Our choose
This slim, powder-coated chrome steel tumbler matches simply in arms and cup holders, and that’s why we adore it. The tumbler now comes with a closeable—although not fully leakproof—plastic lid to scale back the chance of spills.
Our favourite tumbler is Hydro Flask’s All Round Tumbler (20 ounces). Not like a water bottle or a thermos, a glass is just not for tossing in a bag. It retains each warmth and chilly solely for so long as you might want to get from one place to a different, and it helps you to sip simply whereas on the transfer. The tumbler is the final word commuter vessel.
5 tumblers stood out throughout our cold-retention Slurpee check, and an earlier incarnation of the Hydro Flask was in that prime 5. The Hydro Flask took second place in our heat-retention check, bested by a single diploma in temperature, so it’ll simply hold your espresso scorching all through your commute. However the aesthetics had been why folks liked this tumbler. We chatted up a dozen (or extra) folks over dinner round a campfire, they usually all agreed that the Hydro Flask was simpler to carry and extra visually pleasing than any of the opposite 16 fashions we checked out—and that actually mattered to tumbler devotees. On the time, the Hydro Flask had the slimmest, most covetable form of all of the tumblers we checked out and got here in eight pleasing powder coats. (We choose these to plain chrome steel tumblers as a result of these get uncomfortably scorching to the contact if left within the solar.)
The present (mid-2022) equal of the Hydro Flask tumbler we examined—it now holds 20 ounces, not 22—is about an inch shorter than the unique and barely greater in girth. It’s not uncomfortably so, but it surely’s nonetheless perceptibly bigger in circumference than the previous model. (We measured about 3 inches from the bottom because the spot the place we discovered ourselves naturally greedy the tumblers.) The development stays the identical (double-walled chrome steel), and the tumbler nonetheless is available in eight powder-coat colours in addition to three different sizes: 12 ounces, 16 ounces, and 28 ounces.
The most important change is the plastic lid it comes with: not the unique insulated lid, with one bigger sipping gap and a smaller, anti-glug gap reverse, however an insulated lid with a slider that you could open and shut. The lid nonetheless has the standard anti-glug gap, which implies it’s not completely spillproof—we’d by no means toss the tumbler in a tote bag or backpack—however the slider can scale back, as an illustration, bumpy-road spillages.
Hydro Flask presents a lid with an built-in straw for its tumblers. We’ve tried that lid on the bigger model, and it’s nice: safe, straightforward to take away and clear, and fitted with a versatile silicone mouthpiece to forestall soft-palate jabbing. Nevertheless, the brand new slider lid’s drink opening is massive sufficient to accommodate a straw; the earlier model’s was not.
Lastly, though up to now the corporate had advised us that washing its tumblers within the dishwasher or soaking them in scorching water may discolor the powder coat, it now says that the tumblers and their coatings are dishwasher protected. (Though it is best to put the lids within the prime rack.) We’ll begin washing ours within the dishwasher and can report again if now we have any issues.
Runner-up
The chrome steel tumbler itself is similar to our prime choose, apart from a barely wider taper (it feels extra like a pint glass) and a grippier colour coating. It now comes with a straw-only lid and a metal straw with a silicone tip.
The 16-ounce Klean Kanteen Insulated Tumbler resembles our prime choose in some ways, from its insulative efficiency to its minimalist aesthetics. The 20-ounce model we initially examined was in the very same group of finalists in our chilly exams because the Hydro Flask, although it didn’t do as nicely at protecting warmth; after 2.5 hours the espresso was 139 °F, 13 levels cooler than within the Hydro Flask. That was sufficient for us to bump it to runner-up standing, but it surely’s nonetheless a terrific choice, as 140 °F is snug to drink, in line with the Nationwide Espresso Affiliation.
Klean Kanteen has since eradicated that 20-ounce measurement, although, and as of 2022 presents solely 16-ounce and 8-ounce tumblers. We in contrast the present 16-ounce tumbler with the previous 20-ounce one, and aside from the sizes, the 2 are an identical: identical grippy colour coating and identical pint-glass-style taper. Now, nevertheless, within the place of a daily sipping lid, Klean Kanteen’s tumblers include a straw-specific lid and a metal and silicone straw—the exact same straw, the truth is, that’s an also-great choose in our information to reusable straws. The lid nonetheless nestles down into the cup, leaving the sting of the metal tumbler uncovered; we didn’t discover any metallic style, however if you happen to don’t like consuming from metallic tumblers, this is likely to be a dealbreaker. The lid is simpler to placed on and take off than the Hydro Flask’s, due to its a lot bigger thumb tab, and it closes with a lovely softness. The lid additionally has a silicone gasket that you could take away for cleansing. (The Hydro Flask’s gasket isn’t detachable.) When you get any of the 4 coloured tumblers, the coating feels extra tactile than the Hydro Flask’s, prefer it’s been rubberized.
Nevertheless, at 16 ounces, that is the biggest tumbler that Klean Kanteen presently makes, and it nonetheless doesn’t have an insulated lid, which might account for it not holding warmth in addition to the Hydro Flask (simply hypothesis—too many issues might have an effect on efficiency for us to make a name). Additionally, if you happen to choose to not drink with a straw, it’s important to purchase a separate sipping lid. (It’s also uninsulated and has a detachable gasket.) For these causes, the Hydro Flask stays our prime choose.
Additionally nice
A wider profile makes the chrome steel Yeti really feel at house on a farm, at a development website, or at camp. Its MagSlider lid reduces the chance of spills, although it’s not leakproof.
True to the Yeti picture, the 20-ounce Yeti Rambler Tumbler feels ultra-utilitarian on account of a wider physique form than that of our prime picks. Since a lot of what made one tumbler preferable over one other in our analysis needed to do with the way it felt within the hand, we determined to suggest the Rambler for these folks (a number of had been at our campfire dinner) who wouldn’t be caught lifeless holding something lower than a burly consuming vessel.
Efficiency-wise, this double-walled chrome steel tumbler was on a par with our prime picks: It was a top-five finalist in chilly retention and capable of hold espresso scorching at 144 °F over 2.5 hours—just a few levels shy of what now we have outlined as heat, however nonetheless good.
The Rambler used to come back with a typical lid—one you would truly match a straw by—similar to all the opposite tumblers. Now, nevertheless, it comes with a MagSlider Lid, which snaps shut neatly and likewise has a straw port (although it’s not leakproof). When you really need the usual lid, you should purchase it individually, in addition to a devoted straw lid or perhaps a mug deal with to assist with carrying (which to us is tiny proof that the slimmer shapes of the Hydro Flask and Klean Kanteen tumblers are higher for many arms).
