In the past few years, I have noticed a bevy of different drinking vessels popping up seemingly all over the place. At work, I have seen many people drink from BPA-free plastic bottles, vacuum-insulated bottles, and glass bottles. When I’ve asked my coworkers about their preferred drinking container, everyone seems a series of reasons behind their preference. For example, the ones who preferred drinking from glass bottles almost resoundingly said their decision stemmed from the desire to avoid any possible plastic contamination. To them, glass is the best option.
One unique company whose bottles haven’t gone unnoticed by me is Lifefactory. Undoubtedly, you’ve seen their glass bottles with the signature gripping sleeve. They come in a wide variety of colors and are ergonomically designed to make gripping the bottle easier. I have even seen Lifefactory products used by yogis and basketball players at the gym. In fact, several of my friends who are parents swear by Lifefactory baby bottles. Lifefactory has recently released the Cafe Collection—glass mugs for hot beverages, and I was fortunate enough to test it out.
Coffee
Living in the Pacific Northwest, the regional beverage of choice is obviously coffee. I’m not an outlier in this department, my daily pick-me-up is also coffee. I filled up the Lifefactory mug with my daily dose and took it to work. I noticed it fit well in my car’s drink holder with no threat of spillage. The sleeve of the Cafe Collection is thicker than the Lifefactory water bottles which is great, because nobody wants to be scalded by their mug. The mouthpiece of the Cafe mug easily disperses the fluid into your mouth by pressing down on the cap. The spout delivered the bean juice to my mouth without any issues. After sipping away on the mug for over an hour, I came to appreciate that my coffee was still warm.
Green Tea
For “round two” of my Lifefactory test, I made several cups of green tea at work. Similar to the coffee test, the fluid stayed warm for almost two hours after making the tea. While the tea was steeping, I put the cap on the mug and screwed it on with the teabag strings hanging out. I thought I should test whether the strings would cause any leakage if I held it upside down. Nope. Not a drop! That was impressive. When transitioning back to coffee, I knew that I needed to clean the mug so that it wouldn’t have residual tea taste. In terms of cleaning, one drop of dish soap, hot water, and a good shaking worked for me. However, for a more thorough cleaning, the Cafe mug is dishwasher safe, and you don’t even need to remove the sleeve.
Salmon Chowder
Thinking outside the box, I figured I could treat the Cafe mug like a thermos by taking soup to work for lunch. I reheated some leftover salmon chowder in another container and poured it into the mug. With the care instructions, you are cautioned not to put the mug in the microwave. I was more than satisfied with the results. The soup was still warm two hours later. The only drawback to this test was eating soup out of this became awkward towards the bottom. That being said, the Cafe can double as a container to transport hot soup, but heating up the soup or eating out of the Cafe might be difficult.
Highlights:
• Handy glass bottle
• Easy-to-handle grip sleeve
• Dishwasher safe
• Keeps hot beverages warm for nearly two hours
• Leak resistant
• One-hand opening
• Useful ring on cap
Lifefactory Cafe Collection is available on Amazon.
All photos by Anthony Frohlich
Lifefactory provided me with a product sample for review purposes. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by the company.