Buying guide for best travel mugs
If you like to drink your morning coffee on the go, a travel mug is an excellent investment. You can make your own hot or cold drinks just how you like them. And you can carry them with you to work, school, the gym, or wherever else your day may take you.
The market boasts hundreds, if not thousands, of different travel mug makes and models. If this is your first time buying a travel mug, you may feel overwhelmed by your number of choices.
That’s where we come in!
We've done the research so you don't have to. In our BestReviews lab, we poured the drinks, sipped the coffee, measured the temperatures, and analyzed the existing data, all to bring you the most accurate reviews out there. What's more, we never accept free products from manufacturers. We buy them from the store just like you, so you can rest assured our reviews are honest and unbiased.
If you need more info on how to choose the right travel mug for your needs, please continue reading this shopping guide. And when you’re ready to make a purchase, please check out the product list above for our top five picks.
Why buy a travel mug?
The first thing to consider is why you should buy a travel mug. Here are some of the top reasons why you might want one:
- It's environmentally friendly. Paper cups from the coffee shop pile up after a while. It’s far kinder to the environment to reuse the same cup over and over again. Most coffee shops will happily refill your reusable travel mug rather than give you one of their disposable cups.
- It's convenient. If you like to make your morning drink at home but don't have time to consume it before you leave the house, a travel mug offers great “on the go” convenience.
- It could save you money. Considering the fact that a single beverage from a coffee shop could run you $5 or more, it makes economical sense to prepare your drinks at home instead of purchasing them while out and about.
- It helps maintain your beverage temperature. An insulated travel mug helps prevent your hot beverage from growing cold before you reach the bottom. The insulation also helps preserve the chill in your cold drinks.
We often favor travel mugs that pack a number of great features into one convenient, portable beverage vessel.
We look for travel mugs that keep hot drinks hot, like coffee. We also look for mugs that keep cold drinks cold, like ice water.
We look for travel mugs that are sturdy and durable enough to withstand the test of time and exposure to the elements.
Many of the top travel mugs have enhanced lids that make drinking easy while preventing spills. We favor travel mugs that provide maximum security.
We research travel mugs of various capacities and with different designs. Our goal is to find the best travel mugs for consumers with a variety of tastes and needs.
Leak-proof travel mugs often have a lid that seals to prevent accidents and messes. We are drawn to this type of mug.
Many of our favorite travel mugs are insulated for maximum temperature retention. In our research, we have noticed that cheap uninsulated travel mugs do not maintain temperature for long.
For those users who need an all-day beverage supply, our team looks for travel mugs that are high-capacity without being too oversized or awkward.
BPA is a harmful chemical compound found in some plastics. We keep an eye out for travel mugs that are BPA-free.
We examine the handles on different travel mugs to identify the most comfortable and secure-feeling models.
Travel mug features
You might think that all travel mugs are more or less the same. It's not quite as simple as that! Here are some features to consider:
Material
The two most common travel mug materials are plastic and stainless steel.
- Plastic travel mugs tend to be more affordable, and most can be safely placed in a microwave.
- Stainless steel travel mugs look great, and coffee connoisseurs claim that a good cup of joe tastes much better out of stainless steel. Why? Some say that a plastic travel mug can give your coffee an unpleasant flavor.
Although less common, you’ll sometimes see a person with an all-glass or ceramic travel mug. However, these aren't usually insulated.
"Travel mugs nowadays have extremely long insulation times, keeping hot drinks warm for 12 hours and cold drinks chilled for 24 hours."
STAFF
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Insulation
All the travel mugs featured in our product list are insulated, which means they keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. However, some cheaper travel mugs you’ll see in stores and online may not be insulated.
If insulation is important to you, take a look at how long your chosen mug keeps drinks hot or cold. For example, Thermos specifies in its product description that the Stainless King keeps hot drinks hot for five hours and cold drinks cold for nine hours.
Staff Tip
Stainless steel travel mugs should not be heated in the microwave.
STAFF
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Handle
Many modern travel mugs don't have a handle. In fact, the only one of our top picks that has a built-in handle is the Thermos Stainless King.
Whether or not you want a handle comes down to personal preference. A well-insulated travel mug won't get hot on the outside when it has a hot liquid inside (or cold when it has a cold liquid inside), so a handle isn't needed to protect your hand. Even so, many people prefer to grip a handle when they sip from their mug.
With most tumbler-style travel mugs, you have the option of buying a handle/holder separately. For example, if you opt for the 30-ounce RTIC mug on our shortlist, you can buy a handle that will fit it from Aoocan.
Did you know?
Roughly 20 million trees are cut down to make paper cups each year. Consider asking your barista to pour your to-go coffee into your travel mug to help out the environment.
