My first Bubba purchase was a 12 oz. HERO Elite stainless steel tumbler. At first I loved it but wanted something a bit bigger, so I almost immediately ordered two more in the 16 oz. size. I loved those at first as well, but within a couple of weeks I noticed a film starting to develop on the entire inside of all of them. That required a bit more work because the only way I could get them totally clean was to fill them with boiling water, drop in a dishwasher tablet in each and let them let them soak, and then follow up with a thorough scrubbing. It was annoying...and expensive considering all the extra dishwasher tablets I had to use....but I could deal with that. Then, before long the paint on the outside of all the cups started to blister and bubble, and before I knew it, the paint was peeling off so I had tiny pieces of black paint everywhere. I thought I could salvage them if I could get all the paint off so I tried everything I could think of to remove it, but that was a huge waste of time and energy. It seemed like it was only going to come off when it was good and ready, and only when it could plant itself on my hands, clothes, etc.
That's when I found this one. The inside is white ceramic, and I had no problems with a film or stains developing. And the outside has no paint to peel off, so I thought it was the answer. Unfortunately, the problem I have with this one is far worse. Every time I used it, I washed it and put it in the dishwasher upside down to drain. After using it for some time, however, one day after washing it I got distracted and left it on the counter upright rather than turning it upside down to drain. When I went back to it, instead of just water in the bottom of the cup, there were droplets of coffee. It didn't make any sense to me because I knew I had washed it thoroughly, but I washed it again and blew it off. When the same thing happened again, I just had to figure out where the coffee was coming from. Since it only happened when the wet cup was left upright, it was obvious that the problem was at the top of the cup, so I pressed my finger on the inside of the rim and, sure enough, both coffee and soapy water appeared from under the rim and ran down into the cup. This tells me that there is no seal between the rim and the ceramic, which allows liquid to get under the rim. And, since there is no way to remove that rim to clean and dry under it, it is inevitable that mold has grown or will grow under the rim and there is no way to know unless you stumble across it like I did. I can't help but wonder how many people are subjected to mold in their coffee on a daily basis because of this. I am done with the Bubba brand and am now in search of a new brand that won't endanger my health.
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