A Tasty Coffee Experience Enhanced
A Seattle-born coffee topper makes to-go cuppas taste better
By Mandolin Brassaw September 3, 2014
This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
Who better than a Seattleite to come up with a high-tech coffee lid? Doug Fleming, a native son and avid follower of “third wave” coffee trends, thought it was a shame to ruin high-quality coffee by sipping it through a poorly designed lid. He founded a company called Vaporpath in 2007 and devoted years to developing a better sipping experience. At long last, the Viora Lid (vioralid.com) was born—and launched to acclaim in April at the Specialty Coffee Association of America conference. Manufactured in the U.S. and made of recyclable, odorless polystyrene, the Viora Lid does at least three things better than the traditional to-go-cup topper: It drinks like a ceramic mug (thanks to the deep lip and a “drink well” built into the lid); it heightens the flavor experience (in part by positioning a lid opening just below your nose); and it reduces messy splashes (via the drink well, which allows excess liquid to drain back into the cup), therefore lowering your dry cleaning bill. At press time, Viora Lids were just starting to land in independent coffee shops, ironically, none of which are in Seattle—yet. Keep an eye on the website for added locations, or take a road trip to Vancouver, B.C., and test drive Viora at Great Dane Coffee.
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