Food Sleeves

Custom Tea Cup Sleeves

Tea is brewed close to boiling and served without the milk that cools a coffee down. A cup of tea is genuinely hotter to hold than a latte, and for longer.

That makes the sleeve a comfort item rather than a branding one, and it changes the construction worth choosing.

Get a quote WhatsApp us

Cut to your own product, not a stock size
Board, print and finish confirmed in writing
Delivered across the UK on national carriers

Short enquiry

Quote for This Product

Tell us the quantity and any date you are working to. We reply with the board, print and finish, plus the minimum order quantity and lead time.

Design Your Own

Design Your Custom Tea Cup Sleeves

Pick a colour, put your name on it, and see how the idea reads before you ask anyone for a price. It is a sketch rather than a manufacturing proof — the real shape is cut from the product you already serve.

Sleeve colour

Name on the pack

Finish

Show a repeating pattern

A narrow band uses less board than a full wrap and carries the same name. Wrap deeper only where the filling actually runs.

Carry this into the full designer

The full page adds the size, board, print and quantity, then sends the whole specification over in one go. Nothing is committed to at any point.

Tea Against Coffee as a Heat Problem

	Tea	Coffee with milk
Serving temperature	Close to boiling	Lowered by steamed or cold milk
Cooling rate	Slow — no cold ingredient added	Faster
Sleeve needed	More often, and thicker	Sometimes
Suited construction	Corrugated, for the air gap	Flat board is often adequate
Customer behaviour	Often held for a long walk	Frequently drunk sooner

Sites serving a lot of tea find the corrugated option pays for itself in fewer complaints.

The Brewing Bag Changes the Timing

Where a bag is left in, the cup keeps brewing and stays hot longer. The customer also has to remove the bag at some point, which usually means putting the cup down and picking it up again.

A sleeve that stays put through that is worth more than one that is a fraction cheaper.

Cafés ordering for tea and coffee together usually start from the wider range of hot and cold cup sleeves.

Ordering, Artwork and Delivery

Getting a Quote

Measure the made-up item as it leaves your pass, at its widest point. We reply with a written specification, the minimum order quantity and the lead time for your job.

Artwork

We send a flat die line so artwork is built on the right shape. Full file requirements are set out in our artwork guidelines.

Turnaround

Lead times depend on the print method, run length and press schedule, so we confirm yours on the quote rather than publishing a single figure.

Delivery in the UK

Orders are dispatched on national carriers to any UK address. Seedelivery information for how dates are given.

Custom Tea Cup Sleeves: Common Questions

Do tea cups need a thicker sleeve than coffee cups?

Often, yes. Tea goes in nearer boiling and has no cold milk to cool it, so a corrugated sleeve with an air gap makes a noticeable difference where a flat one would not.

Can one sleeve cover our tea and coffee cups?

If the cups are the same size, physically yes. Whether it is comfortable enough for tea is the real question, and that depends on which construction you choose rather than the fit.

Is tea really hotter than coffee to hold?

In practice, yes. It is brewed close to boiling and has no cold milk to cool it, so it stays hot for longer in the hand.

Should we choose corrugated for tea?

It usually makes a noticeable difference, because the air gap in the flute does real insulating work where a flat sleeve mainly adds grip.

Does a brewing bag change anything?

It keeps the cup hotter for longer, and the customer has to put the cup down to remove it. A sleeve that stays put through that is worth having.

How do we size a sleeve to our cups?

From the circumference at the grip point, roughly a third down from the rim. Send a cup rather than a stated volume.

Will a sleeve fit a double-walled cup?

Usually, though a double-walled cup is thicker at the same stated size, so a sleeve cut for single wall will be tight.

Can we print on corrugated board?

Yes, though the flute texture softens fine detail. Bold, simple designs read better on it than small type does.

Do these suit a café serving both hot and iced?

Cold cups sweat, which is a different problem. Many cafés run a corrugated sleeve for hot and a laminated flat one for iced.

Can we run one design across tea and coffee sleeves?

Yes, if the cup sizes match. Where they differ, the artwork carries over but each needs its own layout.

Prefer to Talk It Through?

Sizing questions are usually quicker on the phone, especially if you have the product in front of you.

+44 7458 651107 info@conesleeves.co.uk