Top Travel Mug For 2024, We've Tested More Than 20 To Find Out
We wanted to figure out which is really the top travel mug so we’ve been putting lots of products to the test. Whilst there are a few factors when deciding on the top travel mug, probably the most important is which will actually keep your tea or coffee hot. This article explains the things which influence how long a travel mug will keep drinks hot and goes into details on how we design and run our tests. First lets cut to the chase and find out which travel mugs come out on top!
Top Travel Mug, The Winners
We’ve awarded top travel mug status to these products as they’ve come out on top in our insulation performance tests but have also been used by our team over the past years and months and overall they’re all very worthy winners.
To keep things comparable, we’re using data from testing the 16-18oz size options as this is the most popular sized travel mug. You can expect the smaller or larger size options of these products to keep drinks hot for a little shorter or longer respectively across the board.
Where insulation performance is the same, we’ve placed the travel mugs according to their other features.
1st Place - Zojirushi Flip Open Bottle
Zojirushi’s insulated mugs and bottles are the clear winners at keeping drinks hot, with their 16oz bottle achieving a whopping 17 hours in our testing. The flip top bottle is our favorite and is likely to meet most peoples needs for a travel mug. As well as superior insulation performance Zojirushi make the lightest and most compact travel mugs we’ve found. The flip top is easy to use and keeps the drinking spout covered when you’re not sipping your coffee. Add to all of this that its fully leakproof with a lockable lid so you can confidently toss it in your bag. A well deserved 1st place for the Japanese Zojirushi brand!
2nd Place - Stanley Aerolight Transit Bottle
With Stanley cups trending, if you’re looking for an insta worthy travel mug version then this is the one for you. Stanley has long been synonymous with quality thermos’ in America, backed up by their lifetime warranty. The Stanley Aerolight 16oz bottle keeps coffee hot for up to 10 hours. Whilst it doesn’t keep drinks hot for quite as long as the Zojirushi it is almost as light and has the advantage of being fully dishwasher safe.
3rd Place - Klean Kanteen TKWide With Cafe Cap
Klean Kanteen’s TKWide bottle with their Cafe Cap is another great travel mug option. Like the Stanley Aerolight, the 16oz size can keep coffee hot for up to 10 hours. Its also leakproof like the other options but comes in a little heavier and bulkier. The TKWide does have a top carry handle though as well as interchangeable lids which might make it the better option for you. The Klean Kanteen brand might also interest you for their eco-friendly and responsible business practices too, you can read more about the brand in our full review.
4th Place - YETI Rambler Bottle With HotShot Lid
There is no doubt that YETI make fantastic drinkware, renowned for their ruggedness and durability. When it comes to insulation performance the 18oz bottle matches the Stanley and Klean Kanteen keeping coffee hot for up to 10 hours in our testing. The hotshot lid option insulates much better than the other Rambler bottle lids. The toughened exterior does mean the YETI is the heaviest of our top 5 but it also means you can expect less damage if you drop it.
5th Place - Fellow Carter Mug
There are few travel mugs that look as good as the Fellow Carter Mug. With its slide lock travel mug lid, the 16oz can also keep drink hot for up to 10 hours. You can also use it with a “Move” lid which essentially transforms the mug into a thermos flask. With the flask lid the 16oz size can keep coffee hot for up to 14 hours but it does mean you have to completely remove the lid to drink or decant your coffee. The unique thing about this mug is its ceramic lined interior which helps to prevent metallic tastes in your drink.
If you’re still thinking about which would be best for you, the table below comparing the top 5 might help.
| Zojirushi 16oz Flip Open Mug | Stanley 16oz Aerolight Transit Bottle | Klean Kanteen 16oz TKWide Bottle with Cafe Cap | YETI Rambler 18oz Bottle with Hot Shot Lid | Fellow Carter 16oz Bottle with slide lid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Standard Price | $55 | $30 | $32.95 | $30 | $35 |
| How Many Hours Does It Keep Coffee Hot (>120F) in a room temperature environment | 17 hours | 10 hours | 10 hours | 10 hours | 10 hours |
| Cup Weight ( Empty Inc lid) | 7.2 ounces | 8.64 ounces | 13.9 ounces | 19.2 ounces | 12.8 ounces |
| Height (Inc lid) | 8.75" | 8" | 8.65" | 10.2" | 7.9" |
| Width | 2.65" | 2.8" | 3" | 3" | 3" |
| Fits in a standard 3” cupholder? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lid Opening | Flip | Flip | Twist | Twist | Slide |
| Leakproof | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dishwasher Safe | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Interchangeable Lid Options | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interior Lining | Stainless Steel/Teflon Coating | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Ceramic |
| Manufactured In | Thailand | China | China | China | China |
| Warranty Period | 5 years | Lifetime | Lifetime | 5 years | 30 days |
| Read Our Full Review |
In case you’re wondering which didn’t make the 5 top travel mugs, here’s how some of the other popular mugs we’ve tested so far performed in our insulation tests, including links to our full reviews. These are listed in order of how long they kept drinks hot. When comparing brands, only the results for similar sizes will be comparable. I’ve explained this more in the rest of the article where I go into details about the testing.
