The Iconic Cup Anthony Bourdain Preferred To Drink Coffee From (Hint: It's Not A Mug Or Glass)

Anthony Bourdain was famously opinionated, and the late celebrity chef didn't suffer food or drink pretension gladly. It's no surprise he thought the craft beer fad was overrated and couldn't stand pumpkin spice lattes. Indeed, Bourdain was utterly indifferent to coffee culture itself.

The culinary icon told Bon Appétit magazine in 2016 that he liked his morning brew "light and sweet" and wasn't picky about where it came from. "Any bodega will do," he declared. "It's a beverage; it's not a lifestyle." Bourdain repeated his coffee preferences soon after to ABC News: "I like my coffee in a cardboard cup with a picture of the Acropolis on the side from the guy who sells donuts on the street." He even said the cup's cardboard flavor was "an important component of [the] New York coffee-drinking experience."

As a longtime New Yorker, Bourdain's affinity for the blue-and-white, Greek-look paper cups was understandable. He was also right that his favorite cup was affecting the coffee's taste, although not everyone might agree that's a good thing. The paper can dull the beverage's flavor by absorbing some of the essential oils that impart taste and aroma. Additionally, the cups are lined with polyethylene to prevent leaking, which can release its flavor into the coffee and also absorb aroma.

The history of the iconic Greek-design paper cups began in 1963, when the Sherri Cup Company was trying to get New York City diners, food carts, and delis to use their cups. Many of them were owned by Greek Americans at the time, and sales manager Leslie Buck came up with the idea of an appeal based on their background. The Eastern European Holocaust survivor, who later became Sherri's marketing director, created the design himself after doing research, despite having no design background.

Buck's cups were blue and white, the colors of the Greek flag, with the message "We are happy to serve you" on two sides written in Greek-style lettering over three steaming coffee cups in golden-yellow. A drawing of a Greek urn called an amphora appeared between them on the other two sides, and a Greek key pattern circled the cup's top and bottom. The design was called Anthora, because of how "amphora" sounded in Buck's accent.

The cup was immediately popular, and Buck's Anthora design became the predominant New York City to-go cup. However, the arrival of coffee chains like Starbucks that had their own cups in the 1990s brought about its decline. Solo Cup bought Sherri in 2005 and stopped making the cup a year later.

Even though Solo ended production of the Anthora cup, it licensed the design for New York City souvenirs, and the Museum of Modern Art began selling a ceramic version. The cup developed an appeal as a symbol of New York, appearing as a prop in movies and TV shows set in the city. Paper coffee cups imitating the Greek design began to appear at New York delis and food carts, featuring things like Greek columns and discus throwers instead of amphoras, along with different service-related messages in Greek-style lettering.

Dart Container bought Solo Cup in 2012, giving it ownership of the Anthora. Responding to affection for the design, Dart started making the cup again in 2015. However, Leslie Buck's iconic cup remains more of a nostalgia product, since the design costs more to license than its imitators. Additionally, the same coffee chain landscape that brought about its demise still exists. In all likelihood, the era of the Anthora's dominance isn't coming back, but it gave New York City a classic, beloved emblem.