today we're going to try and answer the
question what is the best reusable cup
for coffee and to try and answer that
question I went out and I bought in a
bunch of different cups there's
different materials different sort of
solutions to the same problem I don't
want to use a paper cup I don't want to
use a disposable cup I want something
that I can use again and again something
we're usable something that will last
something I'll enjoy using every day so
which is the best one what did you buy
so let's find out I have 14 different
cups here I'm going to go through a few
kind of objective tests as well as a
more subjective test at the end of it
what have we got on the table in front
of me well we have the Harry o take away
Cup which is a nice little stainless cap
we have one here from kinto we have the
slightly unusually shaped stock or stoke
I don't I don't know we have the husky
cap we have also the our Cup we have a
deep blue a coffee cup we have a nice
little mix of colors for Frank green
here we've got to keep cups we've got
the new version that has the stainless
steel insulated thing and then the
classic kind of plastic keep Cup as well
we have the hip cup over here we've got
the Carter everywhere from fellow we've
got the brew here Klean Kanteen have
entered the game with their own little
same a steel version and then at the end
here we have the mere reasonable coffee
cup
this is just a quick addendum I posted
to Instagram about this test and I got a
lot of messages telling me about cups
that I'd never heard of so this is
probably gonna be round one so don't
freak out if your favorite cup isn't
here moving on and the tests are gonna
be as follows I'm going to talk you
through a heat retention test to see how
they all did there then we're going to
talk about the bag test very important
test then we're going to talk about the
portability test that's pretty simple
too and then we're going to talk about
the subjective test how do these
actually feel to hold and to drink out
of that's gonna be as much as possible a
kind of blind test we'll see how that
goes so let's talk about let's talk
about temperature retention now at the
end of this there'll be a link in the
description if you want to see a larger
version of this chart but what we did is
we filled each of them up with water at
70 degrees Celsius to mimic kind of
halfway between what a milky coffee
might be in terms of temperature but
also a filter coffee filter will be a
little bit hotter but for the sake of
argument we went with 70 and then every
10 minutes for 30 minutes
we checked the temperature right and we
left the lids on if they had things to
allow them to open or close they were
pretty much closed and we just checked
those temperatures and here's a chart
showing you that outcome
the summary version of it the TLDR
version of this is that stainless steel
dual wall things do way way way better
like way better than other materials
plastics didn't do particularly well in
this materials that like be our cup
that's made of old paper cups or the
husky cup that's made of coffee husks
they they didn't do very well at all
their sucks up quite a lot of heat
radiated out quite a lot of heat those
cups were nice and warm to hold but that
meant the liquid inside got cold pretty
quickly you may not want your coffee to
stay hot for a very long time
one of the frustrating things about
really good thermoses is that an hour
later you still can't drink your coffee
so bear in mind if you wanted to go cold
probably avoid the stainless steel stuff
but if you do want to keep that heat as
long as possible they all do a good
enough job well let's move on to the
back test now the bag test
says when I finish drinking this coffee
can I just throw this cup in my bag or
would it make a terrible mess this is a
pretty simple test to conduct we put a
little splash of coffee in each of these
cups turn them upside down and we shook
them
friend green pass Husky Carter keep cut
the other cube cup purse the e coffee
cup fail kinto fail stock sale Nia fail
hurry o pass brew fail the are cup pass
the hip cup fail now you could argue
that this is a little bit unfair because
not all of these are promising to have a
leak-proof lid but even some cases where
it looked like the lids were leak proof
they weren't the Stoke thing as the
Stoke didn't seal in the way that I
would have expected it to the brew says
on the package that it doesn't seal the
hip doesn't really say anything but they
do leak they would drip you couldn't
just put it in your bag when you were
done without the risk of some coffee
ending up on your stuff it leaves
there's one more simple objective test
which was the cup holder test because
not everyone's gonna walk with these or
carry them on a train you know they're
gonna brew some coffee get in the car
go to work and on that journey maybe
they want to drink their coffee and now
only to really failed that test which
was the Carter everywhere and the brew
