Customer Reviews

Sun's Tea (TM) 20oz Strong Double Wall Thermo Glasses/Tumbler for Beer/Cocktail/Lemonade/Iced Tea, Set of 2 -- free shipping -- just add to the shopping cart

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

These look exactly like the picture. The description states these are a stronger version of a previous design. I can see if they were thinner, they'd be quite prone to breaking. They have a nice feel to them, the weight gives a solid feel, the double wall is a neat effect and it keeps drinks cool or hot, as advertised. They have a slight look to show they are handmade, but it's subtle. I'd guess the breakability would be that of a simple drinking glass, no more, no less. I really like these glasses and I am buying more.

Had one explode on me. Not sure what happened- I set a spoon in one (gently set it, didn't drop it), and at the instant the metal touched the glass the inner wall gave off a loud concussive POP and exploded. It was kind of cool actually. Everything stayed contained inside the outer wall, so it was easy to clean up. I'm in Denver, so the outside air pressure is likely lower than than the air that was trapped inside these glasses when they were manufactured- I'm guessing that's what gave off the pop.

Anyway, these are indeed heavier than the Bodum glasses, but so far they are breaking for me at exactly the same rate. Also the top rim is very thick, which makes it awkward to drink from. The glass quality isn't that great either- a lot of ripples, and the inner section isn't centered in the outer glass very well.

These insulated glasses are wonderfully designed and surprisingly durable. I bought a set of two last year; my husband drinks out of them daily. We tried these because we wanted to replace our plastic thermal glasses with glass only for health reasons (Google "estrogenic +plastic" to find out why). I'm back, ordering another set of two.

Surprisingly, thermal glasses made of real glass are really hard to find. These are fantastic and in my experience, virtually indestructible. A few months ago, one of the glasses, filled with icewater, slipped out of my husband's hand and fell about 8 inches down to an end table covered with 1/8 inch thick plate glass. Guess what? He chipped the tabletop glass! The drinking glass "bounced" off the tabletop, chipping the edge of the glass tabletop but leaving the drinking glass completely unscathed.

These glasses keep your drinks cool and your tabletop dry--no coaster necessary, even in humid Texas summers. These are a real winner--my advice, order 2 sets at once, since they'll ship them both for $4.99. Well worth the money!

I did a lot of research when looking for glasses of this type, and I found a lot of negative customer reviews indicating that large double-wall glasses tend to be quite fragile. (Perhaps that's why I couldn't find any double-walled glasses that hold 32 oz.) In any event, I was nervous about how "strong" these glasses would be.

The walls are thin and appear fragile, but they're borosilicate glass and I'm happy to say that after 3 months of normal use (each glass used about twice a week and washed in the dishwasher), they're both holding up fine. I expect that a fall of a couple feet (e.g., off of a coffee table) wouldn't be a problem, but a fall off of a 40-inch counter might be. (I think most of my other glassware would survive such a fall.)

I don't often drop ice cubes into an empty glass (I prefer crushed ice), but the few times I've done so have not caused any harm. Condensation on the outside of the glass is rare, but it does occur in steamy environments - there is some thermal conduction via the air between the walls.

A while back, I purchased a Bodum double wall mug. It insulates so well that it got me looking for a bigger double wall glass. I checked out Bodum's bigger double wall glasses but they were more expensive, their tapered base made me think they might tip over easily if bumped, and there were a lot of comments about them breaking. In those respects, the Sun's Tea glasses seem better - they have a wider base and they seem to be sturdier (so far so good.)

However, they are sturdier than the Bodum glasses because they are "chunkier." They border on being too heavy. Aesthetically, the glass isn't nearly as smooth and consistent. The glass walls are thicker (which is good) but there is also an excess amount of air between the walls. And the lip on the glasses is so big and rounded that a little of whatever I'm drinking ends up running down the side of the glass after I take a drink. I wouldn't say these are big problems (after all, these are just glass we're talking about) but they definitely take away from the "cool factor" of an otherwise very neat product.

