Our Favorite Mugs of 2025
In the midst of the pandemic, when supervising editor Daniela Gorny and I both discovered The Great Pottery Throw Down on HBO Max, we fell in love with Emma Bridgewater’s pottery. Many of the patterns of their mugs, bowls, plates, jugs, and other assorted lovely things are limited-edition, so you have to get them when you can. The half-pint mug is great for morning coffee, but the company also has larger cocoa mugs. My daughter also has a small personalized mug, perfectly sized for kids, and it has become her favorite for hot chocolate. The pottery is easy to mix and match for a casual, English-cottage-style collection in your cupboards.
Vietri was founded in the 1980s by an American family inspired by a trip to Italy. The company is woman-owned, the pieces are still made by Italian artisans, and they’re absolutely delightful. Their designs vary seasonally but we’re partial to the mediterranean-inspired designs, like the Pesce Pazzo collection, which comes in four whimsical designs (or you can get the set with all four). Editors Gabriella Gershenson and Daniela Gorny both have a discontinued Maccarello Mug, which has cute painted mackerel fish swimming along the side. The Pesce Pazzo mug is a 10oz mug but you can find all sorts of different sizes in different patterns and designs.
Le Creuset may be known for its enamel-coated cast-iron Dutch ovens (and I love mine deeply). Yet the surprise star of my Le Creuset life is their stoneware Vancouver mug. Even after years of use, the ones I own still don’t have a scratch on them. (I also have a set of the company’s ramekins, made from the same stoneware, which someone gave me in 2007; they have been an indestructible presence ever since, retaining heat perfectly when melting butter or warming up pancake syrup.) These mugs come in more than a dozen colors, and at a hefty 14 ounces, they are large yet really nice to hold. I can see myself collecting the full rainbow over time or giving one as a bright, happy gift to friends, my daughter’s teachers, or even in a gift swap here at work.
“When I was a little kid, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house, and I never understood why my grandma would laugh when I requested to drink from these mugs,” said home/decor staff writer Dorie Chevlen. “Years later I took a closer look and finally got it.” She said her grandmother bought the mugs when she started a job as a sex educator. “No small feat for a mother of three kids in the 1960s!” Dorie said. She and her sister bought a set identical to their grandmother’s when they moved into an apartment together in New York. The mugs are still made by the same company. “Just like her, we delight in offering cups of coffee to guests in these slyly sexual vessels, awaiting their delighted—or horrified—responses.”
At first glance, these matte-finish mugs by Jazmin de la Guardia and Sierra Yip-Bannicq appear to have a simple abstract design. But keep looking, and suddenly it’s clear—tatas everywhere. The cups are handcrafted and hand painted at design studio and ceramics store Franca in Brooklyn, New York. The white porcelain mugs have a matte exterior finish and glossy interior. Franca also makes a similar penis mug if you want to mix-and-match the cheeky designs.
