Jelloware Edible Cups (P.S. They're Vegan!)

It doesn't get any more green than this: a drinking glass you don't throw away, don't recycle, but eat. (And, if those nibbles and cocktails leave you too full to munch on your cup, you can compost it.)

These colorful, conversation-starting cups are from The Way We See the World, an inventive design consulting firm behind a bunch of cool products. They are in the process of getting Jelloware off the ground—see the link below to see how you can help fund it.

Jelloware is made with agar agar instead of gelatin, making it vegan, and the flavors (lemon-basil, ginger-mint, rosemary-beet) are meant to pair well with the drink inside. Like you crunch on an ice cream cone as you lick your scoop, you feast on your cup while you sip. The whole thing is biodegradable, which means you can compost the bits you leave behind.

What do you think? Fun for a party?

• Read about Jelloware from The Way We See the World.
• Support Jelloware by funding it at Kickstarter.

(Images: The Way We See the World)

Comments (18)

Seems like it might get a bit melty in the summer time.

gives new meaning to the concept of jell-o shots!

Agar is very stable so it won't melt in the heat the way gelatin would.

amazing idea if it was tasty, but pointless if it wasn't.

Fun for a party, maybe, but one-use cups are not "green." They require resources to create, so really the greenest choice out there is just regular glassware that you use over and over.

BRILLIANT idea. I live in Houston so it's a combination of the heat + humidity that I would worry about (sweaty cups!). And I'm really eager to feel one of these cups....the wiggle factor has me really intrigued.

Ugh, just seeing the picture absolutely turns my stomach. I don't think I could handle that. I'm perfectly fine with glassware!

These look amazing! Anyone know where you can buy them?

Interesting idea but at the moment it's just a concept. They're not actually being produced just yet.

Awesome. And that lady in the picture has amazing teeth.

i just wonder, if you happen to set your drink down like most do... wouldn't the drink dissolve the cup? and probably not in that much time, either. it's a cute idea tho! i wonder what the taste and texture is like....

Agar-agar is WAY more stable than gelatin. It won't melt and it won't dissolve. It is the same substance used in plates to grow bacteria on for research/diagnostic purposes, and a component of it is used to make the gels that we run DNA on. It wouldn't be so wonderfully useful in the lab if it wasn't so stable.

Also, just like gelatin, the firmness is concentration-dependent. You could make the cups pretty sturdy with a high enough amount of agar. No worse than a thin paper or plastic cup.

you better have clean hands with your going to eat that cup! and beware where you put it down!

I remember my grandmom making us flavored Agar Agar and at times made it with rose petals...

Wouldn't your hands get sticky?

Half of me says yeah, I would go for this! The other side of me is thinking of all the bacteria grown on these in labs, and all the places we might set down a drink, etc...

The bite photo is freaking me out a little. It reminds me of the time my little cousin accidentally bit the side of a glass drinking glass and cut his tongue. I think this is a bit too gimmicky for me. I also agree that the resources required to produce them seem unnecessary.