these are just a bit too big
everything else fit everything else had
no real issues just those two it's
important to bear in mind that this is a
bit of a challenge which leads us to the
more subjective piece of this which is
what are these like to drink from and
this is also a pretty good chance to
kind of give you some summary thoughts
on on each of these cups as we go that's
okay it's a nice tactile experience it
feels pleasant to hold to drink out of
it's okay the rim is pretty thick
actually which I don't think I'd noticed
before this is what the blindfold is all
about this little silicon rubber thing
smells bad they don't like that it's I
don't really like drinking out of
silicone yeah fine
okay I definitely preferred the harder
plastics to this sort of soft silicones
to drink out of this this cup is a weird
shape I'm not actually sure how I'm
supposed to hold it how it's supposed to
fit in the hand it doesn't really feel
natural at any point it's got these
little wide bits I'm not into that okay
as the drinking experience it's
completely fine I just find that
actually quite an awkward cup to hold I
don't actually really enjoy having the
little pop top of this against your lip
as you drink but some writing as my nose
this is fine this feels nice it's quite
a pleasant cup to hold as a mixture of
materials in this little rubbery base
feels good to drink out of the hole
might actually be a touch small which is
disappointing yeah that could do with
being a slightly bigger hole it's kind
of fine I don't actually love the
tactile feel of this shape again it
doesn't feel particularly natural in the
hand that feels a little bit difficult
to hold actually yeah okay tactile is
nice on this to drink out of this this
rim is a little bit thick for me
actually like it's a little bit chunky
it feels a bit awkward on the lips it's
okay but I wish this were a little bit
thinner here you come on the same again
here this rim is not joyful to drink out
of yeah it's good it's fine
you have no real issues with that either
again it's a chunky kind of lip piece
here that I'm not sure as is pleasurable
it's not unpleasant it lives in that
middle world of blanket I don't know
pine I mean nice the thin rim is is nice
to drink from it feels almost sharp but
it's definitely Pleasant yeah it's
pretty nice to drink out of it feels the
least like drinking out of a takeaway
cup something about that little kind of
tiny gap here it's definitely less
pleasant to drink out of I don't like
that narrowing no it's another chunky
lip bit here that's just not very nice
to drink out of mm-hmm
no I definitely don't like that and to
wrap up I'm gonna try and give you a
quick summary of each of these cups now
I'm moving to keep these these get given
away because this whole review is
powered by patreon I'm given a budget
each month to go out and buy these
things I don't know anyone anything and
I can say what I like and then I give
them away at the end to my patreon
supporters now one quick thing to note
for two of these cups you could argue
that I have a bias and I need to
disclose that at this point firstly the
Husky cups are sold by square-mile
online and secondly KeepCup we've worked
with them in Prufrock and so i there's a
relationship there I guess - I've tried
not to let that cloud my decision-making
by trying to be as objective as possible
here but I do need to disclose these
things so let's start with the hip cup
it is cheaper and that for me is it's
one kind of redeeming feature I don't
love drinking out of it I don't of
holding it it doesn't pass a bunch of
the objective tests it leaks it doesn't
go in the bag I don't love it but it's
cheap then for some people that's really
really important and I'm not gonna
dismiss that next up is the e coffee cup
now this one I sort of have to dismiss
on the grounds that some recent research
I think but German researchers showed
that a lot of the bamboo cups of which
this is one are leaching some reasonably
unpleasant materials when you put really
hot water in them aside from that I
didn't really love it anyway I don't
love the silicon lid I don't love
drinking out of it didn't do well in
there more retention I'd probably pass
and then we have the askew cup I like
the look I like the feel I love the
story behind it it's materials you
it is I think a good cut for lots of
people and not a good cut for lots of
people if you want your drinks cooled
down in a hurry fine if you want them to
last a long time this is not for you so
while I like it it may not be for
everyone
the kinto this one I like the look I
like the feel it's pretty big size it
doesn't seal and that's kind of a
deal-breaker for me and I didn't
particularly enjoy drinking out of it
but it is charming in its way I just
don't think it's a contender here for
the best of the best the kata everywhere
which is a really interesting product
it's like the Apple home pod of
reasonable cups and looks aside the
materials are nice the finish is nice