How We Test For The Top Travel Mug
Factors That Can Affect How Long A Travel Mug Keeps Coffee Hot
- The volume of coffee: a larger volume of coffee will stay hot for longer than a smaller volume of coffee, therefore some of the larger travel mugs may appear to perform best.
- How full the mug is: if you put the same amount of coffee into 2 mugs of different sizes, the mug with the least amount of free space may keep the coffee hot for longer than the mug with more free capacity. If keeping your coffee hot is the most important aspect of your travel mug then you need to choose a size that best matches the amount of coffee you want to travel with.
- The external environment: the temperature of the coffee will be affected by the temperature of the air outside the mug, for example if you take a travel mug outside in cold weather it will not keep coffee hot for as long as it would indoors in a warm room.
- The type/size of opening for drinking: and whether you leave it open or closed when not drinking.
Testing How Long A Mug Keeps Coffee Hot
I designed some tests to look more closely at how long mugs do keep coffee hot. I will keep adding results here as I look at new products. Of course, insulation performance is only one thing that you might consider when choosing a mug, whether a mug leaks or how easily it can be cleaned may be equally important to you. Check out our full product reviews to learn more about the products mentioned here.
I keep a number of things consistent through each of the tests:
- Each mug is filled to capacity during testing. If the cup were less full, or as you drink from the cup, the performance would degrade a little.
- The starting temperature of the hot water/coffee in each mug is 180°F/82°C . The recommended brew temperature for coffee is around 200°F, resulting in typical poured temperature of around 180°F.
- I test the length of time the mug can hold the temperature of the hot water/coffee above 120°F/49°C. Most people prefer to drink their coffee above 120°F, especially when you have invested in an insulated travel mug.
- The same thermometer is used during all testing.
- Each mug is opened/tested the same number of times and in the same time intervals.
- The mug is shaken before taking temperature each time to prevent measuring any warm/cold spots.
- Where possible a new mug is used for testing to eliminate any effects of damage or deterioration and ensure a fair comparison between mugs.
- The mug is at room temperature at the start of the testing, they are not pre-heated. You may be able to further extend the length of time the mug will keep coffee hot if you do pre-heat it.
Test 1 - Duration Mug Keeps Coffee Hot In Room Temperature With Closed Lid
The ambient room temperature around the mug is kept at 72°F/22°C during this test. This test is designed to test the best case performance of the mugs by keeping them closed throughout testing. This test also allows you see how the mug would perform in a real scenario where you don’t plan to drink the coffee for hours after brewing. You can also see from the results above, which mug might actually keep coffee too hot for you.
During this test the mug lid is opened only very briefly for temperature testing. If the lid has a sliding/lifting opening for drinking, the temperature is taken via this, if not the full lid is briefly removed as you would when taking a drink.
Test 2 - Duration Mug Keeps Coffee Hot In Room Temperature With Open Lid
In this test if the mug has a drink opening it is kept in the open position for the duration of the test.
The ambient room temperature around the mug is kept at 72°F/22°C during this test, as per test 1. This test is designed to show how much heat is lost when the mug is opened for drinking as it might typically be in your car or on your desk. Some mugs such as a Stanley trigger action or Contigo autoseal can only be opened briefly by pressing a button and they have been excluded from this test. They do not loose a lot of heat during drinking as they are only ever opened momentarily, I have included their results from test 1 here for comparison.
You likely would not leave the lid open for drinking continuously so you would likely see better results than these and myself and the team do in our day to day use.
Test 3 - Duration Mug Keeps Coffee Hot In Colder Conditions
This test replicates Test 1, but this time the mugs are in an ambient temperature of 40°F/4°C to emulate the scenario where you will be outside in cold temperatures with your mug on a hike or at a football game for example. All of the mugs I have tested are impacted by this change in outside temperature to some degree.