As you would have probably already read, we recently attended the NZ launch of the new Opel Mokka and Corsa. With its Euro cool, low or no emissions range of vehicles, the funky Opel brand is not only out to ‘detoxify New Zealand’ but also make the road going landscape a lot more tasty – oddly, this sentiment even extended to the cups that our event coffee came in.
Now I don’t know about you, but eating the crockery isn’t something that has ever crossed my mind, and although I have been known to lick a plate, I’m strictly a ‘drink, rinse and repeat’, or ‘dispose of my takeaway cup’ type of guy. Well maybe no more – thanks to Twiice edible cups.
Twiice edible cups is the brainchild of four like-minded people, Jamie and Stephen (son and father), along with their wives Simone and Theresa. On a hot summer’s day in 2017 and during a beach swim at Okahu Bay, Auckland, the idea of a tasty edible coffee cup, (not one that tastes like seaweed or rice) was mooted. The idea itself was apparently almost forgotten by the time they returned home, however, a few weeks later, Jamie decided that they should give it a shot.
So the quartet started trialling recipes (with standard muffin tins), before upgrading to commercial baking equipment. Finally, after years of trial and error, they had a product ready for launch – the twiice edible cup!
Aside from the ‘Twiice’ bit, the name speaks for itself. It’s a cup (that predominantly holds coffee but it can hold other other brews), that once empty can be eaten and it’s, well actually they (because there are currently two flavours, vanilla and chocolate) are delicious.
Probably like you, having my steaming hot coffee delivered to me in what essentially looked like a biscuit, did raise my eyebrows and thoughts such as ‘won’t my drink leak or spill, or won’t the cup crumble like any other biscuit would?’ did flash across my mind, but true to their word, the twiice cup was leakproof and stayed crisp for easily the length of my flat white – well sort of, as I did start nibbling on the rim before I got to the bottom of the drink. (I’m told it can last two drinks).
For me, the fear of them using real ingredients, so free from additives and preservatives, was real and thoughts of eating cardboard came to mind (although I’m not sure I’ve done that). But the taste itself sat somewhere between a wine biscuit and a fortune cookie, certainly the vanilla one, and didn’t mar the enjoyment of my brew at all – in fact it enhanced it as I consumed the remaining coffee froth with the cup – try doing that with a coated paper takeaway cup or your grandma’s bone china. It was like having a drink and a snack all in one – in a word, genius
To add to my satisfaction, using (and consuming) the Twiice cup meant one less takeaway cup will end up in New Zealand’s landfill. So no-waste and no dishes, that made it even easier to swallow.
“We’ve always had a knack for the artistic and creative, each bringing our own talents, skills and unique perspectives to the drawing board. Call us a family business, or simply a bunch of committed foodies who love getting stuck into a new project together,” says the Twiice edible cup team
“We’re proud to be part of pioneering a new way forward for the environmentally-friendly cup.”
Personally, I must give them a call and check out the chocolate flavour, and I hear that they’ve got others in the pipeline – yummy.
