Contigo AUTOSEAL Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler, 16 Ounces, Silver
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Contigo AUTOSEAL Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler, 16 Ounces, Silver
Customer Review: The best mug I have ever owned
Summary: 5 Stars
I see reviewers state that the tops are hard to clean by hand. I have never tried. We use the dishwasher and they come out very clean.
We are up to 10 Contigo mugs (this very model). The extras are used for either extra ice storage on trips and/or backups when one needs cleaned.
Avoid the plastic version. Contigo Double Wall Plastic Tumbler with Autoseal lid, Black, Red Button. They are no where nearly as well insulated, the button is not as easy to push, are not any lighter to lift and do not hold as much.
Although the color versions comes in handy to differenciate whose is whose in a family of 5, the color chips off fairly quickly and only the non-painted SS versions still look like new. You can get differenciation by buying different color tops from gocontigo dot com. I purchased several more for differing colors and for wear and tear and no worries over breakage. This also allows throwing the tops into the dishwasher and just grabbing another top. We have had 4 tops break after dropping onto cement.
I purchased our first mug in order to evaluate it as a replacement to our insulated plastic sippy(drippy) cups for our 4 year old and it worked out so well that when we saw 2 packs at Costco, we quickly purchased 6 more. Our youngest switched at 2 years old.
Contigo does have a line of plastic cups for kids, but the button is harder to press and they are NOT insulated. A side by side test of water with 4 cubes of ice showed a dramatic loss of temperature.
You DO want to get into the habit of pressing the button before you put it up to your mouth. Hot liquids release steam and soda releases fizz. Not a big deal to me.
These are far, far less likely to leak than our Nisson mugs when thrown into the back of the car, thus we were able to say adios to the arguments with my wife about the potential of the Nisson mugs leaking in the car.
The design of the area you drink from is also nice in that it less prone to dribbling (More than once I have shown up at a meeting with water or pop all over my shirt with the Nisson mugs), however the design would also probably make it a bit more difficult to sense just how hot a beverage is and let it cool before touching your lips since there is nowhere for the liquid to pool under your nose before you taste it.
Athought I no longer notice, at first, I did seem to notice a slight change in taste of my soda, but I think it is simply due to the shape of the mouthpiece. With other designs, you can smell the liquid and sense the bubbles as it travels between the lowered spout and your lips. With this design, it goes straight into the mouth. Since much of our sense of taste is actually our sense of smell, the raised spout design probably changes the taste slightly. For water, this is a non-issue.
The packaging states that the tops ARE dishwasher safe, but the SS mug is not. For the 100% plastic version both the top and the bottom are hand wash only.
As a practical matter however, we have had these for over a year now and I have been putting both tops and bottoms in the dishwasher without any noticable problems. The bottoms are easily cleaned by hand so usually just the tops are put into the dishwasher.
Customer Review: Excellent idea and stylish but the lid stinks...
Summary: 2 Stars
I love the design of this. The seal of the lid is tight - nothing leaks. It's very easy to operate and fits nicely in my car's cup holder despite the fact that it's a little bulbous towards the bottom. Drinking from it is also nice and clean - it doesn't leave residual liquid sloshing on the top of the lid. The hole for taking in air (also controlled by the autoseal button) is covered so nothing comes out there either. One thing to note, if you have hot liquids, pressure will build up and depressing the autoseal will release the steam and possibly some moisture - this makes cleaning it kind of fun as you can add hot water, detergent and shake then see how far you can spray. The stainless steel look is sharp and so far, hasn't dented or scratched. The rubberized potion of the lid provides good grip for you to hold the cup as well.
However, the lid needs serious work. The lid itself is what is holding me from recommending this product as well as purchasing it again should anything happen to this cup. First of all, I use a standard nylon dish sponge with pad to clean. It is too abrasive for the relatively soft plastic on the lid and left swirl marks. Also, brand new from Amazon, the lid has a deep scratch about 3/4" long on the top (so it's not from cutting the box open). Maybe it was returned? Also, the mouth area from where you drink from will pick up scratches from your teeth assuming you have decent dental hygiene. But those are mere quibbles. The real problem with the lid is that it is difficult to clean. I could have sworn I read somewhere that the lid can be dismantled for cleaning but this is NOT the case. inside the lid is a fairly complicated network of plastic with lots of spaces for liquid to get pocketed in. The actual plastic that controls the open and shut piece is hidden and cannot be seen - thus cannot be cleaned. The only way I can think of cleaning this is with hot water and detergent and copious amounts of shaking. This is not enough for me. I want something that can be taken apart and cleaned. I've used this 4 times now - it's a week old. I use it to hold coffee every morning to work. Coffee is in this cup for about 3 hours. I rinse it out using the above method after and use it for water from a water cooler. The water tastes like coffee. It's not strong...but it's there. The tumbler itself holds no taste of the coffee or smell...it's from the lid. I imagine if you use this strictly for coffee and coffee only...then you don't have this issue but...just because you don't taste residual coffee doesn't mean that it's not there.
On the Contigo site, you cannot use cleaners containing bleach, chlorine, abrasives, and/or other harsh chemicals to clean this. Basically, it's clean only as hard as you can agitate the water. Not very clean in my opinion.
