Yufan Zhang, Cameron Eng - March 23 2020

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE INSULATED TUMBLER BRANDS 

Atumbler refers to a beverage/drinkware container with a flat base and they are typically made out of glass or plastic. However, there are many options available that are insulated and made out of stainless steel. When would you use a tumbler and why would you want a reusable one? Each year, approximately 16 billion disposable paper coffee cups are used which results in a ton of unnecessary waste. By using a reusable tumbler, you can greatly reduce your environmental impact and make your lifestyle more sustainable and eco friendly. Additionally, insulated stainless steel tumblers will keep your drink hot or cold for longer. Tumblers are great for coffee, tea, wine, or other spirited drinks. 

Why Stainless Steel Material?

The material used for all insulated tumblers is 18/8 food grade stainless steel. Without getting too technical on the numbers, it basically just represents the amount of chromium (18%) and nickel (8%) in it. The higher amount of nickel, the more resistant it is to corrosion (rust) . 18/8 stainless steel is the high quality standard and is safe for food and kitchen use. This means you don’t need to worry about the numbers when shopping around. Stainless steel is a far superior material for food and beverage rather than plastic for a few reasons. First of all, you don’t need to worry about BPA. BPA stands for bisphenol A and is a chemical compound used to make and strengthen plastics. It’s commonly used for bottles, drink containers and other plastic goods. There have been various studies proving the harm of BPA to the human body. Another reason to use stainless steel over plastic is that it won’t transfer flavour. Have you ever used a plastic drink container for one drink, such as coffee or juice, then used it again later (even after washing it) with another kind of drink and getting either a weird chemical taste or a slight taste of the previous drink? Stainless steel is much more resistant to transferring flavours and does not leak chemicals like plastic does, making it a much superior material to hold your drink. 

What Is Vacuum Insulation?

Insulated drinkware is an amazing thing. We’ve all made a nice hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa, set it down and got distracted by something for a while, only to come back to it practically ice cold only a couple hours later. Alternatively, we may have had an ice cold drink that became room temperature within a few hours. Vacuum insulation will solve that problem.
Vacuum insulation works by taking out all the air (vacuum) from a part within the tumbler. Since that space has almost nothing there (no air molecules), there will be a significant reduction in temperature transfer through contact of those molecules. On top of that, the reflective interior surface helps reflect heat (or cold) back towards the inside of the container to help keep the temperature in. Top it off with a sealed lid and you’ve got yourself a tumbler that will keep your drink at the optimal drinking temperature for hours on end! 

Photo: https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/?p=3993https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/?p=3993

Brand Feature Comparison

1. LAMOSE Peyto Tumbler

Photo: https://www.lamose.ca/products/peyto-16oz-tumbler

  • Capacity: 16 oz/473 ml
  • Weight: 8.3 oz 
  • 5 colors available 
  • Insulation: Up to 2 hours hot or 4 hours cold
  • Warranty: Lifetime warranty on any manufacturing defects 
  • Other Features: comes with slide close lid, durable powder coating resistant to scratches or peeling, fits in cup holders

2. Yeti Rambler Tumbler

Photo: https://www.yeti.com/en_US/drinkware/rambler-20-oz-tumbler

  • Capacity: 20 oz/591 ml
  • Weight: 12.7 oz
  • 9 colors available 
  • IInsulation: Up to 6 hours hot or up to 24 hours cold
  • Warranty: 5 year warranty on any manufacturing defects
  • Other Features: comes with magnetic slide close lid, fits in cup holders, dishwasher safe

3. Hydro Flask Tumbler

Photo: https://www.hydroflask.com/16-oz-tumbler/color,sunflower,a,92,o,377

  • Capacity: 16 oz/473 ml
  • Weight: 9.1 oz
  • 11 colors available
  • Insulation: Up to 6 hours hot or up to 24 hours cold
  • Warranty: Lifetime warranty on all manufacturing defects
  • Other Features: comes with press in lid, fits in cup holders

4. Klean Kanteen

Photo: https://www.kleankanteen.com/products/insulated-tumblers-cups-16oz?variant=20647546912879

  • Capacity: 16 oz/473 ml
  • Weight: 10.2 oz
  • 5 colors available 
  • Insulation: Up to 4 hours hot or up to 20 hours cold
  • Warranty: Lifetime warranty on any manufacturing defects
  • Other Features: comes with straw lid, fits in cup holders, other lids available online

