Contigo Streeterville Desk Mug Insulated Coffee Thermal Mug with Stainless Steel Handle

Product Information

Contigo is now one of the most prolific brands in the travel mug market, and the Auto-Seal Transit is the best model in their line. If you want a built-in loose-leaf-infuser option: Contigo, Thermos, Stanley, and Zojirushi all sell tea-steeping versions of the mugs we tested here (or snap-in accessories) that might help you out, but we’ve been happy with the convenience of drop-in or basket infusers.

Additionally, this mug prioritises safety and ease of use. It is BPA-free, ensuring that no harmful chemicals leach into your drinks. And when it's time to clean up, there's no fuss – it's fully dishwasher safe, saving you time and effort. One of its standout features is the comfort handle, which provides a secure and ergonomic grip, ensuring you can comfortably hold and carry your favorite beverages. The mug also boasts a secure, splash-proof lid, keeping your drinks safe from accidental spills. The Zojirushi – SM-SA48 has received so many accolades from reviewers, it’s hard to imagine a review that excludes it. This mug is the state of the art in vacuum insulation performance from a company with a long history of designing great food and drink containers. That said, the diminutive SA48 was so narrow and tall that it rattled around in our cupholders (and was hardest to clean inside, even with a bottle brush). The West Loop is a good mug, but the Transit is more durable and holds heat better. The only trade-off is that the Transit sacrifices dishwasher compatibility because of the silicone grip. The West Loop’s insulation is guaranteed to be safe in the dishwasher, but if you buy a painted model you can count on flaking and peeling of the finish after a few months of cleaning it that way. Klean Kanteen – 16 oz. Wide-MouthCup holder/single-brewer compatible: For those looking for compatibility with a single-cup coffee brewer, we’ve noted which mugs are seven inches or shorter (typical height for a single-cup brewer when the drip tray is removed; your machine may vary), and whether a “shorty” model (usually in 12 oz capacity) is available. While some manufacturers of the stainless steel mugs say you can put them in the dishwasher, the microwave is territory held securely by mugs like the Mesa: we microwaved water to a piping-hot 186°F and were happy to find that the outside of the mug was only a pleasantly-warm 93°F, unlike some ceramic mugs that get insanely hot on the outside when nuked. If you need your drink to stay hot for an entire day and you don’t want to fill a giant thermos, the Thermos – Sipp is a fantastic mini-thermos you can drink from with one hand.

The Klean Kanteen is still a drink container we like, but it’s not easy to open and close with one hand (and in fact took a fair bit of effort to open with two hands), and it has more parts to disassemble for cleaning than any of the other mugs. Thermos – Stainless King Travel Mug Two of the mugs we tested kept heat inside so well, they actually made it difficult to test what we considered “normal” use because we had to dump extra cold half-and-half or ice cubes in so that we could drink from them without suffering burns. Make no mistake, this almost-magical feat is surely appreciated by those who want to drink a hot cup of home-brewed coffee eight hours after they pour it. Keeping a mug clean is one of those tasks that makes the difference between “buy it for life” and trashing an expensive mug in disgust. Our rating here is based on hand-washing with a sponge, scrubber, or bottle-brush, but we’ve also noted if the manufacturer says you can put the whole mug in the dishwasher. Mugs like these are great if you want to keep drinks hotter for longer. Just be sure you cool your coffee or tea before adding to the mug, or pour out your beverage to drink until temperatures inside the mug have reached a safe level.

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Clean-up is the only weakness in this design: The springs that seal the spout are immersed in your drink, and can’t be removed for washing. Whether you are new to supplying artwork for branded products or experienced don’t worry, we are here to help. Mess avoidance: All spouts and lids will collect some liquid while you’re drinking (flip-open lids tend to be the worst in this regard), so in our usability table we’ve rated how safe they are around white silk shirts.