but I don't get it by having a cup you
have to sort of take the lid off of well
this isn't a cup this is like a thermos
you can drink out of and the problem
there is that if I'm walking down the
street I'd have to stop to drink out of
it because otherwise it's going down my
face down my front I'm gonna make a mess
right like I need some sort of lid to
control the flow while strutting my
stuff down the street that doesn't work
for me I'd be nervous drinking out of
this in a car or on a train or certainly
on underground transport something that
would rattle and move around I don't
necessarily understand why they built a
man like this that is so restrictive in
its usage if they'd had some sort of
adapter inside to control the flow to
make it more functional that would have
made it a whole lot better for me but
really it's just a thermos you can drink
out of the hereo I like a lot about this
this is not a bad little cup at all but
it is disqualified on two counts for me
firstly I feel like the design is really
about fitting into the rest of the
product lineup but it's not about being
pleasant to hold it's it's a difficult
shape for the hand secondly it's too
tall if you're a filter coffee drinker
then fine but if you're not that's just
not going underneath the group head of
anyone's espresso machine and that's a
real restriction and a kind of oversight
for me which makes it a little
frustrating and then the Frank green and
what I did like the materials actually
and the color combinations and stuff
there were some flaws it didn't keep the
heat particularly well and Walla is bag
safe that drinking hole was a little bit
frustrating for me to drink out of them
and and not
best of the best as an experience and
then the Stoke I guess it's nice it
feels nice to hold it feels premium the
materials are good it kept the heat well
it looks like it should pass the bag
test but it didn't it leaked and I don't
really know why it looks like it should
seal and the drinking experience was not
the best drinking experience was bad I
just wish they had gone for a thinner
rim it just feels much nice to drink
from when this isn't really really thick
now the Klean Kanteen for me was da de
lis disappointing they make really nice
really premium water bottles that lots
of people like but I feel like this
whole cup is a little bit of an
afterthought the lid is okay to drink
from but is no way close to being kind
of bag proof or sealable it would make a
terrible mess very easily it's an OK
drinking experience it kept the heat
well enough but I think I expected
better but then the brew it's chunky
it's solid it's a funny shape it's a
really big cut but I don't know why it's
too big it doesn't fit on a typical car
holder that's really weird to me it
doesn't seal particularly well it
doesn't say it does it it says quite
clearly when you buy it this is not leak
proof but I wish it was as a drinking
experience it's not graded some of a
fairly thick rimmed cup to drink from I
didn't love it it was okay it kept the
heat well enough but not my choice the
mere is kind of God it's a funny shape
and to be honest not a lot a pleasing
shape to look at the materials are fine
it kept the heat well it's not even
close to a leak-proof relaid which is
another frustration and again another
large rim to drink from which I don't
particularly like then if you do maybe
you'll feel totally differently to me
but I don't think it's a great drinking
experience the are cup again it's a nice
idea a cup made from recycled cups I
think is a good thing reusing stuff is a
good thing the end experience though was
a little disappointing it didn't keep
the heat particularly well and while it
did pass the bag test it's not the most
enjoyable cup to drink from it's nice
that you can drink from anywhere that's
like a plus r+ but having your nose
pressed against the little ceiling part
here isn't that enjoyable the rim
wasn't too bad but it wasn't great
either it's it's okay which leaves us
the to keep cups and and it's hard to
talk about one separately from the other
the original keep cups are okay they
don't keep the heat particularly well
people have complained that the the
plastic can take on unpleasant tastes
and odors over time though I've never
had that experience myself it's sort of
bad drinking experienced by any stretch
and it does pass the backtest but I feel
like this plastic one has been
thoroughly superseded by the much more
expensive stainless steel version and
this is definitely a huge improvement it
keeps the heat well it's perfectly okay
to drink out of it passes the bag test
it's portable it's easy its downside is
its price it's much more expensive than
the plastic version but I feel like of
the ones I tested probably the best but
I still feel like this room for
improvement there could be a better
drinking experience here it could be a
little less expensive at some point I
hope but overall I would say on the
criteria that we tested today this is
