The thermal mug is an increasingly popular item in the car. No wonder, a warm drink during long journeys is priceless
Some people cannot imagine not starting their day with hot coffee or tea. However, we don’t always have time and opportunity to enjoy our favourite drink in the quiet comfort of our home. To the rescue come thermal mugs, which are designed to maintain high or low temperature of the drink for a long time. They are used by students, pupils, drivers and many others. So how to choose a mug that is not only pretty, but also useful?
You can get a thermal mug almost everywhere – in supermarkets, electronics stores, gas stations, and sometimes even in kiosks. It should be remembered, however, that the external appearance is the least important element of such a gadget.
On the market you can find different types of closures, capacities, heights, materials and, of course, different ability to maintain temperature. One mug can maintain it for three hours, and from another after 6 hours we will be able to enjoy a still warm drink.
A car is, contrary to appearances, a difficult environment for a thermal mug. It must be an almost ideal gadget on which we can rely. This is due to the fact that when driving a car, every surprising situation on board can cause panic and uncontrolled movement, which can end in fear and spooking by other traffic participants at best
That’s why it’s so important to keep your cup tight. No one likes it when something spills in the car. It immediately distracts you from the road and keeps you from thinking. It’s half bad if it’s water. In the case of a hot drink, getting dirty and burning yourself is very likely.
Because of the risk of burns, the type of opening through which we drink is also important. We can find such with a button or with a sliding cover. This aspect is highly subjective and everyone may have different preferences.
In case of a mug for a car, one of the key issues is its dimensions. It is not worth looking for a gadget that has the largest capacity possible. In many cases it may turn out that a mug is cool, because you can pour a lot of beverage to it, but it interferes with the use of various car functions, such as gear change, radio or air conditioning regulation. You also need to remember about the diameter of the cup. Cupholders in cars vary. In older cars, they were often designed to hold a standard 330 ml can. As a result, some cups with larger diameters may not fit into the beverage space. An equally important consideration is the depth of the holder. A cup that is too tall in a shallow holder can fall out while driving, and this can already cause irritation and, in extreme situations, even danger. Therefore, before we go shopping, it’s a good idea to check the dimensions of the place where our cup will fit or, for example, take a bottle that fits perfectly
The type of material dictates the quality, but also the ability to hold temperature. That’s why thermocups made of plastic are not recommended. Although they are lightweight, they do not fulfill their main role as well as those that are made of metal.
Staying with the material for a while, it is worth paying attention to the outer coating. In the car, it is important that the cup can be handled with one hand and is not too slippery. But just as with the type of closure, this is also a highly subjective aspect, because, for example, with larger hands, a rubber cup cover may not be necessary
Finally, it is worth taking a look at the typically utilitarian aspects, that is, whether the mug can be easily cleaned and whether it can be cleaned in a dishwasher. Although it is not the most important in the context of a car, it is better to use a mug that is almost maintenance-free
Although this all sounds rather complicated, it is actually not so at all. It is worth devoting some attention to mugs, so that the joy of purchase does not turn into an everyday nightmare. The market of thermal mugs is very extensive and there is certainly no car that cannot be fitted with one. The only thing left to do is to enjoy your warm drink instead of being annoyed by morning traffic jams.
