(Photo: Courtesy of Bodum)

The first time I saw Bodum’s insulated glasses, my engineer’s antennae went up. There’s a purity to the design: A glass inside a glass, it’s made up of two thin shells separated by a quarter-inch of air space, keeping the exterior of the vessel at room temperature while the contents stay steaming or iced. Hot drinks don’t burn your hand; cold ones don’t sweat. (As a tech geek, I know it’s hard to make such a thing in heatproof glass, let alone sell it for around $10.) It’s also beautiful in use: Whatever liquid you’re drinking appears to be floating. When filled with steaming coffee, the cup seems as though it ought to be too hot to touch, so you pat the outside tentatively at first, then instinctually wrap a hand around it, just to prove that it works. Bodum makes a smaller version with a handle, but the design is niftier without; cradling that disconcertingly temperate cup is the whole point.

Bodum Canteen Glass
$19.95 for set of two; Bodum, 413 W. 14th St., nr. Ninth Ave.; 212-367-9125

Related:

• Articles by Christopher Bonanos
• Table of Contents: Aug 13, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!