12 Best Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mugs – Mugs for life
Be it for commuters, travels, outing, camping, sports, fitness or recreation, these travel mugs have you covered. Made from stainless steel and durable plastic, these are mugs that keep on giving. With proper care, they are bound to outlast any of your plastic, porcelain or glass mugs.
Paper coffee cups are just as bad as plastics. Lined with plastic, these paper cups are not easily recyclable and would just end up in land fills. In the UK alone, we throw 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year, that’s about 7 million disposable coffee cups every day, and that is just from one country. At the time of writing, there are only three special recycling plants that have the capability to recycle disposable coffee cups.
Ban on straws, plastic bottles and cotton buds are on the way. With talks of charging a levy for every cup sold, it won’t be long before we see a total ban on disposable coffee cups too. Major supermarkets such as Waitrose area already placing a ban on paper cups, encouraging shoppers to bring their own re-usable cups and mugs.
Top 12 Best Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mugs
As a guide, here are the different volumes or cup sizes based on the servings from Starbucks:
- Short: 8 ounces
- Tall: 12 ounces
- Grande: 16 ounces
- Venti: 20 ounces
- Venti Iced: 24 ounces
- Trenta: 31 ounces
This should give you an idea of the amount of coffee, water, hot beverages or cold drinks that the travel mugs below are capable of carrying. Remember to use the headings below to search for the different products featured in our line-up on Amazon.
1. Zojirushi SM-SA48 Stainless Steel Mug
16-Ounce
Some of the best stainless steel tumbler, food jars and mugs come from Zojirushi. The double walled stainless steel body offers plenty of insulation and is able to keep hot beverages hot and cold drinks cold for hours. Using only 18/8 grade stainless steel for its interior it ensures maximum durability and offers the best hygiene for your drinks. For the outer wall, it comes with a Slicksteel finish for enhanced grip and the wide mouth lets you refill it quickly with enough room to squeeze in a few ice cubes if you so wish. Available in 12-ounce, 16-ounce and the bigger 20-ounce capacity (below) and in a healthy choice of colours, you cannot really go wrong with the Zojirushi mugs.
ALSO: Zojirushi SM-SA60 Stainless Steel Mug 20-Ounce
2. Atlin Tumbler Double Wall Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulation Travel Mug
30-Ounce
If you are not one for carrying a mini vacuum flask or thermos jar, then the Atlin Tumbler is for you. Designed with coffee drinkers and travelling in mind, the stainless steel travel mug seats nicely in any cup holder and can hold hot beverages or cold drinks. It has a crystal clear lid and has a whooping capacity of 30-ounce. That’s almost a Trenta sized drink from Starbucks. The vacuum sealed body helps keep the heat in and the cold out for hot beverages or the cold in and the heat out for cold drinks. The clear lid is designed to drink from safely or to use with the included stainless steel straw, a true environmental alternatives to single use paper cups and plastic straws.
3. Contigo SnapSeal Byron Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug
20-Ounce
Contigo has been perfecting their water tumblers and is using their experience to bring us their take on the stainless steel travel mugs. The SnapSeal Byron does not only have a good capacity but keeps hot drinks warm for up to 7 hours and cold drinks cold for up to 18 hours with its Thermalock Vacuum Insulation. A smaller 16-ounce and a bigger 24-ounce variety are also available in different metallic finish and colours.
4. Hydro Flask Double Wall Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug
12 ounce, 16 ounce, 18 ounce, 20 ounce
A double walled and vacuumed insulated stainless steel mug with wide mouth and BPA free hydro flip cap design that lets you access your drink quickly and easily, the Hydro Flask is not only a hot selling product but is available in 12oz, 16oz, 18oz and 20oz sizes. It comes with a slip free finish with powder coating to aid grip and is great for both hot or cold beverages. It is said that the thermos will hold hot drinks and keep it hot for up to 6 hours while keeping cold drinks cold for up to 24 hours. There are plenty of fresh colour choices that one will be spoilt for choice.
5. Contigo AUTOSEAL West Loop Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug
16-Ounce
If you are used to the Contigo water bottles with AutoSeal lids, you are going to like the AutoSeal West Loop. Again, available in various finishes and shades, the stainless steel travel mug has the same easy clean lid and push button, what I like to call the water trigger to let you safely drink from and lock water away for a leak and spill proof use. It keeps hot beverage warm for 5 hours and cold water cool for 12 hours. A bigger 20-ounce version is also available.
