Customer Reviews

16OZ Extreme TRVL Mug

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I purchased two of these from our local Starbucks a couple of years ago. I was very impressed with the cup, despite the $22 price tag. The sturdy carabiner-style clip works well to attach the cup to the strap on my satchel. In the morning, I fill the cup, clip it to the satchel, and out the door I go. The seal on the lid has never failed, and I really like the ring-clip that covers the drinking spout. The coffee stays hot for a couple of hours, and is at least warm right up through the afternoon if I just haven't had the time to drink it. They perform even better with cold drinks. I can put some ice cubes into them in the morning, pour in some juice or water, and by the time I get off work, the ice is still clinking happily away. I purchased one in red, and one in white. These colors, I assume, are for Starbucks only, as I haven't seen them anywhere else.

OK, so those are the positives. My wife and I liked those two cups so much that, when we saw the same ones in brown at Target, we bought two more. Starbucks must have different manufacturing specifications, or they ripped-off and improved upon Contigo's design (though they look identical, right down to the dot pattern on the black rubber grips.) These two mugs may look the same as the others, but they certainly don't perform the same. First, the carabiner clips began to loosen and wiggle on the handle after only a few uses. The lids are hard to unscrew, yet the seals are unreliable. They'll hold just fine one time, and the next they'll leak all over the place. The ring-clip spout is the same way: unreliable. The rubber insulation on the bottom of each cup fell off within a month (they reattach easily, but imagine my surprise when a colleague wandered into my office with a funny-looking rubber thing asking me if I lost something.) Add to these wonderful traits the fact that the coffee is ice-cold within an hour, and this cup is just not worth the price tag.

I take care of these mugs according to the directions. None of them have ever been in the dishwasher -- hand washed each and every time, and I'm just not the type to leave the cup open for any period of time, as I'm a bit of a klutz and know it. The ones labeled "Contigo" are still falling apart, while the ones with the Starbucks logo work as well as they did when they were new. Hmmmm . . .

I use the Contigo-branded cups at home, where I'll be more likely to drink coffee more quickly. The Starbucks ones are still trooping along. They're battered and scratched now, but they're still performing in the same impressive way that made me buy the other two. At only two bucks per cup difference, you'd think that there would be little difference between the two, but there is. Go with the Starbucks ones, you won't be sorry.

Two stars, and that's generous.

bw
2/5
10/08

This is my second Contigo mug. My original one that I got years ago at "Costco" still keeps hot liquid hot and does better at keeping things colder for hours and hours. This new updated "version" now keeps your cofee hot for 4 hours, and icewater cold for 12.

This new edition mug is the newer better format. For those who think paying $20 for a mug is too much, let me assure you that it is the BEST travel mug I've ever tried (I've thrown out many, many mugs that make guarantees but don't deliver. I will have this mug with me, happily using it, everyday, all day for the next decade.

You will NOT be disappointed in this mug and you'll want to buy more!

Great spill proof coffee mug.. I take the mug on my kayak for 3-4 hours of ocean paddling. I like the carabiner handle, I just hook to a loop in a line and keep it right on my deck. I use them hard, the outside clear coating is chipping away, but that's not a problem.
I bought a pack at Costco over a year ago, one mug and one tumbler (no handle). Use them every day. They work great. I'm looking for at least one more.
I don't own a dishwasher so I've never had that issue. I used to have spills, but that was because I'd left the sipper cap ajar. It's black on black so it was hard to tell. (My fault but maybe a light color seal so if it isn't black it's loose?)
They keep my coffee reasonably warm, but they are definitely not thermos bottles. Best mug I've ever had.

I bought this on a very good recommendation from my sister without doing any research... for $20, I would have loved for it to keep my coffee hot for more than an hour (which is how long a Contigo representative said it would do so in *optimum* condition).

It is NOT dishwasher safe, and woe unto you if you ignore that stipulation: 2 months of dishwasher washing later, the paint is flaking off of my formerly all-black mug, it no longer seals between the inside and outside layers of the mug (the foam insulation is even less effective now than it should be), and the rubber bottom needed to be glued back on.

