In case it wasn’t enough to have a self-heating mug that keeps your drink at an app-controlled temperature, Ember has released the Travel Mug 2+, a smart tumbler that can be precisely located via the Apple Find My network in the event you accidentally leave it somewhere or it gets taken by someone. (See pairing instructions here.)

As you’d expect, the mug comes equipped with the temperature control technology that made the company so famous to begin with, allowing you to set an exact drinking temperature (120°F–145°F) and keep it there for up to 3 hours.

It also has built-in touch controls that are hidden until you touch the Ember logo to light them up:

• One tap shows the current temperature of your drink (unless it’s empty, in which case it will say EMPTY or COLD).
• Two taps brings up temperature control buttons (‘+’ to raise, ‘-’ to lower), which is nice if you don’t want to use the app every time.
• Three taps shows the mug’s personalized name, which you set in the app.
• Four taps shows the current battery level.

Get the Travel Mug 2+ for $193 on Amazon.

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As much as we love vacuum insulation technology, it can sometimes feel like scientists have gone too far with its effectiveness. Having your coffee stay hot for hours on end seems great on paper, but what if you want don’t want to wait until deep into the afternoon before it stops scalding your mouth?

A few years ago, the team of aerospace engineers behind the BURNOUT temperature-regulating tumbler set out to fix this problem. They developed a clever technology they call “HeatZorb”, a bio-based phase change material that turns from a waxy substance to a liquid at 140°F.

Since the mug is lined with this substance and has a vacuum chamber outside of that, what this does is quickly take all that excess scalding heat from the beverage and stores it as thermal energy, slowly transferring back to your drink throughout the day.

In short, your coffee cools down to drinking temperature within minutes and stays there for hours and hours. No more burning mouth, no matter the time of day!

On their website, they mention a couple other neat things about HeatZorb:

Remarkably, HeatZorb™ is produced from agricultural sources and is USDA-certified bio-based. It is non-petroleum, non-toxic, readily biodegradable and 100% renewable. Because it is captive inside the stainless-steel chamber, it can never leak. And, it will consistently perform its repeatable melt/solidify heat transfer cycles many thousands of times, essentially for the life of the mug.

Using literal rocket science to solve the little problems of life ☕️

Get the BURNOUT mug for $80 on Amazon in your choice of black or red.

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Fellow Disney World/Disneyland nerds, this one’s for you. This colorful collection of ceramic tumblers, made in collaboration with Starbucks, celebrates each of the Florida and California parks:

• Magic Kingdom
• Epcot
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom
• Disneyland
• California Adventure

My wife and I own a couple previous versions of this tumbler — namely, this Magic Kingdom one and this Aladdin-themed one. — and we can attest that they’re very nice.

The thick heavy ceramic and snug-fitting lids keep our morning lattes warm for a decent while, and we just like how they look in general. Whenever our travels take us away from WDW for months at a time, these are nice little reminders of our fun times there that help hold us over until we return later.

Each tumbler is $25 at the ShopDisney site.

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If a travel mug with super high durability for its weight is something that appeals to you, this titanium one from Bivouac is where it’s at.

It’s double-walled and vacuum-insulated for premium temperature retention, weighs only a third of a pound, resists rust and corrosion of all kinds, and you’re not likely to ever damage the thing.

The lid it comes with has a pluggable air vent in the middle that you can fit a small straw into, or you can simply flip open the flap for easy sipping. Who doesn’t love that kind of convenience?

This cup + lid combo is $60 on Amazon.

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Released just last month, Wacaco’s new Pipamoka portable brewer + travel mug joins the ranks of other great travel coffee makers, which includes fellow Wacaco products but with regular brewed coffee in mind this time around rather than espresso.

The Pipamoka is an entirely self-contained brewing system that uses a novel twisting mechanism to create a constant, steady coffee extraction under vacuum pressure, resulting in a very smooth and clean brew.

Watch how it works:

As that video shows, the coffee is filtered through a built-in micro-filter mesh, meaning there’s no paper waste. The filter basket holds 16g of ground coffee, and it’s recommended you use a medium coarse grind that falls somewhere between drip coffee and French press.

Even if you’re not traveling with it, the Pipamoka can be a handy addition to your coffee setup. You can brew with it at home, screw on the lid, then take the mug by itself to work or around town, keeping your coffee hot for hours. The only downside to this setup is that the lid has to be removed to drink the contents of the mug, but I’ve heard that’s something they’re working on for future product releases.

Get the Pipamoka for $50 on Amazon. You might also consider adding the compatible protective case ($20, sold separately).

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Guys, I promise this isn’t #sponcon. I’m legit excited about this mug on a personal level.

When you travel around the US a lot, you start to realize how regional fast food chains can be. In Maine, Dunkin Donuts clearly dominates over Starbucks; California’s the best place to be if you want In-N-Out; and if you’re in Texas, you’ll find Whataburgers practically around every corner.

