​Best tripping coffee mug?

[Guest]

I use an old insulated Bodum stainless steel coffee mug, mostly because that is what I had around that fit my coffee cup criteria, and because it has proven Grumman-like unkillable.





The Bodum cup works, but it is heavy, metastable tapered \_/, and, being all metal, it cools off rather quickly.

The criteria:

Well insulated. Really well insulated; if I pre-chilled the inside maybe I could use it for (discrete) beers. Mostly I want a lingering 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] cuppa to last an hour while I pack up and load the boat. I like hot coffee, I like cold coffee. Tepid coffee, not so much.

Holds 2 cups, cylindrically shaped, with no packing space awkward handle. A little flare or flange at the base would be nice for stability, but weirdo /__\ shapes do not pack efficiently.

With a lid to keep the bugs out. Something gasket sealed, easy to orient and screw in place without bleary eyed where’s my coffee cross threading. Don’t expect too much out of me without morning caffeine.

And, perhaps most importantly, a lid that sips, and first scalding nectar slurps, without leaks, drips or misaligned dribbles. Who the heck designed this lid that dribbles coffee down my beard and onto my shirt? Seriously, no one in the design team tried to actually drink from this thing?

We have a storage box full of sundry insulated travel mugs accumulated over the years, and most of them are crap for one reason or another. Too heavy, poorly insulated, hard to grasp/hold, awkward to orient the sip lid in the correct handle direction, drippy.

I’m ready for an improved camp coffee cup. What do you use?

Maybe two new coffee mugs. My Toyota Tacoma has cup holders that do not work well with most travel mugs. I have an (awful in every way) REI insulated coffee cup that does fit in the cup holders. Sometimes it fits too well and gets stuck. And it is a sip lid dribbler. If I could find a proper Tacoma travel mug I’d go to the dump just to throw that thing as far as I could.

A driving mug needs a handle, so I can orient the sip-spot facing my lips unseen at O-dark-thirty without pouring coffee on my shoulder. Maybe a 3 or 4 cupper for the truck; all the better to take into a convenience store and ask “How much to fill this up?”

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

This one:

It's the exact one (by Liquid Solutions) that fits all my vehicles and that I take camping. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be sold anymore, for I'd like to buy two more. It's advantages for me:

-- It holds 22 ounces. (He who JetBoils least, JetBoils best.)

-- It's insulated.

-- It's not thick-walled like lots of plastic insulated mugs, which don't fit in my vehicle cup holders.

-- It's got parallel sides (cylindrical). Mugs that are narrower on the bottom than on the top (\_/) are intolerable in both vehicle and bush. They are tip-overs waiting to happen. Mugs that are wider at bottom than on top (/_\) are intolerable in a vehicle, but may be tolerable in the bush. Not sure; don't like 'em.

-- It has a top closure, which keeps out airborne things, both organic and inorganic, and helps prevent disaster spills if the mug does tip over.

-- And, very importantly for canoe travel and portaging, it has curved handle with a small gap on the bottom. This allows it to be "clipped" onto a line, strap, hook or other things in your canoe or on your pack. Some mugs have carabiner handles to provide clip-ability, but I don't like the shape of most of them.

-- It used to come in flashy colors. Mine's red.

 

[wgiles]

I use a stainless steel vacuum bottle by Bubba. It was cheap, holds about a pint and has a sipping lid that doesn't leak when turned upside down. These have a slim taper toward the bottom, but are fairly stable, don't leak and hold heat for several hours.

I've heard good reports on the Yeti Ramblers and might get one of the bottles if I see a good price. I would like to see one in a store first.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I use a double walled stainless mug from MEC. Or three . At one time they had lids.
They hold coffee hot fine forv30 min in the summer. Better than my favorite mug at home

I might add Reflectix to the outside with duct tape for cold weather
Once upon a time Amazon packaged in mini bubble wrap and that was a perfect insulator with duct tape

 

[Odyssey]

Coffee mugs are one of those items we scarcely give a second thought to. A receptacle for my morning joe, what's so complicated about that? But over the centuries there must have been scribblers and doodlers with time on their hands wishing they could improve on the simple sea shell, hewn stone bowl or carved wooden cup. I'm glad they have. Travel mugs with cool to the touch sides (I need that), a non-tippy design (I need that too) and a sealed spill proof lid (my shirts need that) are ideal for camp coffee time. What I've settled on is pretty simple though; a cheapo plastic travel mug with all those features that also cools down quickly enough to reduce the lip blistering experiences of the first sips at 6 am. My cuppa never lasts longer than half an hour anyway, so I can always wander back for a refill from the pot. An insulated super sexy stainless steel Star Wars kinda prop just doesn't do it for me. I wound up giving all those away. An unbreakable, colour coded (light blue-Bailey's coffee for her, navy blue-whiskey coffee for moi) pair of plastic improvements on the old stone bowls of our ancestors have been in our kitchen kit for years.

