Custom Printed Coffee Sleeves
Printed sleeves sized to the cups you already stock.
Specification & quoteProduct range
Printed Cup Sleeves for Hot and Cold Drinks
A cup sleeve is the cheapest branded surface in a café. It costs a fraction of a printed cup, it fits cups you already have in the store cupboard, and it can change with a season without writing off a pallet of stock.
The sleeves here cover hot drinks, iced drinks and tea, in both corrugated and flat board. Sizing works from the cup you already buy.
5 products in this range
Short enquiry
Quote for Beverage Sleeves
Tell us what you serve and roughly how many you need. We reply with a specification, a minimum quantity and a lead time.
Beverage Sleeves We Print
Custom Cardboard Beverage Sleeves
Flat board sleeves with a smooth surface for detailed printing.
Specification & quote
Custom Cold Drink Sleeves
Sleeves that handle condensation on cold and iced cups.
Specification & quote
Custom Iced Coffee Sleeves
Sleeves for larger iced coffee cups held for a long time.
Specification & quote
Eco-Friendly Beverage Sleeves
Unlaminated sleeves specified for recyclability, without overclaiming.
Specification & quoteCorrugated Against Flat Board
The two constructions feel different in the hand and cost differently.
| Corrugated (fluted) | Flat board | |
|---|---|---|
| Insulation | Air channels in the flute do the insulating; handles very hot drinks | Modest — adds grip more than protection |
| Print surface | Slight texture; large solid colours and simple logos read well | Smooth; holds fine detail and small type cleanly |
| Cold drinks | Absorbs condensation well | Can soften if a cup sweats heavily |
| Storage | Bulkier per thousand | Very compact |
| Typical use | Hot coffee, especially double-shot sizes | Iced drinks, tea, and cups already double-walled |
Sizing to Cups You Already Own
A sleeve is sized by the circumference of the cup at the point where a hand naturally grips it, not by the cup's stated volume. Two 12oz cups from different suppliers can differ by several millimetres, which is enough for a sleeve to spin.
Send us the cup, or the brand and size code printed on the base, and the sleeve is cut to that. If you run 8oz and 12oz, most cafés order one sleeve that grips both and one for the 16oz.
Our note on measuring a cup for a sleeve that grips properly covers the tape-measure method in a paragraph.
Ways Cafés Use the Printed Area
- A wordmark and a single social handle, repeated so it reads from any angle.
- Seasonal artwork on the same die, changed three or four times a year.
- A loyalty message or QR code positioned where a right-handed grip does not cover it.
- Kraft board left unprinted except for a one-colour logo, which suits independents wanting a plain look.
Whatever the design, keep the critical elements away from the glued seam — it sits at a different place on every cup.
Beverage Sleeves: Common Questions
Will a sleeve fit a double-walled cup?
Usually yes, but a double-walled cup is already thicker, so a sleeve cut for a single-wall cup of the same stated size will be tight. Tell us which you use and we size accordingly.
Do sleeves work on iced drinks?
They do, and they solve a real problem — a cold cup sweats and gets slippery. Flat board handles this well. Where condensation is heavy, a laminated outer face stops the print softening.
Can we print different designs across one order?
Splitting an order across several designs is possible on digital print, and the economics depend on the split. Send the number of designs and the quantity of each with your enquiry and we will price it properly rather than guessing.
What do you need to quote a cup sleeve?
A cup, or the brand and size code from its base, plus how many cup sizes you carry and your quantity.
Can you supply sleeves for cups we buy elsewhere?
That is the normal case. The sleeve is cut to your cup's circumference rather than to a nominal volume.
Do you supply plain sleeves?
Yes, though the main reason cafés buy sleeves is branding, so plain is less common here than elsewhere in the range.
How are they delivered?
Flat in cases on national carriers. Corrugated sleeves take noticeably more space per thousand than flat board ones.
Can we run seasonal designs?
Easily, because there is no new die. Only the print changes, so a seasonal run is shorter than a first order.
How many sleeve sizes will we need?
Usually two across three cup sizes. One sleeve rarely covers more than two adjacent sizes properly.
Are sleeves cheaper than printed cups?
For a single site, considerably cheaper, because a sleeve avoids cup dies and the higher minimum quantities that printed cups carry. You brand a plain cup you already buy.