Travel mugs are any type of disposable cup or glass from which you can drink a liquid – say, coffee – while wandering around the world. Many coffee drinkers find that travel mugs have a significant advantage over plastic or paper takeaway cups because they are reusable, reduce waste, and keep the drink at the right temperature for longer. For some, it may even offer it the thrill of being relevant on social media. It may have a spill-proof screw-on cap so you can throw it straight into your bag, or it may have a spill-proof lid, making it more suitable for walking or driving.
A travel mug may be described as thermal, insulated or vacuum insulated, which means it is specifically constructed to keep chilly items chilly and scorching items heated, much like McDLT container, but it didn’t work out. When it comes to beverage containers, the terms “thermal” and “insulated” are more or less interchangeable – but if you care about temperature control, choose a vessel that has vacuum insulation as one of its features.
A “normal” insulated or double-walled mug may simply have a gap between the two sets of walls and gradually transfer the chilly to the scorching coffee, the heat to the iced coffee, or the heat from the scorching coffee to the user’s hand – no thanks! On the other hand, a vacuum insulated mug or tumbler is a double-walled vessel that has had the air between the inner and outer walls of the cup removed, leaving nothing inside to transfer heat (because, well, there’s nothing there). Over time, your drink will continue to chilly or heated in the vacuum insulated container – but you may be surprised how long your drink stays heated or chilly.
Ok, how long does a drink stay heated or chilly?
We turned to Anthony Dickson, CEO of the popular Seattle-based drinkware manufacturer MiR for chilly facts about drink temperature. Dickson believes that cup manufacturers cannot promise a specific temperature because there is no agreed temperature standard for “scorching” and “chilly” to begin with, but notes that the lid will be an crucial factor in maintaining the desired temperature of the drink.
“Your two different types of lids will be sealing lids, something that screws on or [a lid with] some kind of flip-flop,” Dickson says. “The thermal properties are interconnected there. If the lid is truly airtight, the thermal properties of the vessel will be much higher than those with a petite zipper designed more for portability,” he continues. “Warm air rises and will find every little hole for you to drink from.”
But if you want your drink to stay scorching for a long time, what “still scorching” means is quite subjective, Dickson says. He says that with a vacuum-insulated vessel, “you can expect to pour scorching coffee into your mug at, say, 6:30 a.m. when you leave the house, and it will still be at the desired drinking temperature at the end of the day.”
Who should we thank for this technology?
Although the thermos – or thermos – was first invented in 1892 by Scotsman Sir James Dewar, the glass interior chamber used in this invention made it less than sturdy for the portability one would expect. It was in 1913 when William Stanley Jr. of Brooklyn developed the invention of a vacuum-lined chamber made of steel. Early Stanley bottles were used by World War II fighter pilots to heat coffee, by doctors to transport volatile drugs and human organs, and, reportedly, by cattle ranchers to transport bull semen for artificial insemination. Today, we have better methods for many of the latter cases, but we still haven’t found anything that can keep coffee heated atop a vacuum-insulated steel bottle.
Wow ok. So what materials are thermal mugs most often made of? Are these materials sheltered?
The best coffee travel mugs made today usually have a stainless steel body and may have a lid made of stainless steel or BPA-free plastic. Some of these mugs are coated with enamel or “ceramic” (this definition is a bit loose, so check before purchasing), and some are lined with copper for additional insulating properties. All of these different materials can affect taste, and which one is right for you will be a matter of personal preference.
Is it more environmentally cordial to exploit an insulated/travel cup?
Dickson says MiiR uses the term “responsible” instead of “sustainable” because, as he puts it: “The most sustainable cup in the world is the cup you already own.”
But since they are still in the business of selling cups and since you are reading about them, you can consider that each time you exploit a reusable cup, you may remove 1-3 pieces of paper and plastic (cup, lid, straw, etc.) from your waste/recycling stream. The degree to which a cup is used and how many times it needs to be used to recover the environmental costs of production will vary depending on the individual and the production practices (whether they are waste-free, exploit carbon offsets, and exploit recycled materials, etc.) in which you invest. Of course, you also need to wash it with water! Someone could stay up all night doing math, amirite? Maybe just choose a mug that really suits you and give it your all.
Since the pandemic, do cafes even allow you to bring your own cups?
Yes, most coffee shops around the world have reintroduced the practice of allowing – or encouraging, through reduced prices – the exploit of reusable personal cups and glasses, now that science showed that surface transmission of Covid-19 is negligible.
“It was one of the last things to come back,” he says Yo Coffee founder Jonathan Rubinstein, who welcomed reusable cups back to Joe’s coffee shops in the Recent York area after countless COVID restrictions.
“When they came back, there were no issues with employees feeling uncomfortable,” Rubinstein says. “People are using their own cups, I think as regularly as before, because now there is at least as much, if not more, focus on the aspect of saving the planet,” he says.
All thanks to the power of a handsome, reusable cup.