My fault, my bad. Don't use the dishwasher on things that can't handle it, and do more research before buying a travel mug. Lessons learned. On the plus side, I love the clip handle. ;P

This mug is extremely well designed and built. It has very strong construction and just looks good. The mug is expensive, but you really get what you pay for in the case.

As someone who is a constant hot beverage drinker, I was for years on the lookout for the perfect travel mug. It seemed that each one I bought had some flaw, usually some kind of leaking issue. About 5 years ago, a grad school roommate loaned me a Starbucks branded version of this cup and I realized I had found that perfect travel mug i had been looking for. That mug, with a blue rubber sleeve,was great other than one small flaw. The inner lid had ribs in its design that were hard to clean, but overall it was great. I "borrowed" that mug for the remainder of grad school.

Once I graduated, I found that Contigo had made an updated version of that Starbucks mug called the Extreme. And when I found it at my local Target I saw that they had fixed that one lid flaw. This was indeed the HOLY GRAIL OF TRAVEL MUGS. I have carried that version 2 of the mug for the last 4 year and it has been outstanding. It has some cosmetic issues, an outer coating/finish that wears off after a while and the rubber cap on the bottom had to be glued back on after a couple years, but no leaks after a lot of wear and tear.

Recently I decided that it was probably time to get a new mug that isn't so beaten up since I take this thing everywhere. I was excited to see that there was a new version of the mug at Target and snapped it up. I thought, "how have these mug geniuses improved this already perfect design." First impression was that the newest version is more sleek than the previous one and they redesigned the lid so that it has more room for your nose. I didn't even know that was an issue until i tried this new cup. Then I filled it with coffee and realized that something had gone terribly wrong with this update of my beloved mug.

First: there is a flaw in the seal of the lid design. If you fill the cup up anywhere near the top it catches some of the liquid on the outside of the seal and with that first drink you often get a nice spill down the front of your shirt. At first I dismissed this as user error and tried very hard to not fill it up too much but the truth is even when you are careful it happens 1 out of every 3 times I use the cup.

Second: The flip down part of the lid that seals the hole you drink through breaks off after a month. I thought I had just gotten a bad cup so i returned it to Target for a replacement but the second one broke in the same way after 2 weeks. Now I see why half the cups on the shelf at Target have that part stolen from them. Everyone is having this problem. I can see once the lid broke that they have designed this part to have a dual function as a valve when you open and close it so the liquid flows out easily but that made the part extremely flimsy. Interesting idea but not at the cost of durability.

I have retured this cup and am now looking online for the older version but it doesn't look like they are around anymore.

If Contigo is listening, they should combine the cosmetic design of the Starbucks mug with the lid design of the last gen Extreme and call it a day. Until then I'm going to be on the lookout for something better to replace my old cup.

I have one of these made a few years ago that still works great. The new ones have been re-designed and the lids are extremely fragile. I have broken and replaced four of them in a year during normal use. The mug works well, insulates great and fits in my car cup holder. It is a shame that a potentially great product was changed and is now essentially useless.

After 11 months of using Contigo Extreme Travel mug, the pivot point broke which the mug can no longer seal the hot fluids. The mug is useless. I contacted Contigo's customer service. They would not send a replacement lid unless I did the follow: dig up the Target receipt, drive to Target, stand in a long return line (for a return), or make a phone call to Contigo's customer service (after a long hold) then try to get a RA number. Then maybe I would get the $4.00 replacement lid.

While I feel that this mug has worked very well for me, I feel Contigo should stand behind their product better.
The top flip seal is made from a cast type metal, iron or aluminum. Which in my opinion is the cheapest way to go.
When contacted about replacing a defective top, they said I could buy one.
No thanks, I'll find another brand to use.

We have had this mug for years. We bought it at Costco as a two-pack (one with a clip and one without). This mug has been so awesome that I would love to have a couple more. I send my husband out the door every morning with his hot coffee clipped to his lunch bag. Several times over the years, this mug has been left on the roof of the car as he pulled off; it has gotten dinged-up, but is still super-functional. That's why I'm looking for more. The reviews have me a bit concerned, though. Has the design changed over the years?