appetizer portions of gazpacho or vichyssoise. Use them for a small serving of posset following a nice dinner. They are pretty and fun to use. Have fun with them. Do you have demitasse spoons as well?

What a pretty pattern. There seems to be a dainty coffee pot that goes with that pattern. It's only seven inches tall and holds three cups. Whole bunch of other stuff in the pattern too.

I only have the one cup and saucer, so a party of one.

When did this pattern come out? Very attractive.

There are some curious ideas about the UK flying about on this thread, from all sides.

Honestly, roxsol, it is highly doubtful your grandmother had an espresso machine, unless she owned a café or had somehow got her hands on a stove top moka pot. True espresso machines were only seen in cafés. The small domestic ones are a relatively recent invention. We got one in the 1980s when they first came out. My grandparents didn't drink coffee at all. My maternal grandparents did keep a bottle of the 'Camp' coffee referred to in the article. It was a liquid mixture of coffee and chicory and Granny used it in baking. It was never drunk to my knowledge. My parents drank instant unless they had guests.

However, there were definitely hundreds of coffee bars in the 50s and 60s. And many thousands of Italians. If you're interested... https://www.ourmigrationstory.org.uk/oms/building-italian-communities-catering-war-service-industrial-recruitment

p.s. I use coffee cups for serving chocolate mousse.

And the sweeping generalisation of Britons ”drinking themselves into a stupor in pubs” and their food as ”greasy” is offensive as well as ignorant.

I know, floral, it is highly doubtful that my gran had an espresso machine but then you don’t know my gran. I think she could have been the British Martha Stewart. She probably had a moka pot, though. And she probably drank her ”espresso” out of a demitasse at home with her circle of friends.

My parents didn’t drink much coffee but they did have a coffee percolator and I do remember my paternal grandfather and grandmother visiting us in Alberta in the ’60s. My grandfather ordered a coffee in a restaurant and was pretty annoyed that they didn’t have brown sugar for sweetener. So he was a coffee drinker.

I truly can see Wedgwood advertising to a certain group when the coffee bars starting popping up in Britain. They weren’t advertising to the every day working people.

I wonder if Ded’s mother bought the cup for herself or if it was a gift. And what year is it from?

My grandmother was an excellent cook, nothing greasy about her food and my grandfather wouldn’t have lasted as a surgeon if he was in a drunken stupor.

It is a very pretty cup and very well could have been used for espresso. Whether it is a ”proper” espresso cup is another matter.

eta And my maternal grandfather wouldn’t have lasted as a gardener if he was in a drunken stupor, nor would my father have become an extremely successful business man.

I'm thinking my mom & dad served regular after dinner coffee in their demitasse cups.

And I do know coffee houses got very popular with young people here in the US in the 60s - in the 50s too. They were a pop culture trope for sure.

"Fwiw if you buy espresso cups in Italy they are tiny and contain only a single mouthful.

Much smaller than the cup in the OP."

That's not my experience. I have quite a few espresso cups purchased in Italy (some of them from the bars where I had the espresso). They all hold 70 -80 ml which is about the same as a demitasse. Baristas there never fill the cup up -it would wreck the crema. So, if you use a demitasse for espresso, it should only be filled about half or two thirds.

Just for fun, here's a photo of a couple of my espresso cups and a demitasse inherited from my great aunt.

Wiki agrees with those of us who thought demitasse referred to what was in the cup as well. Who knows where had originally read the word used to describe the coffee as it has not been in use for many years.

Not sure why I can't link Wiki. Very strange... Ghostbusters who you gonna call

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demitasse#:~:text=A%20demitasse%20(%2F%CB%88d%C9%9B,by%20the%20early%2020th%20century.

In my small English town the first Gaggia coffee machine appeared at what had been a 'milk bar' in about 1956 and we loved to go and listen to the noise from the hissing of the steam and the smell of really strong coffee. My family always had percolated coffee at breakfast nor was coffee rationed during WWII.

I have never heard that the UK's entry into the EU widened/altered our diets, which previously were considered wholesome if not adventurous. The basics had always been available during rationing, although not in large quantities. We never saw a fat/obese child during the 50's/60's. Now thanks the unwise imitation/introduction of US Fast Food our obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate.

I think most of the name thing comes from the Americanization of it. Like a lot of other language does in the states. At one time, French terms for dining was most popular. So demitasse was the popular word for the smaller hot beverage cup. As coffee shops in the U.S. used Italian terms for their beverages and sizes- and also the habit of shortening up names as possible... led to a demitasse of expresso getting shifted into just expresso. Meaning the beverage and the cup for a lot of people. Demitasse has grown out of fashion like a lot of the fine china and serving excess. Not a lot of people brew a pot of coffee and transfer it to a fine serving pot for the table anymore either. Chocolate service is pretty much unheard of now too.

Back to that cup a bit. The pattern came out in two colors, the aqua and a bone background. I rather like the aqua. If ded can share a photo of the bottom of the cup and saucer, we can probably ID the year it was made.

" At one time, French terms for dining was most popular. "

Not exactly the right description. A good chunk of Western gastronomy- what to eat, how to prepare it, how to eat it, how to serve it - originated in France. It wasn't that French words were "popular", it was more that so many origins and reductions to practice of various gastronomical elements were created in France. What other language would they have used for the results that were adopted in English?

The list is nearly endless and immediately recognizable. Sauté, boil, dessert, délicieuse, menu, restaurant, plat du jour, baguette, saumon, biscuit, carrot, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, on and on. A cute one that non-French speakers often don't know is the literal meaning of "hors d'oeuvres". The words at first glance without recognizing the familiar sense mean "out of work", so a playful reference to the serving of small pieces of food as perhaps coming from someone with no income and limited means.

And of course, other foods and techniques from other cultures usually carry over their foreign language origins too. Wok, sushi, sashimi, as simple examples for items from the other side of the world.

Pictures of the bottom of the cup and the saucer

Excuse my awful thumbnail

I’ve always understood hors d'oeuvres to mean that it was something outside of the main work or the main meal. The ”work” refers to the meal and had nothing to do with someone being employed or not having an income.

eta oeuvre is similar to opus

The literal sense I shared was what was taught by my Year One French teacher, an émigréewho could not possibly have been more Parisienne or Gallic in any way. Out of can also be "hors", as in hors service, a sign on a stall of a clogged toilet. In all languages there are many words that serve similar meanings, and which is used with another in a particular instance is a matter of practice or convention. All such idiomatic uses aren't always literally translatable.

Note that "main-d'oeuvre", literally "hand work", means labor.