Now, maybe it’s weird to have an obsession with any fast food place, but as my wife will tell you, I could eat at Whataburger almost every day. If nothing else, I always love stopping in just to get some of their iced tea (my ideal ratio is ~80% unsweet, 20% sweet), which is suprisingly and consistently good for a burger place. However, I don’t like wasting all those big styrofoam cups.

Imagine my delight when I discovered that Whataburger teamed up with their fellow Texans at YETI to create a 30-ounce Rambler mug that looks exactly like one of their restaurant cups.

Like any YETI Rambler, it’s a vacuum-insulated stainless steel tumbler that’ll keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot for as long as science allows, and it comes with a MagSlider lid for easy drinking without fear of spills. And according to the restaurant themselves, you should be able to take it into any Whataburger, pay for a medium drink, and refill the tumbler instead of using a disposable cup.

You could literally just gift me this mug and some Whataburger spicy ketchup on my birthday and I’d be a happy camper.

Get the tumbler for $46 on Amazon.

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We’ve covered a number of vacuum-insulated travel mugs over the years, and each one is darn useful in its own way. However, we’ll be the first to admit that none of them quite capture the simple pleasure of drinking from your favorite mug at home. They’re focused more on heat retention than, say, pleasant hand-feel or coffee aromatics.

Fellow’s new “Carter” everywhere mug answers the question, “Why can’t I have it both ways?”

The Carter features a matte textured exterior that feels great in the hand, plus an aromatic wide mouth so drinking your coffee becomes the multi-sensory experience it was meant to be. But they didn’t stop there — it’s also coated with ceramic on the inside to make sure your coffee tastes as good on the road as it does at home.

Notice how that stainless steel lip poking out of the top there has a bit of a taper to it? It’s such a simple thing but makes all the difference in how comfortable the Carter is to drink out of, as opposed to a lot of travel mugs with their almost sharp sipping edges.

Not to mention, you won’t be surprise-tongue-burned by still-hot coffee coming out of a tiny drinking hole — it takes out all the guesswork.

The wide mouth isn’t just for aromatics either. At 69mm in diameter, it’s designed to fit the most popular manual brewing devices, like the AeroPress and Hario V60. You just brew and go, it’s that simple.

Even after focusing on all these other little features, they still made sure to include a double-walled vacuum seal that keeps drinks hot for 12 hours or cold for 24. And, the lid sports a leak-proof seal to ensure your day bag won’t get wet while you’re on the go.

The Carter comes in two sizes across three colors:

• Matte Black — 12 oz ($30) and 16 oz ($35)
• Matte White — 12 oz ($30) and 16 oz ($35)
• Matte Grey — 12 oz ($30) and 16 oz ($35)

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Love hydrating thyself but hate the idea of buying disposable plastic water bottles? Then this is the guide for you.

Below we’ve assembled 6 of the best vessels around for your thirst-quenching needs.

Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug »

($24–$34, depending on size and color)

Zojirushi’s stainless steel mug is the space shuttle of vacuum-insulated travel mugs. It keeps drinks of all kinds hot or cold for hours, which isn’t even something we have to worry about because we’ve already downed a couple bottles’ worth of water before it can even become an issue.

We couldn’t believe how consistent the temperature retention is, and yet the exterior is always comfortable to the touch. It’s totally spill-proof, and even has a lock to prevent the lid from opening accidentally. The lid also disassembles for easy cleaning, so no worrying about gross gunk building up in there.

  + Honorable mention for this category goes to the Contigo autoseal tumbler.

The S’well Water Bottle »

($21–$36, depending on size and color)

In the past half-decade or so, chances are good that you’ve seen at least one S’well stainless steel bottle out in the wild, and more likely at least a few dozen. These things are everywhere.

It could be because their double-walled, vacuum-insulated construction keeps drinks cold for 24 hours or hot for 12 without breaking a sweat, so to speak…but that sort of functionality is pretty common nowadays. Our guess is that it has something more to do with the fact that they’ve got more colors and pattern styles than you can shake a stick at. They don’t just get the job done, they do it with panache. (The four styles pictured above are but a fraction of the options available.)

The standard bottle design comes in 9 oz., 17 oz., and 25 oz. sizes. For those with bigger thirsts to quench, they offer a 40 oz.”Roamer” jug ($44) as well.

Takeya 40 oz. Vacuum-Insulated Water Bottle »

($29 for the 40 oz. one, or $44 for the whopping 64 oz.version)

With the increasingly sweltering climate comes a greater need to stay hydrated. You’ll need something that can handle such smoldering weather while holding a good amount of water, so you’re not having to refill it all the time (that goes for re-upping on ice too).

Enter the Takeya 40 oz. vacuum-insulated bottle. It keeps drinks cold inside for 24 hours without breaking a sweat (no, literally, it doesn’t condensate). In fact, some people have left ice water in it and found ice still in the bottle after two days.

