Ani and I are traveling extensively these few weeks through eastern Indonesia. We are sharing ecobricks in Moluku province. This morning, 5am, we are at the Ambon airport prepping to fly to Buru Island on a small plane. I just got my airport coffee — in my EarthCup v1.4.

The traveling is a great opportunity to field test this latest model that we just got from a master potter in Jogja. The craftsmanship is way up. And so too is the heat retention, the form factor and ergonomics. On the sides are two rubber grips (from old inner tubes) that really work well for holding the hot glass). It seems that after a few uses, this clay stops condensing and breathing out the sides (which quickly cools the coffee), which was a problem we had before. There are still details to work on, and heat retention isn’t quite as good as an impermeable plastic/paper frankencup (my term for the classic Starbucks or McD takeaway cup) but the design is definitely moving forward.

My friend Til will be using a Bali produced Earthcup for an upcoming festival where his cafe company will have a booth. So, we have even more field testing on the way.