Customer Review: MY NEW FAVORITE
Summary: 5 Stars
TOP-10 reasons to LOVE this travel tumbler:
10) Looks cool, sleek, and modern
9) Fits easily in car cupholders
8) Available in lots of cool colors; each family member can have their own
7) The hole is always closed unless you're actually drinking
6) 16oz instead of 12
5) Still slim and comfortable for small or petite hands
4) Top rack dishwasher safe
3) Stainless steel does not retain flavors or odors
2) Keeps hot HOT, and cold COLD for a very long time
1) You can hold this puppy upside-down and it does not leak
CONS (but not really):
1) Doesn't have rubberized ring on bottom for nonslip grip and cushioning against glass tables without coaster
2) Not available in larger options (20-24oz would be GREAT)
3) The colored ones are likely to show wear after repeated washing in dishwasher (I bought plain stainless for that reason)
I lost my previous favorite travel mug (a gift from a friend) at work. I'm over it now though because I love this one so much more. I found this mug about two months ago in a Good Housekeeping review and immediately purchased it through Amazon. I really wish I'd ordered two or three because I use it almost all the time, every single day; it goes where I go. I am a bit clumsy, so I even use it just around the house for whatever I'm drinking, hot or cold--coffee, water, juice, the occasional margarita... (I call it my "Adult Sippy-Cup"). To drink, you just press the button on the side opposite the sipping hole, which is ergonomically correct for the way you hold it. This design keeps the hole closed whenever you are not drinking, so if it gets knocked over it doesn't spill one drop. I'm so confident it will not leak that I have actually carted it around in my briefcase with liquid in it. I think they recommend handwashing the colored ones, but you'd better have tiny hands or a good bottle brush. As if you couldn't already tell, I HIGHLY recommend this travel mug (no, I don't own stock in the company!). Amazon has these for $14.99 (five dollars off the suggested $20)-a stellar price, and less than some of the other mugs that were also highly rated. I think I will buy several for gifts and treat myself to a couple more. I may even get them engraved with my name or initials so if I leave one at work again, it will find it's way back to me...
Customer Review: Stylish and functional, but a challenge to keep the lid clean and reliable
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this Contigo stainless steel mug to replace an aging Oxo Good Grips stainless steel travel mug that was impossible to clean completely and was wearing out. I thought the Contigo lid would be easier to clean than Oxo's enclosed, multi-seal lid, but it's still a challenge to keep clean and maintain a reliable seal.
As others have commented, the mug works best when new and clean. The liquid seal is tight and reliable. But unless you use it primarily for water, the lid mechanism with gum up over time and prevent a water-tight seal. To prevent coffee/cream/sugar deposits from gumming up the mechanism, you have to be very vigilant and disciplined in cleaning the lid after each days use. I agree with several reviewers that you should try to rinse or clean the lid before the mug has a chance to sit empty. Here's the cleaning regime I follow - with mixed results, as the lid seal still isn't always completely tight:
After each days use I fill the the mug half-full with hot water and shake it vigorously. About every other night, I let it sit upside down with hot water. Once a week, I place the lid in the top shelf of the dishwasher. I've also used pipe cleaners to try to get at the gunk in the lid, and soaked the lid overnight in soap solution, with mixed results.
Some reviews have commented on the need to relieve the pressure in the mug before taking a sip, particularly after its just been filled with hot liquid. I have no problem with this, and have made it a habit to "burp" the mug shortly after filling it up in the morning. This quirk also tells me whether or not the lid seal is clean and working: if I don't hear/feel any air escaping when I push the lid button, I know the seal isn't airtight and isn't completely clean. As a side note, the Oxo lid always seemed to be water-tight, even though the interior mechanism was gummed up.
While I really like the styling and functionality of the mug, I can't give it more than three stars, due to the effort required to keep the lid mechanism reasonably clean. Despite various cleaning techniques, the lid is only sometimes water-tight. I can use it and carry it relatively upright, but can't rely on it to be completely water-tight.
Customer Review: The Passion of Travel Mugs
Summary: 4 Stars
Oh the passion of coffee lovers. I enjoy reading Amazon reviews as they can be so very entertaining and this section is full of fun. I commute 1 hour each way over the Santa Cruz Mountains (think winding and sloshy) in a bouncy 4x4. The first thing you like to see in a lidded travel mug is no leaks. This baby has that covered and then some. It baffles me that you can hold it upside down and it doesn't drip a drop and yet with the press of a button, you're sipping coffee baby! That's not to say you should hold it over your lap and shake it all about, but the sealing mechanism is fantastic so far. The second thing I like my mug to do well is in keeping my coffee hot and this mug is just a few notches below an actual sealed Thermos when it comes to heat retention. Honestly I don't mind my coffee cooling down a little, it's unbearable to try and sip coffee that's still piping hot from the pot.
PROS: Holds your liquid and doesn't drip a drop. Keeps your coffee hot anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours in a 50 degree climate, maybe longer but it doesn't take me THAT long to finish drinking a cup. Clever valve button, it's placement helps you find the drink spout without having to look down at the cup while driving.
CONS: Chicks don't check me out when I'm drinking out of it, but that might have a lot to do with my face. Cleanup; some are complaining that it's difficult to keep clean because of the complex sipping mechanism; valid I guess if you use cream and sugar so you'll need to be fastidious with your daily mug hygiene. Drinking spout takes a bit of getting used to as there is no lip at the sipping point and really hot coffee hits your mouth BLAM! quick like. It's like an open mouth kiss on the edge of a Formica counter, kind of weird at first but not a big deal. (for the record, I no longer perform open mouth kisses on counter-tops due to a salmonella issue back in '89)
If you like cream & sugar in your coffee then ask yourself if you really need a sealing mug. There are plenty of other mugs out there with simple swipe-to-open lids that are easy to clean even if you forget about the mug for a day or two.
Enjoy your day and don't take your mugs too seriously.