Great British Baking Show Tea Cups

Through the seasons the bakers can be seen drinking tea at their counters, and the hosts often have a glass when discussing the technical and while summarizing the weekend, before awarding star baker and biding someone farewell. More often than not, the tea cups are beautiful, and more often than not they are from Denby (Amazon Store - UK).

Denby makes two lines of mugs and one line of cups and saucers. The first is their hand decorated mug line. These are described as contemporary hand-decorated mugs which celebrate their craftsmanship and each much is unique. The second line is their affectionately named line of "Mugs". Yes "mugs," just... Mugs. Don't say it too much, the word loses meaning. These mugs are mass produced, but are quite hearty, durable, and stylish. Lastly they have their line of cups and saucers. These again are super high quality, durable, and often have matching tea pots, sugar bowls, and milk jugs.

The Denby Pottery Company was founded in the village Denby in Derbyshire in 1809. They started making salt glaze jugs and flasks and slowly evolved their collection. They took off in the 1940's and started making incredible tea sets and now every few years they come out with some new form and patterning. They've always been based in Derbyshire though they've changed hands quite a few times. They almost sold out a couple times as well but in the last few years have taken off.

The pottery is all made by hand and has roughly 20 people handle it before it is finished. They have over 200 proprietary glazes they use, and they employ some exceptional master craftsmen. The pottery is still all made from Denby clay which after being formed and fired is exceptionally hard, the same can be said for the glazes, which have a hardness greater than your metal flatware, so no scratches.

Between the exceptional build quality and the wonderful glazes the Denby pottery is amazing. It is incredibly functional and incredibly beautiful. It has a 10 year warranty on it, and it is good to go in the freezer, oven, microwave, and dishwasher. Just don't go freezer to oven or vice versa really quickly - just like with everything else thermal shock is not fun. However, the quality does come at a cost - but there are some tips that can get Denby into your life for less.

Okay, so fun fact, outside of discerning what the gear is on The Great British Baking show I also love finding good deals. So lets take a look at Denby vs some other cheaper options and then delve into where you can get your hands on this iconic dining ware.

So to start off we'll look at Denby's Halo line, which is arguably some of the most beautiful stone ware that exists. They have two 16 piece sets, the original Halo line and the Halo coupe line with a darker aesthetic (I have these). The 16 piece Halo set is $646 and the Coupe set is $548 - expensive, but you're paying for quality, and hopefully only one time - like ever. Also - their classic lines are much (think $half!) more affordable.

Lets compare that with the Gibson Soho Lounge 16-Piece Dinnerware set (I used to have these). The Gibson set clocks in at around $44 as it is normally 50% off on Amazon. You get 16 pieces and they're... fine. Every time I'd lightly bump them on something hard they'd chip, and while they are 'microwave safe,' it's more of the sentiment they fit in a microwave. They turn ridiculously hot in there. Additionally we had 2 plates and 2 bowls literally just crack in half, like a slow growing crack where eventually liquid could just go through the dish.

Compared with the Denby set ... well there is no real comparison. The Denby is lightyears ahead in build quality, feel, finish, the ability to go in the microwave and dishwasher without randomly cracking in half, and not turning into the suns surface in the microwave. So how to get it?

Well the Denby site has everything you're looking for and there is a chance it is even in stock (they've been having covid related supply issues it would seem). They frequently have 10 - 30% off sales which is fine (don't pay retail). Amazon has a pretty decent selection, but no real sales - every now and again they'll be the cheapest across the board. But there are a couple far better consistent options.

If you're in the UK Stephenson's has great stock and much better prices!

If you're in the USA then you're in for a treat. Macy's ... yea that Macy's, still exists and stacks sales and coupons on Denby wares! But wait - there's more! Lets use dinner plates as the example. 4 dinner plates is $170 - but there is a mark down of 15% right now (normally you can get 30 - 40% off) which makes them $101.40. Better. Well a single plate is normally $37, but is on sale and then has a coupon code (GIVE) which takes off another 15% - thus $21.24. Which means you can just add 4 individual plates to your cart of $84.96. Normally they do even better with a sale and then an additional coupon (try 'FRIEND') at 30 - 40% off, so if you have the patience - wait for that. Then you're looking at like picking up your entire set for roughly $200 to $300 depending on how crazy you want to go. Lets say you just want the 16 piece set from before - all in you're looking at $303 down from $548 for the exact same coupe set. Want different cups or plates? Go nuts.

So basically - don't pay retail! If you're in the US you can piecemeal a set from Macy's, stack sales and coupons, and get some crazy good deals! And if you're looking for the mugs in particular - Macy's has you covered and stacks those coupons! Mugs will go from mid $40's down to low $20's. Basically from "that's silly and unaffordable to I can do that for a really nice mug."