STAFF
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Leak-proof seal
If you don't want your drink to leak or dribble all over the place, look for a travel mug with a leak-proof seal. This will allow you to carry it in a bag, rucksack, or briefcase with the knowledge that the contents won't spill all over your belongings.
The RTIC travel mug comes with a lid, but some customers complain that it’s not splash-proof. If you purchase a mug with a seal that isn’t leak-proof, you may end up needing to purchase another lid separately. GetiGrip makes a replacement lid that some RTIC owners have found satisfactory.
For your safety
BPA — or Bisphenol A — is a harmful chemical compound that can leach from plastics into food and drinks. We recommend going with a BPA-free travel mug.
STAFF
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Ease of use
Some travel mugs require you to unscrew the lid every time you want to take a sip of your drink. Others have a button you can press to serve yourself, and still others remain open at the top for easy access.
We recommend one of the latter, as it can get extremely frustrating and inconvenient needing both hands whenever you want to take a drink. For example, the Contigo AUTOSEAL includes a button which you press to seal and unseal the lid. The Thermos King includes a lever that you can easily slide open to serve yourself.
Size
Manufacturers make travel mugs of all sizes, from the petite to the enormous. The size you choose obviously depends on how much liquid you want to carry. However, it may also depend on how bulky the mug feels in your hand and whether you’re going to want to carry it around.
Travel mugs like the Contigo AUTOSEAL are purported to fit most cup holders. If this is an important feature for you, make sure the diameter of the mug you choose isn’t too large.
Staff Tip
Not all travel mugs are dishwasher safe. If you're willing to wash your travel mug by hand, you might have a wider range of travel mugs to choose from.
STAFF
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Capacity
As well as the physical size of the travel mug, you want to think about how much liquid it can hold.
Sixteen-ounce mugs are quite popular, but our top picks range from 10 to 30 ounces. Conveniently, some travel mug manufacturers give you the option of selecting from a number of sizes. For example, the RTIC Tumbler featured in our product list holds 30 ounces, but the company also offers this model in 10-, 12-, and 20-ounce capacities.
The size you choose depends on what you plan to carry in your travel mug, how much of it you drink, and how long you want it to last. A 10-ounce mug would be perfect for someone who just wants a single cup of coffee. A 30-ounce mug would be more suitable for someone who fills their travel mug in the morning and enjoys sipping from it all day. (This is where a cup with good insulation comes in handy!)
Did you know?
Many travel mugs are insulated, keeping your hot drinks hot and your cold drinks cold. They're perfect for summer and winter.
STAFF
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Color
Do you prefer basic black or neon pink? Fortunately, most makes and models come in a range of colors so you can choose the shade you love.
However, some mugs offer more variety than others. For instance, the Simple Modern Tumbler comes in 16 different colors, whereas the Thermos Stainless King only gives you five color selections.
Did you know?
A larger mug doesn’t necessarily hold more liquid than a smaller one. Capacity also depends on how the mug is designed and how thick the insulation is. Before making your purchase, check a mug’s capacity in ounces.
STAFF
BestReviews
Price and durability
Travel mugs are one of those products where paying a bit more will get you a more durable item from a brand you know and trust. That said, the pricier travel mugs you see in stores and online aren’t likely to break your bank account.
The best Thermos varieties cost around $25 and are probably the most reliable and long-lasting travel mugs on the market today. The Thermos Stainless King even comes with a five-year warranty.
However, you can get a perfectly good travel mug for around $15, though it may come from a brand you've never heard of before.
We wouldn't recommend spending below $10 on a travel mug. It probably wouldn’t be insulated or designed very well, and you'd likely need to replace it sooner than if you'd shelled out an extra five or ten bucks in the first place.
FAQ
Q. Are all travel mugs BPA-free?
A. All of the top picks in our product list, above are BPA-free. However, not all travel mugs on the market are BPA-free.
Q. What capacity will I need?
A. This is something you'll have to work out for yourself. Try measuring the capacity of your favorite mug or tumbler and going from there. Of course, if you want it to hold multiple cups of drink, you’ll need to factor that in. Some people like to sip from their travel mug all day long without having to refill it.
Q. How long does a travel mug keep its contents hot or cold?
A. On average, a travel mug keeps hot liquids hot for somewhere between 6 and 12 hours and cold liquids cold for between 8 and 24 hours. Even the lower end of these ranges would be more than sufficient for most people. If you want a travel mug that retains temperature for as long as possible, shop around for those with the best insulation.
Q. Is my travel mug dishwasher safe?
A. Not every travel mug is dishwasher safe, but some are. If the ability to clean your mug in the dishwasher is important, check the manufacturer's specifications to make sure you can do so.