[update 2011 05 09]
I've just experienced the implosive failure others have mentioned after less than a year of use. I was (gently) stirring my drink, and the inner glass shattered with a loud pop, not a normal glass breaking noise. I suspect this is due to improper annealing. Fortunately, only the inner glass broke; if the entire vessel had shattered that violently, I would likely have been badly cut.

I must downgrade my review to one star; this is a safety issue, and I urge you not to buy this unless the manufacturer improves their manufacturing process.

If you choose to buy, stir your drink in another glass, then pour into this one. Add liquid before dropping in ice cubes.
[/update]

Good insulation, but not a vacuum flask; a bit shy of 20 oz; comfortable.

My favorite cocktail this summer is the mojito; my recipe comes to bit more than 15 fl oz all told, plus ice.

I've been making them up in a 600 ml lab beaker, with plenty of room to spare.

My recipe pretty much fills these glasses, before adding ice.

I measure them at about 18.5 oz, filled to the brim.

So, OK, I have to take a few sips before adding ice. Big deal.

These glasses are more comfortable to hold than the beaker, both in size and temperature. They're comfortable against the mouth, too, like drinking from a thick mug.

On a 95 deg F. day, four ice cubes in 16 oz of 40-deg F. ice water lasted about 45 minutes; the beaker didn't make it to 30 minutes.

They do collect a fine mist of sweat, but a blue paper shop towel coaster showed no water ring. (The beaker collected a 6-inch ring.)

They're said to be made of boro-silicate glass, same as my beaker, and should be reasonably resistant to mechanical and thermal shock.

I'm also a fan of Irish Coffee in the winter (well, "not-summer" here in Houston). I tried pouring a cup of boiling water into the glass, and the walls got very warm, but not hot, much better than a plain glass mug. I see that Sun's Tea also distributes a version Sun's Tea (TM) 13oz Strong Double Wall Old-Fashioned Thermo Glasses which would be about right for that.

As tall and narrow as they are, cleaning with a long-handled brush is a must.

I wish they were a bit bigger, but I'm not going back to my beaker.

I have had other double-wall glasses that, even handled extremely carefully, all broke over the first month of use. The Sun Tea double-wall glasses are just as durable as any other glass I have ever had - and they are WAY cooler - or hotter depending on your drink. Microwave ok, dish washer ok, we use them every day for the past two months - no breaks. I'm coming back for more now - for us and friends - unique gift idea!
We have all three sizes - no issues.

These glasses are much better than other brands of double-wall glasses I've tried. The glass is much thicker on these, but I still use caution in handling them - like not dropping in ice cubes. They insulate really well and I prefer the smaller shape of these glasses compared to other rounded double-walls. I highly recommend against using double-wall glasses that are rounded because they tend to slip out of your hands when washing them. I did notice that the glasses are not identical but I don't think it's too big of a deal. I don't know how they were constructed, but I'm assuming that there is no uniform way - thus making each one unique. I am a huge fan of double-wall glasses and I will most likely be getting more like these.

To summarize the 60 reviews that exist as of the time of writing; they are 5 star glasses until they're not. That is, they work very well, hold a lot, feel very nice, are solid and significantly reduce condensation. Then, as a large number of other reviewers have experienced, the inner wall explodes. In my case it was about 4 months of intermittent use before the first one exploded. Put a few ice cubes in the glass and *POP*! On the positive side, it seems to be the inner wall that explodes, so you don't end up with glass everywhere.

I'm giving them two stars since they are nice, but too expensive to be disposable. Off to the manufacturer to see how they respond (by the way, the manufacturer appears to be[...]).

Update 9/21/2011: Well, I contacted the manufacturer about the exploding glass and after providing them with my order details they promptly sent me a replacement. I had included their contact info above, but apparently that's not permitted as it was removed from my review. I'm pleased with their response, but will leave my rating at two stars for the product itself.

See my review of the "old fashion" of these same glasses. They are GREAT! The best glass thermal glasses you can find and I did a LOT of research. 16" ice cube drop test, great "lip feel" and wonderful in the dishwasher. You don't need any other glasses.