probably the best one
question what is the best reusable cup
for coffee and to try and answer that
question I went out and I bought in a
bunch of different cups there's
different materials different sort of
solutions to the same problem I don't
want to use a paper cup I don't want to
use a disposable cup I want something
that I can use again and again something
we're usable something that will last
something I'll enjoy using every day so
which is the best one what did you buy
so let's find out I have 14 different
cups here I'm going to go through a few
kind of objective tests as well as a
more subjective test at the end of it
what have we got on the table in front
of me well we have the Harry o take away
Cup which is a nice little stainless cap
we have one here from kinto we have the
slightly unusually shaped stock or stoke
I don't I don't know we have the husky
cap we have also the our Cup we have a
deep blue a coffee cup we have a nice
little mix of colors for Frank green
here we've got to keep cups we've got
the new version that has the stainless
steel insulated thing and then the
classic kind of plastic keep Cup as well
we have the hip cup over here we've got
the Carter everywhere from fellow we've
got the brew here Klean Kanteen have
entered the game with their own little
same a steel version and then at the end
here we have the mere reasonable coffee
cup
this is just a quick addendum I posted
to Instagram about this test and I got a
lot of messages telling me about cups
that I'd never heard of so this is
probably gonna be round one so don't
freak out if your favorite cup isn't
here moving on and the tests are gonna
be as follows I'm going to talk you
through a heat retention test to see how
they all did there then we're going to
talk about the bag test very important
test then we're going to talk about the
portability test that's pretty simple
too and then we're going to talk about
the subjective test how do these
actually feel to hold and to drink out
of that's gonna be as much as possible a
kind of blind test we'll see how that
goes so let's talk about let's talk
about temperature retention now at the
end of this there'll be a link in the
description if you want to see a larger
version of this chart but what we did is
we filled each of them up with water at
70 degrees Celsius to mimic kind of
halfway between what a milky coffee
might be in terms of temperature but
also a filter coffee filter will be a
little bit hotter but for the sake of
argument we went with 70 and then every
10 minutes for 30 minutes
we checked the temperature right and we
left the lids on if they had things to
allow them to open or close they were
pretty much closed and we just checked
those temperatures and here's a chart
showing you that outcome
the summary version of it the TLDR
version of this is that stainless steel
dual wall things do way way way better
like way better than other materials
plastics didn't do particularly well in
this materials that like be our cup
that's made of old paper cups or the
husky cup that's made of coffee husks
they they didn't do very well at all
their sucks up quite a lot of heat
radiated out quite a lot of heat those
cups were nice and warm to hold but that
meant the liquid inside got cold pretty
quickly you may not want your coffee to
stay hot for a very long time
one of the frustrating things about
really good thermoses is that an hour
later you still can't drink your coffee
so bear in mind if you wanted to go cold
probably avoid the stainless steel stuff
but if you do want to keep that heat as
long as possible they all do a good
enough job well let's move on to the
back test now the bag test
says when I finish drinking this coffee
can I just throw this cup in my bag or
would it make a terrible mess this is a
pretty simple test to conduct we put a
little splash of coffee in each of these
cups turn them upside down and we shook
them
friend green pass Husky Carter keep cut
the other cube cup purse the e coffee
cup fail kinto fail stock sale Nia fail
hurry o pass brew fail the are cup pass
the hip cup fail now you could argue
that this is a little bit unfair because
not all of these are promising to have a
leak-proof lid but even some cases where
it looked like the lids were leak proof
they weren't the Stoke thing as the
Stoke didn't seal in the way that I
would have expected it to the brew says
on the package that it doesn't seal the
hip doesn't really say anything but they
do leak they would drip you couldn't
just put it in your bag when you were
done without the risk of some coffee
ending up on your stuff it leaves
there's one more simple objective test
which was the cup holder test because
not everyone's gonna walk with these or
carry them on a train you know they're
gonna brew some coffee get in the car
go to work and on that journey maybe
they want to drink their coffee and now
only to really failed that test which
was the Carter everywhere and the brew
these are just a bit too big
