I took the opportunity of the nice weather this evening to have a nice cup of tea with the Fitzwilliam Massive (gaz-ma-taz and johnny-two-beers). I was having trouble drinking my camomile tea, at first I thought I was developing a neuroligcal disease. In fact my inability to hold the cup straight for any length of time was due to the fact that the cups were obviously designed by someone who knew that they would never have to use them themselves!
If you look at the picture the aperature for the 'finger' is actually only about 1cm in diameter, much too small for me (or most people) to get their finger through. This means you are forced to do a "vulcan pinch" on the cup or risk scalding yourself by trying to lever another finger against the sidewall of the cup. Yes, they look very pretty, but in this case functionality is more important.
Douglas,
I was having breakfast in a roadside diner in the midwest States a month or so ago whilst on a business trip. The coffee, which was great, was served in mugs obviously designed for the ham-fisted farmers in the area. The cups weighed about a half pound each, while the handle required three of my fingers to get a good enough grip so I didn't spill it all over the counter and me. I felt like a little kid drinking out of my father's mug. The French, I'm told, serve coffee in what would be considered heavy glass drinking glasses... maybe not a bad idea... easy to hold and you can't really pick it up until it's cool enough to actually drink withoug scalding your pipes... maybe le frogges are not as silly as I thought...
peace.
gregor