In moments of stress or contemplation, Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, turned to his replicator and asked it to produce a hot cup of Earl Grey tea. The replicator, knowing exactly what he wanted, produced the tea in an elegant glass cup.
When it came to filming, the Star Trek: The Next Generation art department wanted the cup to look both futuristic and timeless. It had to be at home in the 24th century, but it also had to be instantly recognizable. Rather than creating their own tea cup from scratch, they looked for the best examples of modern, twentieth century design. They settled on a glass tea cup made by European homewares company, Bodum.
Bodum was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1944 by Peter Bodum and relocated to Switzerland in 1978. The company has a reputation for modern, minimalist design.
The cup that the Star Trek art department chose was part of the BISTRO system, which was designed by Carsten Jørgensen in 1974, and is regarded as a design classic. It features a simple plastic band circling the body of the glass, accented with a black plastic handle.
The cup itself is crafted from heat-resistant borosilicate glass that won’t alter or impair the flavor of the tea.
The instantly recognizable BISTRO cup became so closely associated with Star Trek, that fans informally refer to it as “The Picard Cup”. It went on to appear in Star Trek: Voyager™ and Star Trek: Picard™.
The original BISTRO cup was discontinued in 2016 but Bodum have partnered with Master Replicas to bring it back in to production for a limited run of special Star Trek tea cups. Each cup is printed with the Star Trek, Master Replicas and Bodum logos, and is sold in a set of four. Get ready to “engage” with Star Trek and a hot cup of tea in a bold new way!
It’s available for pre-order now from masterreplicas.com priced at £49.99/$54.99.
