White SBS cardstock
A bright, smooth sheet. Photography, gradients and fine type all hold their detail, and colors sit where the proof says they will.
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Cold cups, cans and bottles · Printed to order
Custom Beverage Sleeves
Printed bands for the cold half of the menu — iced coffee, smoothies, bubble tea, sodas, cans and bottles. They take the sweat off a chilled container, give a wet hand something dry to hold, and carry your artwork out of the door.
- Fits cups, cans and bottles
- Moisture-resistant options
- 500 piece minimum
- Free digital proof
From $0.50 per sleeveVolume pricing from 500 units · final price on your quote
500
Minimum per design
Volume pricing from 1,000
6–7 days
Standard production
After you approve the proof
Free
Dieline and proof
Built around your item
Worldwide
Tracked shipping
Quoted with the job
In short
Beverage sleeves are printed board bands that wrap a drink container — cold cups, smoothie and bubble tea cups, cans and bottles — to absorb condensation, improve grip and carry branding. The Cone Sleeves prints them on white SBS, kraft or recycled board, sized to the container you already use, from 500 pieces per design, with a free digital proof and 6–7 business day production.
Why shops order beverage sleeves from us
Dry grip on a wet cup
Condensation collects on the board instead of the customer’s fingers, which is the difference between a smoothie carried across a park and one dropped in the parking lot.
One look, three formats
The same artwork adapts across cold cups, cans and bottles, so a drinks lineup reads as one range even when the containers come from different suppliers.
Print that survives damp
Laminated faces keep ink from scuffing when cans come out of an ice well and get handled with wet hands or stacked back in a fridge.
Cut to circumference
A can is a straight cylinder and a cold cup is tapered, so each needs its own dieline. We measure from your sample rather than working to a nominal size.
Room to say more
A plain can or bottle gains a panel for flavor, ingredients, batch information and stockist details without a full label print run.
Short seasonal runs
Five hundred pieces covers a summer flavor, a festival weekend or a single new drink before you commit the whole menu to it.
Printed work
Beverage Sleeves we have printed
Every run below started as somebody's artwork on plain board. Yours is quoted the same way, whatever the shape.
Specifications
Everything this order includes
These are the options we quote against. If you need something outside them, ask — most custom sizes and finishes are possible, and the quote will say so plainly.
| Fits | Cold cups, smoothie and bubble tea cups, cans and bottles; sized to your container |
|---|---|
| Cup sizes | 12, 16, 20 and 24 oz cold cups as standard; custom circumferences cut to sample |
| Board | White SBS cardstock, natural kraft or recycled board |
| Moisture handling | Gloss or matte lamination for condensation; uncoated where recyclability leads |
| Printing | Full-color CMYK, single-color logo or Pantone spot colors |
| Minimum order | 500 pieces per design; volume pricing from 1,000 pieces |
| Turnaround | 6–7 business days after proof approval; 3–4 day rush on request |
| Artwork | PDF, AI or EPS at 300 dpi with 3 mm bleed; free dieline setup for your container |
Condensation is the problem a cold drink sleeve solves
A hot cup sleeve exists to stop heat reaching a hand. A cold one exists to deal with water. As soon as a chilled cup or can meets warm air it beads up, the surface turns slippery, and the drink leaves a ring on every table and desk it touches. That is the failure a beverage sleeve is designed around, and it changes which board and finish make sense.
Uncoated kraft and recycled board absorb that moisture, which feels good in the hand and works well for a drink that is carried and finished. Leave the same cup on a desk for an hour and the board goes limp where it sits. A laminated face does the opposite: water beads and runs off, the print stays sharp, and the sleeve keeps its shape all afternoon. Neither is right for everyone — it depends on whether your drinks are walked out or sat with.
Board weight matters too. A sleeve that is fine dry can buckle when it is wet and squeezed, so cold drink sleeves are usually run heavier than an equivalent hot cup band. Our guide to sleeve materials and board choices covers weights in more detail.
Laminated or uncoated for cold drinks?
This is the one choice worth thinking about before artwork. Everything else follows from it.
- Gloss lamination — sheds condensation completely and pushes color saturation, which suits fruit photography and bright flavor coding. Fingerprints show on dark areas, so it is best on lighter designs.
- Matte lamination — the same moisture barrier with a soft, non-slippery surface. It grips better than gloss on a sweating cup, which is why most bubble tea and smoothie work ends up matte.
- Uncoated kraft or recycled — the recyclable option and the cheapest to justify on a paper-led brand. It soaks up the sweat rather than shedding it, so it is best for drinks that leave the counter and get finished within the hour.
Spot UV and foil stamping both work over lamination and are common on bottled and canned products that sit on a shelf, where the sleeve is doing the job of a label. On a cup that is handled hard and thrown away in ten minutes, they are usually money better spent on heavier board.
Cups, cans and bottles fit differently
Three container shapes, three dielines. A cold cup tapers, so a band cut to the circumference at the grip point wedges there and holds without any help. A can is a straight cylinder with nothing to catch on, so the fit has to be exact — a few millimeters loose and it drops to the counter when the can is lifted. A bottle has a shoulder above a straight barrel, and the band sits on the barrel, which limits how tall it can be.
