Customer Reviews for Highwave Original JOEmo Tea Brew Insulated Mug

Highwave Original JOEmo Tea Brew Insulated Mug

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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Highwave Original JOEmo Tea Brew Insulated Mug

Customer Review: JoeMo ROCKS!!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is the best travel mug I've ever had. Keeps liquids the correct temp for hours. Very durable, I've had mine 4 years and only have one very small dent even after dropping them numerous times. I like the fact there isn't any glass liner to crack or break. Clean up is a breeze, take it apart and drop it in the dishwasher. I like the fact that I can use loose tea in the basket. These make GREAT gifts and stocking stuffers for Christmas. I have recommended these to everyone I know. You will definately get your moneys worth with a JoeMo. Only way to improve it would be to make it larger, but really who needs that much caffeine. JoeMo ROCKS!!

Customer Review: I've tried them all; this one is the best!
Summary: 5 Stars

This mug works great for brewing tea, keeps beverages hot for HOURS. It's attractive and streamlined. It does NOT leak. The liquid flows at just the right amount. I love it. Highly recommend it. Suggest the larger model.

Customer Review: OK, but be careful filling them
Summary: 3 Stars

When I initially got these mugs (I have the large and small versions) I gave them an extensive, glowing five-star review as they seemed to be almost perfect products. Unfortunately, after a week or so of in-the-car use I've felt the need to remove that review and write a newer, less-glowing review.

Think of these as thermos/travel mug hybrids. They have the double-walled vacuum construction (and screw-on top lid) of a thermos combined with the drinking top of a travel mug. They maintain the liquid inside near the desired temperature (hot or cold) for a very long time.

Because of this thermos-like construction, the apparent requirement to fit in narrow European car cup holders (as reported by others), and the design of the drinking lid, these mugs are narrower and taller than a typical travel mug holding a like amount of liquid would be. Another way to put this would be to say that these mugs hold less liquid than they would appear to be able to hold.

They will not leak at all if you fill the stainless steel portion of the mug only up to the top of the lower inside ring (the spot where the tea filter--if you have one--fits into).

If you fill the mugs according to these instructions you will get about 10 oz. of liquid in the small mug and about 14 oz. in the large one.

If you fill them according to the instructions included with the mugs ("fill no more than 1 1/4" or 32 mm from the top of the vessel") and screw down the drinking cap in the open position as recommended, you can get another ounce or so of liquid. However, some of that liquid will be in the upper portion of the drinking lid after the valve is closed and will spill out of the lid if the mug is tipped without the upper screw-on lid in place.

If you fill the stainless steel portion of the mug any more than the recommended amounts, you also risk leakage from the outside seam where the bottom of the lid meets the stainless steel part of the mug.

Liquid can leak from here if it is trapped between the upper silicone seal and the narrow inside portion of the lid where the screw threads are. This can happen if you fill the stainless steel part of the mug too full before screwing down the plastic drinking lid (even if it is in the open position). This is because some liquid in the stainless steel part of the mug will escape to above the upper seal as the lid is screwed down and before the seal is seated against the upper ring of the stainless steel mug. This liquid will not spill out immediately as it is somewhat held in place by the screw threads, but over time it will escape out of the seam between the two pieces.

I found this out what could have been the hard way when I laid a mug that I thought to be empty on my car seat with both lids on, only to come back later and find a big wet stain under the mug where the top of the stainless steel and the bottom of the drinking lid met. Fortunately I only had water in the mug at the time or I would have been really angry.

I also noticed dribbles of liquid coming from the seam as the mug sat in the car's cup holder.

Probably for reasons having to do with air expanding more easily than liquid that I will not go into, this seepage seems to increase as the liquid in the mug is consumed.

My habit was to fill the stainless steel part of the cup to the level of the screw threads, shut the valve, drink the remaining portion in the drinking lid (about an ounce or so) and then screw on the upper lid.

I now fill the mugs only to just above the lower inside ring and then screw on the drinking lid in the open position. If I really want get the most capacity out of the mugs, I then continue to pour liquid into the upper portion of the drinking lid until it just begins to appear from under the locking ring. I then screw on the upper lid which automatically locks the valve and seals the upper portion of the drinking lid.

Liquid in this upper portion is not very insulated and will spill if the mug is tilted without the upper lid on, but you can increase the capacity of the mugs to 16 oz. for the larger one and 13 oz. for the smaller.

What I like:
- They can be leak proof when properly filled
- They keep beverages at a desired temperature for quite a long time (longer than the popular Thermos Nissan 14-Ounce Stainless-Steel Insulated Travel Tumbler and less than a generic 16 oz. vacuum bottle)
- The the 360-degree nature of the push-button valve makes the mug easy to drink from and open and close (it works exactly like a retractable ball point pen)
- Screwing on the upper lid automatically closes the valve in the drinking lid in case you forget
- The tea infuser included with some models

What I don't like:
- To be leak proof one has to be careful about how one fills the mug
- They will leak if you fill them improperly
- They are large for the amount of liquid they can safely hold
- The included carrying cases stink--literally. After almost two weeks of airing out in the sun, they still smell of chemicals.

Conclusion:
While I still recommend these mugs for their ability to keep liquids hot or cold for hours, and conditionally for their capacity to be spill proof, I feel I can not give them more than three stars mostly because of their potential to cause disastrous results (coffee/tea stains on upholstery or on important papers in a briefcase), but also because of their small capacity to size ratio.

I will continue to use mine, now that I know how to fill them, but I will continue to keep an eye out for the "perfect mug."

Customer Review: great product
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a really great mug. Small enough to fit well into car cup holder. The pop up and down lid works fine, but I really like the extra screw on cover for complete assurance when I put my hot drink into my bag. Keeps beverage hot long enough to sip thru the morning. Tea strainer a nice extra.