everything else fit everything else had
no real issues just those two it's
important to bear in mind that this is a
bit of a challenge which leads us to the
more subjective piece of this which is
what are these like to drink from and
this is also a pretty good chance to
kind of give you some summary thoughts
on on each of these cups as we go that's
okay it's a nice tactile experience it
feels pleasant to hold to drink out of
it's okay the rim is pretty thick
actually which I don't think I'd noticed
before this is what the blindfold is all
about this little silicon rubber thing
smells bad they don't like that it's I
don't really like drinking out of
silicone yeah fine
okay I definitely preferred the harder
plastics to this sort of soft silicones
to drink out of this this cup is a weird
shape I'm not actually sure how I'm
supposed to hold it how it's supposed to
fit in the hand it doesn't really feel
natural at any point it's got these
little wide bits I'm not into that okay
as the drinking experience it's
completely fine I just find that
actually quite an awkward cup to hold I
don't actually really enjoy having the
little pop top of this against your lip
as you drink but some writing as my nose
this is fine this feels nice it's quite
a pleasant cup to hold as a mixture of
materials in this little rubbery base
feels good to drink out of the hole
might actually be a touch small which is
disappointing yeah that could do with
being a slightly bigger hole it's kind
of fine I don't actually love the
tactile feel of this shape again it
doesn't feel particularly natural in the
hand that feels a little bit difficult
to hold actually yeah okay tactile is
nice on this to drink out of this this
rim is a little bit thick for me
actually like it's a little bit chunky
it feels a bit awkward on the lips it's
okay but I wish this were a little bit
thinner here you come on the same again
here this rim is not joyful to drink out
of yeah it's good it's fine
you have no real issues with that either
again it's a chunky kind of lip piece
here that I'm not sure as is pleasurable
it's not unpleasant it lives in that
middle world of blanket I don't know
pine I mean nice the thin rim is is nice
to drink from it feels almost sharp but
it's definitely Pleasant yeah it's
pretty nice to drink out of it feels the
least like drinking out of a takeaway
cup something about that little kind of
tiny gap here it's definitely less
pleasant to drink out of I don't like
that narrowing no it's another chunky
lip bit here that's just not very nice
to drink out of mm-hmm
no I definitely don't like that and to
wrap up I'm gonna try and give you a
quick summary of each of these cups now
I'm moving to keep these these get given
away because this whole review is
powered by patreon I'm given a budget
each month to go out and buy these
things I don't know anyone anything and
I can say what I like and then I give
them away at the end to my patreon
supporters now one quick thing to note
for two of these cups you could argue
that I have a bias and I need to
disclose that at this point firstly the
Husky cups are sold by square-mile
online and secondly KeepCup we've worked
with them in Prufrock and so i there's a
relationship there I guess - I've tried
not to let that cloud my decision-making
by trying to be as objective as possible
here but I do need to disclose these
things so let's start with the hip cup
it is cheaper and that for me is it's
one kind of redeeming feature I don't
love drinking out of it I don't of
holding it it doesn't pass a bunch of
the objective tests it leaks it doesn't
go in the bag I don't love it but it's
cheap then for some people that's really
really important and I'm not gonna
dismiss that next up is the e coffee cup
now this one I sort of have to dismiss
on the grounds that some recent research
I think but German researchers showed
that a lot of the bamboo cups of which
this is one are leaching some reasonably
unpleasant materials when you put really
hot water in them aside from that I
didn't really love it anyway I don't
love the silicon lid I don't love
drinking out of it didn't do well in
there more retention I'd probably pass
and then we have the askew cup I like
the look I like the feel I love the
story behind it it's materials you
it is I think a good cut for lots of
people and not a good cut for lots of
people if you want your drinks cooled
down in a hurry fine if you want them to
last a long time this is not for you so
while I like it it may not be for
everyone
the kinto this one I like the look I
like the feel it's pretty big size it
doesn't seal and that's kind of a
deal-breaker for me and I didn't
particularly enjoy drinking out of it
but it is charming in its way I just
don't think it's a contender here for
the best of the best the kata everywhere
which is a really interesting product
it's like the Apple home pod of
reasonable cups and looks aside the
materials are nice the finish is nice
