Thank you for the kind words! Do try to finish your cup, it's a great experience both to drink from something made by your hands, and to drink from a wooden cup if it's finished well.

Make sure you do water popping after finishing the carving and sanding process. It's what makes the difference between wood that catches your lips and wood that feels like ceramic. The process is simple: sand with 600 or 400 grit, whichever you have, then get all the wood wet with water (faucet is fine), let dry completely (hairdryer helps), sand again with 600/400 grit and repeat about 3 times until wetting the wood no longer makes it feel rough.

Great advice thanks, and a new technique to learn too. When making walking sticks I usually go to 1200 grit, or 2500 where finish is really important. Finishing is my favourite part of the job, similar to your point about epoxy (why would you want to interface with a layer of plastic?)