Quest for the Perfect Travel Mug

Many years ago, my mother-in-law handed us a free travel mug that she had received. She didn't want it since she had a full cupboard of thermos type containers. Apparently it is one of the favored freebies that pharmaceutical companies give to physicians and my father-in-law was forever bringing them home.

I loved that thing. I used it every morning for years. It kept my tea warm for hours. It held approximately a billion ounces of liquid. It survived being dropped over and over again with hardly a scratch. It had a lid that screwed on super tight that never leaked. To drink from it, you simply twisted the lid, a little opening opened, and you drank. It was, as far as I am concerned, the perfect travel mug. And then one day I left it on the bus. I freaked out, tried desperately to find it, and then had to resign myself to the idea that I need to get a new travel mug for my tea in the morning (and afternoon and evening).

The quest for a new thermal mug began with another freebie mug from the in-laws. Unfortunately, the lid leaked and it wasn't well insulated so it didn't keep my tea warm for long at all.

I spent more than I like to admit to buy an actual Thermos Brand Vacuum-Insulated Leak-Proof Travel Mug from a local sporting goods store (see below). It has some really good points. It keeps tea warm for hours. It has also survived its fair share of falls from high distances. It is highly leakproof. However, it holds a mere fourteen ounces. Probably more problematic is that it is really hard to open to take a sip. You need to twist the lid and sometimes the seal is so good that it takes a person with super human strength (or a pair of pliers) to open it. There can be too much of a good thing and in this case, that is the leakproof nature of the mug.


So fine. The Thermos would work, but only in limited situations in which the lid could remain open for the duration of its need. That might work when I am in the car, but it's not going to work for me on my day to day commutes on the bus. Enter the Contigo.


I have been using the Contigo Travel Mug for several months. The boy got it on super special discount at the bike shop where he works part-time. There are some definite pluses to this travel mug. It holds 16 ounces, so slightly more than the Thermos. The folks at Contigo claim that it is leakproof (I'll get back to this in a second). Basically, you screw on the lid after putting in your delicious hot beverage and press the button located on the side to sip and release the button to create the leakproof lock. It doesn't keep the tea as warm for as long as the Thermos, but it will keep it warm for quite some time.

Mostly I like it. It's easy to clean. It's not impossible to unscrew the lid like the Thermos. But. It's not at all leakproof. When I throw that bad boy in my bag, if something hits the button, it leaks. All over everything (papers! books!) in my bag. Okay, fine. Don't put it in your bag then. Fine. If I carry it, along with my purse, my school bag, and the bag I have to carry around for my part-time job, I then must juggle it, and occasionally (or every other day) I will accidentally hit the button while I am attempting to get my bus pass out of my purse and then I will have hot tea all down my skirt for the rest of the day.

So I am still stuck on an odyssey for the perfect travel mug. Please help me.