ALSO: Contigo AUTOSEAL West Loop Vacuum Insulated Travel Mugs 16-Ounce Two Packs
6. Thermos Stainless King Travel Mug with Handle
16-Ounce
Equipped with a grip friendly handle, turn lock lid, tea bag hook and Thermos’s vacuum insulation technology, the King Travel Mug as a great travel mug to maintain hot liquid for 5 hours and cold for 9 hours. The moderate but sufficient 16-ounce capacity travel mug is designed with the same durability and robustness as with other Thermos products. It’s slender body allows it to fit most cup holders.
7. Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug
16-ounce
Stanley’s iconic design is embodied in the Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug with its exterior wall finish, surface design and retro tones. The Classic One Hand Vacuum is available in Stanley’s famous Hammertone Green, Hammertone Navy and Hammertone Crimson. A smaller 12-ounce and a bigger 16-ounce variety are also available. The 16-ounce version is capable of keeping hot drinks hot for 7 hours and iced drink cold for 30 hours. A table showing the different capacities as well as it’s temperature efficiencies are show below. The travel mug also has a leak proof lid with trigger for easy opening and closing between drinks and can be disassembled completely for the dishwasher.
8. Simple Modern Slim Cruiser Tumblers Vacuum Insulated Travel Mug
22-Ounce
Available in various sizes up to 40-ounce capacity, the Simple Modern Slim Cruiser Travel Mug is a minimalistic stainless steel mug with clear see through plastic lid. The outer body is power coated for extra grip and is available in a variety of colours too long to list here. The manufacturer claims that the inner side of the interior wall is coated with copper for extra insulation and reduction in heat transfer. And before you ask, yes the travel mug is cup holder friendly.
9. Contigo AUTOSEAL Transit Stainless Steel Travel Mug
16-Ounce
A third entry from Contigo on our list, the AutoSeal Transit spots the same trigger operated lid with automatic close when you lift your finger so you can take your drink safely without spilling. To top that, there is spout cover lock that spins in place to cover the spout completely, keeping it clean. The lid also features an open-access for easy cleaning, a signature design common among all Contigo products. Like the Byron, it spots a non-slip grip sleeve but unlike the Byron, it also comes with a bottom rubber padding, a nice touch to keep the mug from slipping and if it happens to fall over, you can rest assure that it will not leak or spill.
10. Homitt Insulated Tumbler Travel Mug
30-Ounce
An improvement upon the Travel Mug with clear lid that we have seen so far, the double wall vacuum stainless steel tumbler from Homitt also comes bundled with a stainless steel straw and cleaning brush. What makes it different from the standard travel mug with this design is the inclusion of a carry handle. Homitt claims that the tumbler will retain heat for up to 6 hours and keep ice cold drink for 24 hours.
11. CamelBak Forge Vacuum-Insulated Travel Mug
16-Ounce, Dishwasher Proof
The CamelBak Forge vacuum insulated travel mug is available in two sizes, a small 12-ounce variety and this, a 16-ounce version. It also has a trigger open design that helps you drink from the bottle with a single hand operation. Simply press the trigger with your finger to open the lid, drink from it then release the trigger and the lid will automatically close. For the frequent sippers or those wanting to cool down their drink, use the top button to lock the cap open. For ease of cleaning, the drink lever also pops open to let you reach inside for a more thorough clean. The lid also comes with a finger carry loop similar to those found on water bottles. The CamelBak Forge 16-ounce can keep hot beverage warm for over 4 hours. A smaller version with 12-ounce capacity is also available.
12. Ello Cole Vacuum-Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug
The Ello Cole Travel Mug has a stainless steel vessel and a patented slider lid which is 100% leak-proof. It also comes with a built-in cork composite coaster so you can be assured that you are not going to scratch or break any surface you place it on. At a sufficient 16-ounce capacity, the mug will seat snugly in any standard cup holder. Temperature retention wise, it will keep hot water warm for 5 hours and cold water cool for 10 hours.
ALSO: Ello Campy Vacuum-Insulated Stainless Steel Travel Mug
