You probably don’t spend too much time thinking about the design of your disposable coffee cup lid, but Viora would like that to change. Viora’s one-time-use lids, available wholesale to better coffee shops such as Astoria Cafe and Brooklyn Roasters in NYC and Go Get Em Tiger in Los Angeles, claims to offer a better drinking experience akin to sipping out of your favorite mug at home.

We’ve become so accustomed to drinking differently from lidded cups that we don’t even realize how different we position our mouths in the process. The small opening of conventional lids means you need to be extra careful not to burn your mouth at first taste, and you can’t blow on the beverage without taking the lid completely off (a process that I usually regret once I’ve spilt hot tea on myself). With Viora the experience is a bit different — you drink your coffee or tea from a drink well in the lid that is designed specifically to prevent spills. The well also gives you a better chance to experience the smell of the beverage, adding another sensation denied by the current lids.

Unlike conventional lids, which shoot out jets of liquid when jostled (unless you somehow remember to put that little fob in the hole, which never stays by the way), the Viora lid design directs any spills back into the cup. What will be most interesting to retailers however, is that the cost differential between the Viora Lid and the typical lid used at Dunkin Donuts, for example, is merely pennies. I think there just might be lid revolution brewing on the horizon.

Images courtesy Viora.