THERMOS Stainless King SK1005 Vacuum-Insulated Travel Tumbler, 16 Ounce, Stainless Steel

I used to be a big proponent of Trudeau's Drive-Time mug because it was leak-proof, kept my coffee hot for a couple of hours, and I liked the physical design. I used them for many years and "sold" a large number of them through recommendations to acquaintances who commented on mine. But their quality deteriorated significantly over the years, and their customer service became unresponsive. I needed something else, and I spent a good while researching.I finally settled on this Thermos Stainless King - much because of R. Stanton's thorough review here.I have now been using my Thermos Stainless King for 8 months. I am in no way disappointed. In fact, I'm still thrilled.I get easily 7 hours of "drinkably hot" coffee from my cup. I do not like cold coffee at all, though I suspect I'm not as picky about "hot" as a few reviewers. Plus, the length of time will obviously be affected by the temperature around the cup. But allow me to offer this anecdote so you understand what I mean:Shorty after I purchased this cup I filled my coffee cup from home at 5:30am. I did a little work and then left for an appointment at 7:00. I drove an hour and arrived at my appointment at 8:00. By this time my cup was about 1/2 full. It wasn't appropriate for me to take my cup into my appointment, so I left it in the car. The weather was 41°F, so I was concerned (and curious) about how cold my coffee would be afterward. My meeting ended and I returned to my car at 11:00. Took a sip...it was still hot enough that I couldn't have drank more than a sip at a time! I am continually amazed at the heat retention.Another brief example: I've never added *boiling* water to the mug, but I do add hot water from the faucet and let it sit a while. One day I tried an experiment. I like to grind my morning coffee and get the coffee pot ready the night before (I use its built-in timer). One night I decided to try filling the cup with hot faucet water (about 130°F) the night before, too, to see how warm it would be in the morning. I went to bed and got up 7 hours later. Poured the water out and it was still quite hot - hot enough that I would still drink it if it were coffee. But here's the clincher - I HAD FORGOTTEN TO CLOSE THE LID!As for convenience, opening and closing the lid couldn't be easier. I do it with one finger while driving without looking. You just flip the lever to the right or left - doesn't matter - and it opens or closes. That's it.As for cleaning, I don't like the idea of washing this in a dishwasher. The lid really is a snap to disassemble and reassemble, but I'm not good about giving it a thorough wash very often (normally just a good rinse poured out through the lid). No matter what you do, though, because it is "stainless" steel inside you will eventually get a stain as well as a stale coffee flavor. This is inevitable unless Thermos chooses to use a glass lining inside the cup - but then it would be too fragile for a travel mug. When the inside is no longer a shiny silver color, what do you do? I bought a box of Walmart-generic denture cleaning tablets. I filled the cup all the way to the top rim with water, dropped one tablet in, clicked the lid to its "open" position, and screwed the lid back on (so the cleaning foam would also go into the lid's mechanisms). 30 minutes later I dumped it out and yuck! The cleaner had removed crud I didn't know existed from the cup and the inside looked like it just came from the factory! That is THE way to clean a stainless steel cup like this.The single thing I miss from the Trudeau cup is a handle. This is the only thing I would like to be different. Adding a hooked handle would make this cup perfect. There is an indented ring around the cup that looks like it was created for a handle, but Thermos chose not to go that path. Because I purchased it knowing it didn't have a handle, though, I couldn't reduce the number of stars for that. Besides, not everyone wants a handle. If Thermos is listening, I'd love to see you develop and patent a removable hooked handle - one that fits around that indentation (perhaps latches in place) but which people could add or remove based on their preferences. Having it removable would also allow people to make it either right-handed or left-handed.[UPDATE DECEMBER 11, 2012] Since I wrote this review two years ago, Thermos did come out with a handled version. It is exactly the same cup, but it has a handle. Unfortunately, many reviewers have said the handle is flimsy and breaks somewhat easily. I have seen one in person and, though I didn't handle it, it also looked like it could be flimsy. Finally, the handle is shaped in a right angle. This makes it have a sharp corner and stick out too far for my liking. The handle on the Trudeau Drive-Time mug is perfect. Too bad the rest of the cup isn't. I'd love for Thermos to copycat Trudeau's handle.]

I've been using travel mugs for years now and I've had some pretty good ones, but I've never had one that met all my criteria for a well designed travel mug until now. What makes this travel mug so great (and those that have been using travel mugs for a while will understand what I'm talking about) is:- Keeps things HOT: This is travel mug 101, but not everyone does it well. This Thermos mug keeps my coffee hot for hours! Works exceeding well.- Leak-Proof: This is another big one for me and this mug is indeed leak-proof. I filled it up and turned it upside down, shook it, rolled it, you name it, nothing leaked out.- Cleaning: First, it's dishwasher safe; this is more uncommon than you would think. Second, you can take the lid apart to get at all the parts for cleaning so you don't get build-up in hard to reach corners of the lid over time, very nice! [NOTE: Paperwork that came with product said it was dishwasher safe, but on Thermos's web site (and Amazon product description) they specifically say NOT to put their "stainless steel vacuumware" products in the dishwasher and that they are NOT dishwasher safe. Not sure which is correct]- Lid Design & Stainless Steel Lip: The stainless steel lip for sipping is more comfortable than plastic or rubber. Also, the design of the lid helps in preventing scalding hot liquid from getting to your mouth too fast.- Doesn't have rubber smell: A rubbery smelling lid is a problem that is often overlooked and something I really don't like. This Thermos mug uses plastic, stainless steel and a rubber gasket in the lid. It doesn't have any smell when you drink from it, which is perfect!- Build quality: It's built like a tank, in fact some may find it too heavy, but it's clearly well made.- Shape and Size: It's a 16 oz mug, but what's nice is it will fit in a "standard cup" sized cup holder. I own a 2001 VW Passat and they are not known for their cup holders, but no problem with this mug. This, again, is often overlooked; just a great design.The only thing I can't comment on about this travel mug is its durability over time, since I've only had it for a couple of weeks, but other than that it's the only travel mug I've ever owned that met or exceeded everything on my list of what I think "the perfect travel mug" should be.This travel mug may not be for everyone. I love the midnight blue color and heft of this mug, but my wife prefers the shape, weight, and look of the stainless steel "Contigo" travel mug, which is also a very nice travel mug. The issues I had with the Contigo travel mug were: 1) doesn't fit in my car's cup holder, (2) no escape from hot liquid, much easier to burn your mouth, and (3) harder to clean.This Thermos Stainless King travel mug gets my vote for the best and is well worth the $; can't recommend it enough!