BUT, I'm one of those unsophisticated slobs you see driving in the slow lane of life with a shloppy cup of jolt'n joe staining my morning shirt as I hum to the radio tunes heading to work. Those uber designed yuppie collector's items you'll find in every trendy high end cafe/book shoppe/wifi spacey docking station/hipster hangout won't cut the mustard with me. They're all great I'm sure, but I really am happy slumming it with an imperfect mug thrown on a local potter's wheel. Seeing the potter's thumb print in the handle and scratchy signature underneath puts me in touch with the past, when long ago an apprentice sat in a dusty corner waiting for the kiln to finish firing, scribbling and doodling away at designs for a new and improved drinking cup.

 

[ThreeScoutDad]

Might check out www.RTICcoolers.com. They have 10, 20, and 30 oz cups with varies types of lids, and add on handles. A very similiar design to the Yeti; however, 1/4 the cost.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I guess those of you who use open top mugs with no lids must not drink from your mug in your canoe while canoeing. I always bring my cup of tea with me into the canoe in the morning, so a lid is essential. So is clip-ability.

 

[Robin]

I like my Coleman 12oz. enamel $2.99 metal cup, blue with white speckles. I like the fact that I can reheat the coffee right in the cup, just by placing the cup on some hot coals. Gotta have hot coffee, just watch your lips if the cup gets too hot...ouch.

Goes good with a Swisher Sweet Perfecto just after some fresh pickerel out of a cold handle...hahaa

 

[Mihun09]

Any vessel that holds freshly percolated coffee.

We use what Robin does, simple blue enamel steel cups, mine holds half the pot, we drink before we leave camp.

 

[latremorej]

I can use just about anything. Size isn't so much an issue as i have cut the handle off of my GSI coffee press and made it a reflectix coozie. It will hold the coffee too hot to drink for about 40 minutes in the summer. I have been using the small stainless double wall tumbler from rei. I removed the rubber bottom and glued the male side of some industrial velcro in its place. This allows me to stick the female side to my thwart. No tip overs. I also have a double wall stainless Coleman beverage coozie that I have also stuck velcro too. No ice cold beer tip overs either. No matter how hard I set the hook. I have used that coozie as a coffee/whisky cup when I forgot the mug. If I could find a lid to fit it, I would leave the rei tumbler at home.

Jason

 

[redoleary]

I have one of these little gems; Kapilka Cup. Its small but I don't mind, I don't like to drink from a cup with a lid but I do like my coffee hot so the small volume allows for frequent refills and not enough time for it to get cold. That being said, when I winter camp I'll use a cup with a lid because I'm flexible like that.
I did however modify my kapilka cup because I prefer a more traditional mug style handle. View attachment ilyR7ECeEUMDB7LvgGepS-Riv8nEb95kiVAIdLUIifkCLzmDA1m9OvqO1at9cIC3KWeRahwLVZEtvKoYVMfTiauPS_GrjBbTDMgu

 

[yellowcanoe]

I can use just about anything

entering hot water here... a bailer? yes it was coffee

 

[BWCA66]

I agree with Robin, usually a nice enamel metal cup is what I take. The only question is which one?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Oh no question.. The one on the right second from the bottom. It matches my enamel chamberpot exactly. I like enamelware too.!

 

[Muskrat]

Interesting info from my friend today. Yeti for under $10.

"If you are into Yeti Tumblers, don't spend $40 bucks on the Yeti Brand ones. The exact same thing is available at Walmart, under the Ozark Trail brand.

My co-worker, who is our mechanical engineer, was in tawain, china, etc. last week visiting all of our suppliers and he went to the factory that makes the Yeti and Ozark Trail tumblers. The two tumblers use the exact same molds and materials. Yeti is actually suing walmart for copyright infringement."

 

[Guest]

Interesting info from my friend today. Yeti for under $10.

