Good Travel Mugs

[Wasgo]

I'm looking to buy a travel mug to avoid using paper cups and I wanted some advice. It has to be leak-proof, metal, 16 oz or more and fit a standard car cup holder. Any suggestions?

[3weddings]

I bought hubby some at Costco for Christmas, and he loves them! In fact I just bought two sets for his co-op students as a parting gift. They are solid as can be, and only $21 for two.


Sample

[selpats]

My wife and I both use Thermos Nissan travel mugs. They literally keep your bevvy hot for hours. They fit in our car holders with room to spare. They are only 14 oz though...

They are really well made and you pay for it. We got one at Superstore for $20, the other (fancier colour) for $25 at London Drugs.

Worth every penny in my opinion, we have gone through a lot of travel mugs and these are easily the best.

I think they were reviewed to be the best on a Shopping Bags episode I seen recently.

I just noticed you can buy them online now: http://www.thermos.com/product_catal...ubcategoryID=3

[sienna owner]

I bought hubby some at Costco for Christmas, and he loves them! In fact I just bought two sets for his co-op students as a parting gift. They are solid as can be, and only $21 for two.


Sample

+1 on the costco..

what many may not know is that the costco ones first showed up at Starbucks...they then refined their product and we were surprised they showed up a costco...wife LOVES them...think they may have been lowered in price...2 for $20...one has a handle/carabanor (sp?), the other is handle-less...so you can chose which one to give your sign other..lol
usually make coffee at 7am...doesn't really cool down until about 10:30 before i can start drinking it.

[gzajay]

I have a couple...I have to say I don't like metal ones at all. They stain on the inside.

I recieved a starbucks one as a gift and have to say I love it. It's one like this: http://www.digitalscrapbooking.com/U...69_article.jpg

[iris1026]

I know that glass/ceramic is probably not the lightest material, but I rather don't like the taste of my tea with stainless steel. Anyone seen a glass/ceramic travel mug for sale anywhere?

I'm in the GTA, by the way.

Thanks.

[selpats]

Those mugs that I was talking about don't have any taste at all. The insides of these mugs don't look like the inside of a typical stainless steel mug, they are burnished in some way.

My wife is ULTRA-PICKY about things taste/smell, if they have passed her taste buds I would say there are fine.

BTW - Glass and ceramic break to easily...

[Dustbunny]

One trick, don't get one with a closed handle as they won't fit in a cup holder even if the bottom is the right size. If the handle is open on the bottom they will usually fit. I don't know if all the 'heated' ones work like mine (plugs into lighter) but those are accidents waiting to happen I can tell you. They get really really really hot.

[brunes]

Advice here is pretty simple.

- If you want to avoid taste and odour penetration, get one that has a steel interior

- If you want it to keep things hot and cold, make sure there is also a vacuum sealed gap between interior and exterior of mug. A non vaccum sealed air gap here is also acceptable, but not as good (but much cheaper!)

- If you care about the environment, find one made in Canada. The vast majority of these mugs are shipped in from China. As such, the low environmental standards during the manufacturing processes, combined with the carbon needed to ship the thing all the way out here, pretty much negates the environmental benefit of using a mug.

- To go with the above point - make sure the mug is not flashy and has a standard, "classic" look, that you won't tire of. This is because you have to use a mug daily for over a decade before the carbon cost to manufacture and distribute it starts outweighing the carbon cost of disposable paper cups.

[Wasgo]

Wow. Thanks for all the good advice so far. I actually got the leak-proof Thermos one will a handle and already returned it. It was way too bulky.

[jeall]

Does anyone know about the Starbucks mugs with black plastic interior? Would they be the #7 plastic that all the warnings have come out about? I asked at Starbucks and the baristas don't know.

I think I'll probably switch to stainless interior, but am curious about the mug I"m currently using.

[2k4accord]

Contigo Extreme Insulated Mug with Handle - Silver/ Black
* Foam insulated technology keeps beverage hot for hours
* Carabiner incorporated into handle clips onto bag for portability
* Patented sealing lid avoids all spills
* Stainless steel with black rubber easy-grip accents fits car cup holder
* 16 fl. oz. capacity for your favorite beverage

Spills proof, I like that!

[Rehan]

+1 for the Costco mugs. My wife likes hers too.

They've got mixed reviews on Amazon.com, but the negative comments are generally for the non-Costco/Starbucks version that isn't vacuum insulated and the very positive ones are for the version from Costco.

[MangoFlamingo]

I bought hubby some at Costco for Christmas, and he loves them! In fact I just bought two sets for his co-op students as a parting gift. They are solid as can be, and only $21 for two.


Sample

I bought some of these at costco too. LOVE THEM, they don't leak and keep coffee/tea warm for up to 4 hrs (or so it says, I've found it to be true).

[Rehan]

I've noticed the same problem with the inside rim of these mugs as written in this review:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3GCUAC...SIN=B000FE7VEO

Our two mugs are still pretty new, so there's no mold yet. But one of them already has a sour smell and I noticed white stuff coming out from the rim even though all I had in there recently was water. I wonder whether it's a design flaw or a manufacturing flaw. Either way, it's a flaw.