but I don't get it by having a cup you
have to sort of take the lid off of well
this isn't a cup this is like a thermos
you can drink out of and the problem
there is that if I'm walking down the
street I'd have to stop to drink out of
it because otherwise it's going down my
face down my front I'm gonna make a mess
right like I need some sort of lid to
control the flow while strutting my
stuff down the street that doesn't work
for me I'd be nervous drinking out of
this in a car or on a train or certainly
on underground transport something that
would rattle and move around I don't
necessarily understand why they built a
man like this that is so restrictive in
its usage if they'd had some sort of
adapter inside to control the flow to
make it more functional that would have
made it a whole lot better for me but
really it's just a thermos you can drink
out of the hereo I like a lot about this
this is not a bad little cup at all but
it is disqualified on two counts for me
firstly I feel like the design is really
about fitting into the rest of the
product lineup but it's not about being
pleasant to hold it's it's a difficult
shape for the hand secondly it's too
tall if you're a filter coffee drinker
then fine but if you're not that's just
not going underneath the group head of
anyone's espresso machine and that's a
real restriction and a kind of oversight
for me which makes it a little
frustrating and then the Frank green and
what I did like the materials actually
and the color combinations and stuff
there were some flaws it didn't keep the
heat particularly well and Walla is bag
safe that drinking hole was a little bit
frustrating for me to drink out of them
and and not
best of the best as an experience and
then the Stoke I guess it's nice it
feels nice to hold it feels premium the
materials are good it kept the heat well
it looks like it should pass the bag
test but it didn't it leaked and I don't
really know why it looks like it should
seal and the drinking experience was not
the best drinking experience was bad I
just wish they had gone for a thinner
rim it just feels much nice to drink
from when this isn't really really thick
now the Klean Kanteen for me was da de
lis disappointing they make really nice
really premium water bottles that lots
of people like but I feel like this
whole cup is a little bit of an
afterthought the lid is okay to drink
from but is no way close to being kind
of bag proof or sealable it would make a
terrible mess very easily it's an OK
drinking experience it kept the heat
well enough but I think I expected
better but then the brew it's chunky
it's solid it's a funny shape it's a
really big cut but I don't know why it's
too big it doesn't fit on a typical car
holder that's really weird to me it
doesn't seal particularly well it
doesn't say it does it it says quite
clearly when you buy it this is not leak
proof but I wish it was as a drinking
experience it's not graded some of a
fairly thick rimmed cup to drink from I
didn't love it it was okay it kept the
heat well enough but not my choice the
mere is kind of God it's a funny shape
and to be honest not a lot a pleasing
shape to look at the materials are fine
it kept the heat well it's not even
close to a leak-proof relaid which is
another frustration and again another
large rim to drink from which I don't
particularly like then if you do maybe
you'll feel totally differently to me
but I don't think it's a great drinking
experience the are cup again it's a nice
idea a cup made from recycled cups I
think is a good thing reusing stuff is a
good thing the end experience though was
a little disappointing it didn't keep
the heat particularly well and while it
did pass the bag test it's not the most
enjoyable cup to drink from it's nice
that you can drink from anywhere that's
like a plus r+ but having your nose
pressed against the little ceiling part
here isn't that enjoyable the rim
wasn't too bad but it wasn't great
either it's it's okay which leaves us
the to keep cups and and it's hard to
talk about one separately from the other
the original keep cups are okay they
don't keep the heat particularly well
people have complained that the the
plastic can take on unpleasant tastes
and odors over time though I've never
had that experience myself it's sort of
bad drinking experienced by any stretch
and it does pass the backtest but I feel
like this plastic one has been
thoroughly superseded by the much more
expensive stainless steel version and
this is definitely a huge improvement it
keeps the heat well it's perfectly okay
to drink out of it passes the bag test
it's portable it's easy its downside is
its price it's much more expensive than
the plastic version but I feel like of
the ones I tested probably the best but
I still feel like this room for
improvement there could be a better
drinking experience here it could be a
little less expensive at some point I
hope but overall I would say on the
criteria that we tested today this is
probably the best one