"If you are into Yeti Tumblers, don't spend $40 bucks on the Yeti Brand ones. The exact same thing is available at Walmart, under the Ozark Trail brand.

My co-worker, who is our mechanical engineer, was in tawain, china, etc. last week visiting all of our suppliers and he went to the factory that makes the Yeti and Ozark Trail tumblers. The two tumblers use the exact same molds and materials. Yeti is actually suing walmart for copyright infringement."

I was heading to WallyWorld this week to pick up bird seed. If I like what I see (and one fits the Tacoma cup holders) I may be coming back with a coffee tumbler or two.

 

[Chip]

I have an (awful in every way) REI insulated coffee cup that does fit in the cup holders. Sometimes it fits too well and gets stuck. And it is a sip lid dribbler. If I could find a proper Tacoma travel mug I’d go to the dump just to throw that thing as far as I could.

A driving mug needs a handle, so I can orient the sip-spot facing my lips ”

The only problem with my REI mug is that you can't find them anymore. The consumer cycle moves on and retailers and the Chinese suppliers constantly "upgrade" their inventory. It's life in the consumption economy.

I used to fix a mug of coffee that I would toss in my bag, which bag went on my bike with me to the train station (15 minute ride including on cold winter mornings), then onto the train for 20 minutes, then another 10 or 15 minutes from train to desk. The coffee was so hot it would burn my mouth an hour after I left home. It didn't leak along the way, either. It did not have a handle, and handles complicate putting the cup into the Taco's cup holder anyway. There is a push-button mechanism on the top that opened the sipping mechanism. To prevent inadvertent depression of that button, which would have been disaster in my bag, there is a hinged cap that covers the button, and is an unmistakable indicator of where the sippy spout is.

I don't use it anymore. I quit drinking coffee. I'll put it in the mail to Mike and he can use it for the mug trials which are sure to follow.

 

[Guest]

It did not have a handle, and handles complicate putting the cup into the Taco's cup holder anyway. There is a push-button mechanism on the top that opened the sipping mechanism. To prevent inadvertent depression of that button, which would have been disaster in my bag, there is a hinged cap that covers the button, and is an unmistakable indicator of where the sippy spout is.

As much as I like having a handle on the driving mug, so that I know the sip spot is oriented towards my maw in the dark, the one on my current REI mug is problematic in the Taco cup holders.

It seems that a lot of the currently available stainless steel coffee receptacles are “tumblers” with no handle. If I find a Taco tumbler that suits my criteria I may G/flex some indicator on the backside where my fingers would grab to assure the correct orientation.

A trip down memory lane; my 1984 Toyota Hi-Lux did not have a single cup holder. The best place to set a coffee cup was on the transmission hump in front of the bench seat. Those / _\ shaped ceramic mugs were ideal for that.

Hard to imagine a car or truck without cup holders. The new Tacoma has 5, or 9 if you count the ones in the doors.

 

[sweeper]

I have 2, a blue enamel for my first cup of coffee of the morning (and spirits at night) and a http://www.hydroflask.com/16-oz-wide-mouth#92=60 for the rest of the coffee so I don't have to reheat it.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Interesting info from my friend today. Yeti for under $10.

"If you are into Yeti Tumblers, don't spend $40 bucks on the Yeti Brand ones. The exact same thing is available at Walmart, under the Ozark Trail brand.

My co-worker, who is our mechanical engineer, was in tawain, china, etc. last week visiting all of our suppliers and he went to the factory that makes the Yeti and Ozark Trail tumblers. The two tumblers use the exact same molds and materials. Yeti is actually suing walmart for copyright infringement."

LOL. I saw a Yeti coffee cup in the hardware store. Hubby had sent me to find an esoteric hose clamp size ( of course he stayed home) On my way to the register with my $1.79 I went by a shelf of Yeti Mugs. Now reduced to
$34? YGBKM. I buy expensive coffee because we have a microroaster in town but not a cup!!
I have about a dozen insulated mugs from whatever workplace I was at and LLBean and conferences. Some are good some are trash. My husband loves his clear insulated mug from his former company
I can't drink coffee out of a clear mug... Just not right.

and in the end I forgot all about getting the reflectix I wanted to get.

I have a 2009 Forester. It has two squares in the center console that are too small for coffee mugs.. WTF? My daughter has a minivan. I think we counted eight seats and sixteen cup holders.. Really..two per person?