Bubble tea cups are their own case: wide, often near-straight, and sealed with film across the top, so the sleeve has to clear the seal and still sit below the widest point. Cans and bottles from different fillers also vary more than people expect.
Measuring is simple. Wrap a strip of paper around the container where you want the sleeve to sit, mark the overlap, and send us that length plus the height you want. We add the seam allowance and build the dieline. Sending one empty sample is faster still, and it is the surest route to a fit that works first time — either way, include it when you ask for a drink sleeve quote.
Turnaround for a seasonal drinks launch
Production runs 6–7 business days from proof approval, with a 3–4 business day rush available when a launch date has moved. Proofing itself is usually a day, so working backward from the day the drink goes on the menu, artwork should be with us around two weeks out — a little more if the container is new to us and we are building a dieline from a sample.
Multi-flavor launches are where the minimum matters. Each artwork is its own design at 500 pieces, so a three-flavor summer range is three lots of 500. If all three go on the same cup, they share one dieline and only the print changes, which keeps setup down. Volume pricing starts at 1,000 pieces on a design.
Reorders are quicker: the approved dieline and proof stay on file, so a repeat run is a confirmation and a quantity. Everything ships flat-packed with tracking. For a fuller picture of scheduling and minimums, see our guide to bulk ordering, lead times and minimums.
Where these are used
- Iced coffee and cold brew counters
- Smoothie and juice bars
- Bubble tea shops
- Canned soda and seltzer brands
- Bottled cold-pressed juice
- Stadium and festival drink stands
- Poolside and beach bars
- Catering and conference drink service
Not sure on size?
Send a sample or a photo with a ruler beside it and we cut the dieline to fit. There is no charge for the dieline or the digital proof.
Ask a questionHow the order runs
- You send sizes, quantity and artwork, or just a photo of the item.
- We build the dieline and come back with a written price.
- You approve a digital proof with your artwork laid on it.
- We print, cut and ship, with tracking on the carton.
Materials and printing
Board and print, side by side
Three boards and three ways to print on them. Every combination below is quoted the same way, so the choice is about how you want the packaging to feel in the hand.
Choose the board
Natural kraft
Unbleached brown board. Ink sits into the surface rather than on top of it, which mutes bright colors and reads as craft and small-batch.
Recycled board
Post-consumer fiber with a slight fleck through it. It takes a one or two color mark well and tells the customer what it is without a claim printed on it.
Choose how it prints
Full-color CMYK
Four process inks. The right choice when the artwork is a photograph, an illustration or anything with a gradient in it.
Single-color logo
One ink on plain board. It is the least expensive way to print a run and, on kraft, it is often the better looking one.
Pantone spot colors
A mixed ink matched to a Pantone reference. Use it when a brand color has to be exact across every reprint.
Beverage Sleeves designer
Design your beverage sleeves
Build the specification for beverage sleeves step by step — size, board, print and finish — and send it for a quote. Five short steps, no account.
Questions
Beverage Sleeves: common questions
Do beverage sleeves go soggy on a cold cup?
Uncoated board will soften eventually against a sweating cup — usually fine for a drink that is carried and finished, not for one that sits on a desk. A gloss or matte laminated face keeps water on the outside and holds its shape for hours. Tell us how your drinks are consumed and we will recommend one.
What is the turnaround on custom beverage sleeves?
Six to seven business days after you approve the digital proof, and 3–4 business days on a rush. Proofing normally takes a day, so a first order from artwork to delivery lands inside two weeks plus transit. Reorders of an approved design skip setup and start immediately.
Can you print sleeves for cans and bottles?
Yes. A can band is cut to the exact circumference of the can because there is no taper to hold it, and a bottle band sits on the straight barrel below the shoulder. Both are common for canned seltzers, cold brew and cold-pressed juice sold without a printed label.
Will a sleeve fit a bubble tea cup?
Yes, but send a cup. Bubble tea cups are wider than a standard cold cup, closer to straight-sided, and sealed with film, so the sleeve has to sit below the seal and below the widest point. We cut the dieline from your sample so it clears both.
How do I measure my cups for a sleeve?
Wrap a strip of paper around the container at the height where the sleeve should sit, mark where it overlaps, and measure that length. Send us the number with the sleeve height you want. We add the seam allowance ourselves — do not add overlap to your measurement.
Can one sleeve fit both hot and cold cups?
Rarely. Hot and cold cups of the same nominal size usually differ in diameter and taper, and the two jobs pull in different directions — insulation against heat versus a barrier against condensation. Most shops run a cold band alongside printed sleeves for hot coffee cups.
Can I run several drink designs in one order?
Yes. Each design carries its own 500 piece minimum, but designs going on the same container share a single dieline, so there is no repeat setup charge. A four-flavor range printed at once is the usual way shops handle a seasonal menu.
Will the sleeve stay on in a car cup holder or drink carrier?
It will if the height is right. A sleeve that reaches too far down the cup gets pushed up when the cup is dropped into a holder or carrier. We set the band to sit above that contact point, which is one of the things the digital proof shows before you approve it.
Related products
Often ordered alongside
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