5. S’well Tumbler

Photo: https://www.swell.com/products/swell/tumblers/blue-granite-tumbler/

  • Capacity: 18 oz /532 ml
  • Weight: 7.4 oz
  • 9 colors available
  • Insulation: Not find in S'well official website
  • Warranty: 1 year limited warranty on all manufacturing defects
  • Other Features: stainless steel lid sold separately, offers different designs rather than colors

Personalization Comparison:

Personalization options are a great way to make your tumbler unique and stand out. There are usually two different ways to customize your tumbler: laser engraving or vinyl imprint. Each has their benefits and drawbacks, vinyl being able to use a color, but prone to fading or peeling. Laser engraving removes the exterior powder coat layer to expose the bare stainless steel underneath. This is a much more durable and permanent result, but cannot make use of color. We’ll go over a personalization option comparison for each brand. 

1. LAMOSE

Photo: https://www.lamose.ca/products/peyto-16oz-tumbler

At LAMOSE, we offer a significant amount of personalization options to customize your tumbler. All of our personalization is done with laser engraving for a long lasting, extremely detailed, and permanent result. There are no order minimums, meaning you can order as little as one, or up to as many as you’d like! After placing an order, a digital proof will be sent within 1 business day making it a quick turnaround time for any type of engraving. Different types of engraving options include: 

  • Name/Text (Free)
  • Graphic/Logo: Bring your own graphic/logo, or choose ready made designs ($14.99 CAD)
  • Photo: Any photo ($19.99 CAD) 

2. YETI

 YETI also offers laser engraving as a personalization option. You can customize your YETI tumbler on the product page and can order individually. YETI does not offer photo engraving but does offer the following: 

Photo: https://www.yeti.com/en_US/custom-shop-drinkware.html

  • Name/Text (Free) 
  • Monogram (Free) 
  • Select Designs ($5 - $10USD)
  • Custom Graphic: Bring your own graphic ($15+USD) 

3. Hydroflask

Hydroflask does not currently offer any type of personalization options for their tumblers. 

4. Klean Kanteen

Klean Kanteen offers both screen printing and laser engraving options on certain products meaning they offer both color and exposed stainless steel customization options. However, the downside is that they only offer this as part of their co-branding program for businesses and brands - not individually or for personal orders. For the majority of the products that they offer co-branding custom options, the minimum is around 96 units. Prices and lead times will vary depending on the customization order selections. 

5. S'Well 

Personalization with S’Well allows you to get your name or initials on your tumbler. To customize, you can do so right on the product page which costs approximately $10USD in which you can personalize your tumbler with your name. The limitation is also that you can only choose the one font available for your name or initials. You are unable to include any special symbols or emojis. Personalized S’Well tumblers may take up to 72 hours to process and ship. 

How To Keep Them Clean?

Cleaning is important for both your health and longevity of your tumbler. We’ve included some recommended tips on keeping your tumbler clean to last your entire lifetime. 

Recommended Cleaning: 

We recommend general cleaning by washing your tumbler by hand. To do so, you’ll need the following supplies:
(Bottle) Brush or soft sponge
Mild dish soap or;
Cleaning tablets
Simply rinse with warm water, add dish soap or cleaning tablet solution, gently scrub and rinse with warm water until the suds are gone. Hand or air dry. 

Deeper Cleaning: 

For a deeper clean, you may use a vinegar or baking soda solution. Directions:
Dilute 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 cup of warm water (or create a paste with baking soda & water)
Pour solution into tumbler and gently swirl
Let it sit for 15 minutes
Using rubber or latex gloves, gently scrub with a brush or soft sponge
Rinse with warm water
Hand or air dry 

Do Not:

Do not put your tumbler in the microwave oven. Although your insulated tumbler is meant to keep your drink hot for hours, sometimes we still forget about it and our drink can still get cold over time. Since these tumblers are made out of stainless steel, it is not safe to put in the microwave to reheat your beverage. In contrast, you also should not place your tumbler in the fridge or freezer. The reason being is that placing your tumbler in the fridge won’t make your drink colder due to the vacuum insulation. If you want to cool your beverage, it’s best to use ice. Another reason not to put your tumbler in the freezer is because when liquid freezes, it expands which will ruin the shape and insulation properties of it.