The Bountiful Bean: 11/01/2009

Over the last several years I have become passionate about hand roasting coffee. Each batch is individual, and made for a specific person to enjoy. We all love to boo and hiss about mass production, wasteful spending, and corporate mumbo jumbo, so I relish in the opportunity to showcase a true entrepreneur, and coffee lover extraordinaire, Owen Dearing of Mug Revolution.

Owen makes mugs.
Great mugs.
Extraordinary mugs.
Revolutionary Mugs.

These mugs are not your average mugs. These mugs ate your regular mug for breakfast.

I recently received two wonderful coffee mugs made by the talented potter Owen Dearing of Mug Revolution in Bend Oregon. I am currently drinking a nice cup of El Salvadoran coffee from the Rain Forest Alliance. I roasted my first batch of it last weekend, and it is a winner. This blue green classic mug not only is a work art but feels great in the hands. It is heavy, but not too heavy, perfectly shaped, and the glaze is awe inspiring. I chose the 12 ounce Classic Mug, to use as my everyday drinking mug. I’m really impressed with the workmanship. Owen wheel throws all of his mugs, and the handles are hand-pulled. He offers several choices of mugs on his website. His site is a joy to browse, and his products are really top notch.

When I enjoy my coffee, I like to savor the whole experience. I want to wrap my hands around the warm mug, feel the heft, and be able to bury my nose in the aroma. This mug is the way to do it. If I don’t show up for work Monday morning, don’t worry, I am in heaven.

I also received the Soup Mug, which I thought my wife would enjoy. Not only is this handy for the mid afternoon, lets heat leftovers moments, but has also turned out to be great for Latte’s. Its rich, deep, dark blues make it a pleasure to look at, and its wider mouth makes it easy to eat out of.
The quality of these mugs is just what I cannot get over. They are durable, and perfect in almost every way. But they are still unique enough that you know they are handmade.

Mug revolution also offers personalized mugs, promotional label mugs, and a very unique Paw Print mug. The Paw Print mug is really a neat idea. He sends you a kit to create a mold of your pets paw, send it off to Mug Revolution, and voila – you have a personal paw print mug, with your pooch’s name right there. Imagine the Christmas gifts you could get for the animal lovers in your life!

So check out Mug Revolution and stop back and let me know what you think!