Published Sep 25, 2024
Enjoy A Cup of Earl Grey Like Picard with Master Replicas x Bodum Bistro Tea Set
A limited run will be available for pre-order on MasterReplicas.com.
Get ready to engage with Star Trek and a hot cup of tea in a bold new way!
Master Replicas is teaming up with Bodum to bring back Captain Picard's preferred glassware — a real 20th Century product that hasn't been available for years — in to production for a limited run of special Star Trek tea cups.
Each cup, printed with the Star Trek, Master Replicas, and Bodum logos, is sold in a set of four. It will be available for pre-order masterreplicas.com.
In moments of stress or contemplation, Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise-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, 20th Century design. They settled on a glass tea cup made by European homewares company, Bodum, a company with a reputation for modern, minimalist design.
The cup that the Star Trek art department landed on 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 thanks to Master Replicas x Bodum, you can now snag a set of these Star Trek tea cups during its limited production run!