At about ½” diameter, the insulated lid spout is just the right size for drinking without a bunch of ice falling into your mouth, and its hinge stays open and out of the way while you drink rather than smacking you in the face. Sometimes it’s the little things.

Moreover, there’s a grippy silicone band around the lid that makes it easy to open the spout even with sweaty hands, plus a nice big loop for easily carrying the bottle on a long walk or clipping to your bag.

  + Honorable mention: the Hydro Flask double-walled steel bottle.

Camelbak Eddy Bottle »

($15–$23, depending on color)

Stepping away from the vacuum-insulated world, we now come to the Camelbak Eddy. We love this bottle for a handful of reasons:

1. It doesn’t spill when knocked over (you have to bite the valve a little for water to flow).
2. It has a straw inside so you can idly sip without having to tip the bottle.
3. The loop-cap makes it easy to carry around.
4. It doesn’t impart any metallic taste the way steel bottles sometimes can.
5. The whole thing is dishwasher safe.

“LifeStraw Go” Water Filter Bottle »

($37–$50, depending on color/pattern)

LifeStraw Go is essentially a sports water bottle, but with a crazy-good filter built in. You can use it to scoop up water from just about anywhere in the world and then safely drink it through the mouthpiece.

By the time the water has made it up the straw, the 0.2-micron hollow fiber membrane filter has already removed 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites. Each filter can do this for up to 4,000 liters (1,057 gallons) of water, so you won’t have to replace it for quite a while.

The coolest part is that, for every LifeStraw sold, they ensure that a young student in need gets clean water for an entire school year. It’s a purchase and cause you can feel good about.

Aladdin Reusable Water Bottle with “Two-Way” Lid »

($15–$17, depending on color)

“Two-way”, a word which here means having the option to remove either the drinking spout’s lid or the bottle dome entirely, as one’s heart dictates.

—Lemony Snicket, probably

As that fake quote up there puts it, what makes the Aladdin “Two-Way” bottle great is that has a comfortably small drinking spout up top, but you can also twist off the entire dome piece to reveal a much wider mouth for putting in ice and whatnot.

The plastic it’s made from is BPA-free, dishwasher safe, and in our experience, pretty durable. Just don’t drop it a bunch and you’ll be fine.

The 18 oz. is a pretty good size for most people, but they do have a bigger 32 oz.bottle if you’re so inclined. That one even comes with a drop-in diffuser basket so you can make fruit-flavored water if you want.

GSI Outdoors’ Commuter JavaPress combines two of our favorite things here at T&T: coffee presses and travel mugs. It’s essentially a French press that you can drink out of after brewing, except instead of an intrusive center rod, it employs a clever nesting carafe/plunger design — it brings the AeroPress to mind — that doubles as extra insulation post-brew.

Watch it in action:

See how simple that brewing process is? And even as a travel mug, the JavaPress excels, with its spill-resistant top, sealable spout, non-slip “foot” that helps keep it upright, and the ballistic cloth-wrapped foam cozy sleeve that insulates both your hands and the coffee inside for a secure grip. You can take this thing anywhere and everywhere with the assurance that your caffeine addiction will be safely satisfied.

The standard 15 fl oz. model is $23 on Amazon and comes in a handful of colors:

• Red
• Blue
• Graphite
• Orange
• Green (almost yellow, if you ask me)

They also have a larger 30 fl oz. version ($30), a two-piece “personal” set that includes a standalone brewer/carafe with a separate mug you pour into ($32), and a whopping 50 fl oz. press/carafe ($44) for which you’ll have to provide your own mug(s).

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Here’s something cool for the clumsy among us (yours truly included).

The Mighty Mug series of drinkware sports an awesome feature: Each one has a patented “Smartgrip” base that, once set down on almost any smooth, flat surface, creates a powerful airlock which prevents it from being tipped over if — who am I kidding, when — you accidentally bump into it. However, when you do need to take a sip, you can easily lift it straight up, no problem.

Watch their promo video to get an idea of what it can do:

They have a variety of vessels to choose from:

• “Ice” double-walled tumbler
• Stainless steel travel mug
• Pint glasses
• …and more.

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Our friends at Ugmonk have just released a sleek, stainless steel vacuum-insulated travel mug. It will keep drinks warm for up to 6 hours or cold for up to 24 hours, all without condensating or allowing heat to scald your hand. The stainless steel is food-grade, meaning it doesn’t retain flavors between refills, and the wide mouth makes it easier to clean than a lot of travel mugs out there. Last but not least, it looks pretty sweet.

There are two cap options available:

• Cafe cap (pictured below, left) — A twist-top lid for easy sipping; its two pieces can be separated for easy cleaning. $34
• Loop cap (pictured below, right) — Totally spill-proof, and allows you to clip the bottle onto your bag or elsewhere. This is more of an add-on feature, really — purchase of a loop cap includes a cafe cap. $38

Cafe cap (left) and Loop cap (right).

Get the mug at Ugmonk and drink in style.

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