Find the right paper cup, then the right supplier

A single wall cup has one layer of paper board and nothing else. It's the cup you get with a cold drink, and it's fine for a hot drink too as long as the customer is happy to hold it by the rim or you're supplying a sleeve. On its own, a hot filling will make it uncomfortable to hold within a minute or so.

A double wall cup has two layers of board with a thin air gap between them. That gap works like double glazing: it slows the heat reaching your hand, so the outside of the cup stays comfortable even when the drink inside doesn't. It's the reason double wall cups cost more than single wall, since they use more board and an extra manufacturing step. If you serve hot drinks and don't want to stock separate sleeves, double wall is the practical default.

A ripple cup takes a different route to the same problem. It's a single wall cup with a second layer of corrugated paper (a ripple sleeve) bonded around the outside. The ridges trap air in the same way double wall does, but as a fixed wrap rather than a sealed gap, which is why ripple cups often look more textured and rustic than a plain double wall cup.

Which one should you order?

• Cold drinks only: single wall is enough on its own.
• Hot drinks, no sleeves, want the simplest option: double wall.
• Hot drinks, want a particular look or texture, happy to manage a slightly different supply chain: ripple.

None of these choices are fixed by the drink itself. A coffee van running on tight storage space might prefer double wall to avoid carrying sleeves at all; a café with a distinct look might choose ripple as part of that. Suppliers such as Go-Pak UK and Apprintable list stock across single wall, double wall and ripple ranges, which is worth a look if you want to compare the options from one place. The cup types and sizes guide goes through sizing, lids and sleeves in the same plain terms, and the glossary is there if a term comes up that isn't covered here.