Today’s NYTimes mini-crossword had a word I’d never heard of before: Zarf. It’s defined as “the peculiar term for the cardboard sleeve around a coffee cup.” Is this something you’ve ever come across before? Nope, me neither.
The cardboard coffee sleeve (or “zarf”) was invented in 1991 by Jay Sorensen. He later patented it under the trademarked name “Java Jacket”. They are now commonly utilized by coffee houses and other vendors that sell hot beverages dispensed in disposable paper cups. The story goes that Sorensen came up with the idea after driving his daughter to school and spilling a cup of hot coffee in his lap. The Java Jacket first appeared at the Seattle Coffeefest in 1995. Soon Sorensen and his wife Colleen were overwhelmed with requests and orders to fill. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Is this a great country or what?