This is a really cool looking bottle. I use it to take my coffee to work, so it adds a nice touch to my desk with the stainless steel construction.
It holds about a pint, which is just the right size for my morning coffee once I get to work. I commute on BART (the Bay Area Rapid Transit, a subway system) and the bottle fits very nicely in my medium-sized messenger bag. The lid doubles as a cup, holding about 4 ounces. That is okay for me, because I'm a slow drinker and I finish each cup before it gets cold, unless I get dragged away.
I have had no issues with lid leakage which is a good think, because it sits in my bag, right next to my laptop and whatever papers I brought home. One of the unique things about this stopper, is the push button design. In order to open it, the stopper pushes into the bottle. It is spring loaded, so it always keeps a good tight seal. The fact that the lid opens into the bottle help keeps it closed if you drive over a high mountain pass - the pressure differential actually helps keep the lid closed. I have a screw top bottle and I have had some leakage issues with it, while driving over high moutain passes.
The stopper sometimes dribbles after pouring, but I've noticed a few preventative steps. Firstly, if you don't pour straight (have the bottle turned so that the pour spout isn't at the lowest point) it is more likely to dribble. Secondly, because of the push top lid, some coffee could be caught in the stopper, if you close the lid right away after pouring. Leaving the stopper open for a short while allows the coffee to drain back into the bottle, preventing dribbles. While I don't always pay attention to how I pour or close the lid, I just always put the bottle on a napkin (good to have one on your desk when you knock the cup over), so I have no dribble worries.
I often make myself a mocha and the chocolate sometimes settles in the bottle and in the stopper. Getting the chocolate out is sometimes hard - I've found that soaking and hot water flushes work, if done promptly.
The bottle keeps beverages hot, for a long time. I took some temperature measurements and developed a temperature profile. I started with water at 171 degrees F and after 5 hours it had dropped to 150 degrees. At ten hours, it was about 140 - not great, but still drinkable. These measurements weren't with prewarming, but I prewarm the bottle every day with hot water from my steam wand.
I rinse out the bottle nightly with hot soapy water - a lot of shaking with my hand over the opening. Sometimes it is hard to get out the previously mentioned settled chocolate, but it always comes out. As long as the bottle is clean, it doesn't retain any smells or flavors (I use it for hot cocoa for my kids and coffee and tea for me).
After about six months, the bottle lining started to peel off. I'm not sure if this was due to sometimes prewarming with boiling water, soaking overnight with some soaps, the tea I started drinking or just a manufacturing defect. I think it was a fluke and swapped my bottle out (see the Buying Experience section).
This is a great bottle - it looks cool, it keeps drinks hot for a long time. |