While the paint came out in our simple rinse procedure without any obvious dribbles or droplets remaining in most cases (there was a tiny drop left inside the Klean Kanteen’s three-piece seal), we did spot some residue left behind on all the mugs under a UV inspection light. We love the idea of this mug, but the concept just hasn’t been executed well enough to justify this price tag. If it were dishwasher safe and had a bomb-proof seal like the Thermos, maybe the price tag and fiddly work required to plan a perfect pre-heat routine would be worth it. Zojirushi – SM-SA48 and YAE48 The best and worst performance in this test still correspond roughly to what we saw the first test we ran, but it does show that even in this less-generous scenario the Forge can keep coffee in the “comfortably hot” zone all the way up to two hours, though it’s 15°F cooler than the Thermos. That’s longer than any of us likes to keep the same mug of coffee around, so we’re more than satisfied. (Any insulated mug is also far, far better than a ceramic open-top mug, which lost the same amount of heat in less than 20 minutes.) Drop test In our temperature test, the Transit only lost 34°F of heat in the first hour, while the base-model Contigo – West Loop lost 40, so the minimal price difference is far less significant than the performance gap. That’s still a major difference from the Thermos and Zojirushi mugs, which lost less than half as much heat in the same time. The Transit’s result is in line with other good wide-mouth mugs that you can fit a sponge into, but it’s not amazing. Ease of opening: If you want to enjoy a hot beverage while driving, one-handed operation is as much a safety feature as a convenience.

Editor’s note: The Camelbak – Forge was discontinued in 2018, and we’re sad to say that it hasn’t been replaced with an equivalent design. Our original review is preserved here for posterity.) The Streeterville Desk Mug's practicality extends to its compatibility with most coffee makers. Its design allows it to fit neatly beneath them, making the filling process effortless and convenient. Plus, its non-slip grip base ensures it stays securely in place on your desk or any surface, all without scratching. There are a handful of usability factors that make the difference between your go-to travel mug companion and a dud you’d rather just leave at home. We’ve found the most important factors to be the following: Studies show that the severity of burns starts getting significantly worse at temperatures above 175°F, so temperature curves between 200°F and 175°F aren’t showing anything but a danger zone. A study published in the Journal of Food Science shows that most people will mix cream/milk (or colder coffee) into their hot coffee to bring it down to around 140°F if they’re going to drink it immediately. Further, the Specialty Coffee Association of America cupping and tasting protocols recommend that evaluation of flavor should not begin until coffee has cooled to between 160 – 140°F. We included a drop onto a padded surface in our leak test earlier, and all of the mugs escaped that without damage (most didn’t even leak).

With that in mind, our second test used water heated to only 167°F. We filled five mugs: three top-ranked in our first heat test, the CamelBak – Forge, and a heavy, 18 oz-capacity open-top ceramic mug as a control. We included one non-steel mug in our lineup, the Ello – Mesa double-wall ceramic mug. We looked at other popular ‘reusable to-go cup’ designs, but none of them had spill-proof lids or insulating properties that would make them competitive in this line-up. (Some issues, like reports of a smelly latex rubber lid on one popular brand, or lids that were difficult to snap on, made our choice not to test even easier.)So, if you are simply looking for slightly better insulation in a ceramic tumbler that can go in the microwave and the dishwasher, the Mesa is worth considering; if you want to stop spills and keep your drink hot for a long commute, read on. The bottom line Bloomberg found this OXO mug quite difficult to destroy. Dropping it three times from ceiling height before giving up. We like its durability, but the push-button lid is the only one we tested that isn’t dishwasher safe, and it traps a good quantity of fluid in the spout even after it’s closed, which makes it messy to drink from. The discontinued champion: CamelBak – Forge Thermos is the oldest and best-known name in insulated drink containers in the western world (“thermos” became such a prevalent word that US courts ruled it was legal to use as a generic term for insulated bottles in 1963). We tested the Thermos – Stainless King Travel Mug along with our runner-up, the Thermos – Sipp. Vector Files: These file types usually have .eps, .ai or .pdf at the end of their file name. Instead of using pixels, they use mathematical formulas to create shapes. This means that they can be scaled infinitely without losing quality. The Contigo Autoseal system is great for convenient spill-free sipping, but its springs and levers are immersed in your pumpkin-spice foam and nutmeg sprinkles.