The 9 small coolers we tested

How we selected

We’ve tested large coolers, and plug in thermoelectric coolers, but we wanted to find something smaller with this post. We began our search by considering how and why we would use a small cooler. For example, if we were hiking, we wanted a backpack cooler that could hold enough drinks and food for two-to-four people and wouldn’t burden us down by being too heavy. For a beach day, we wanted a small cooler — soft, collapsible or hard-side — that had room for drinks, food, and dry goods that would last us eight hours and could keep everything cold and fresh under a hot sun.

We looked for coolers that had exterior pockets for carrying other items like wine bottles, cutlery, napkins, plates, etc., pretty much anything you might want for the beach or picnicking. We also wanted the coolers we tested to be made of strong, waterproof materials, sturdy, and comfortable to tote, whether by the handle or a shoulder strap.

Small coolers are available in a range of capacity. Hard-side coolers are measured in quarts, while soft coolers and backpacks are measured in how many cans it can hold. We chose a selection of hard-side, soft collapsible, and backpack coolers that had approximately the same capacity.

How we tested

We packed each cooler with ice and canned and bottled beverages, sealed them, and put them off into a closed room, approximately 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. We checked each cooler at two hour intervals and recorded the percentage of ice that had melted. We also checked to see if the coolers had leaked. We resealed each cooler and checked at four hours and again at eight hours to determine if there had been any significant change.

Mostly, the coolers kept the beverages cold, but except for three, the ice had completely melted, and the cans were submerged in a puddle of cold water. Almost all the coolers with zippered enclosures did not prevent the ice from melting, and if the coolers were tipped on their side, water streamed through the zippers.

Important features to consider

During testing, several features stood out that you should look for when buying a small cooler. Small coolers have many advantages over large coolers. First and foremost is portability; a small cooler can literally be taken anywhere and are a favorite for outdoor enthusiasts. A small cooler is also space-saving since it can easily fit in a car trunk with camping or beach equipment. A collapsible soft cooler is also incredibly convenient, because it can be stored under a car seat, under the bed, or in a closet. Finally, a small cooler is versatile since it can be used picnics, beach days, or camping.

Type

Generally there are three types of small coolers: hard-side, soft collapsible, and backpack. They each address a different need.

Hard-side coolers are smaller versions of a large hard-side cooler, like, for example, the ubiquitous Coleman cooler. The small hard-sides are often called “personal” coolers because it allows you to carry several canned or bottled beverages along with sandwiches and fruit. These are most often used as lunchboxes.

Soft, collapsible coolers can also be used as lunchboxes, and they have the additional benefit of folding completely flat for storage and transport. The soft coolers come in various sizes, and most of the ones we tested could hold 20 or 30 cans and also have room for food and dry goods, like paper plates.

Backpack coolers are ideal for beach days or hiking. Backpack coolers often have several exterior pockets, and because of their design, they can expand as your loading it up with beverages and food. Of course, the more you pack the backpack, the heavier it will be and isn’t conducive to long hikes.

Capacity

Most of the small coolers we tested are marketed with photographs of their overflowing with a mountain of ice and an abundance of cans, bottles, and food. Nothing could be further from the truth. The coolers we tested had a capacity of anywhere between nine and 30 cans. It was possible to cram the cooler with cans, but overall the coolers did not meet the stated capacity. If you consider that you would need to add ice or ice packs, the capacity decreases. A few of the coolers do have larger sizes, but in our opinion, they’re no longer as portable and are only practical for tail-gating.

But if you’re looking for toting along a cooler for a beach day or hike, smaller is definitely better since when packed they’ll be easier to carry by yourself. Look for a small cooler that can accommodate both drinks and food, like the uniquely shaped Igloo Playmate, the collapsible TOURIT cooler bag, or the FORICH backpack, both of which have pockets specifically designed for dry goods, including plates, plastic forks/knives, and napkins.

Tight seal

The last thing you want is your food and beverages sloshing around in melted ice. Finding a small cooler with a tight seal can be tricky. Of the hard-side coolers, only the Igloo Playmate prevented ice from melting. Most of the backpack coolers we tested had good insulation, but because they all were zipper-closed, they could not be tightly sealed, resulting in a puddle of water in the bottom of the backpack.

Another caution to be aware of is that backpack coolers must stay upright at all times, because the melted ice streams through the zippers when the backpack is tilted on its side. The soft collapsible coolers were also sealed with zippers, but these had very thick insulation that kept ice from melting and seeping through the zippers.

Padded shoulder straps

If you’re looking for a collapsible soft cooler or a backpack cooler, definitely check out the padding on the shoulder straps. Collapsible coolers can be carried by its handle, but all come with an adjustable shoulder strap. Many soft cooler bags we tested had thin padding, which puts severe strain on the shoulder when you’re carrying a full cooler for any distance. The Coleman soft cooler bag had the best padding of the soft coolers we tested, and the FORICH backpack cooler also had excellent padding with added bonus of a breathable mesh material on the straps and back of the backpack.

The post The 9 Best Small Coolers appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Important features to consider

Design

When purchasing a gallon water bottle, be mindful of the design. The way a gallon water bottle is designed is more than just aesthetics and colors, it also affects ergonomics. Carrying, lifting, or pouring a gallon-sized water bottle is rather heavy, and you want a water bottle designed to be easy and suited for your needs. Some bottles are designed with side handles, carrying straps, top swinging handles, and grippy textures that enhance the drinking experience.

Material

Gallon water bottles come in two primary materials: plastic and stainless steel. The material also affects the weight and insulation. Since carrying around one gallon of water is already heavy, plastic gallon water bottles are great if you want a lighter-weight option. However, if you prefer your water iced cold at all times, consider a stainless steel water bottle that is insulated. Stainless steel is heavier than plastic, so you will also carry a heavier load in preference for longer-lasting cold water.

Cleaning

Similar to our experience testing glass water bottles, the fewer parts, and the simpler the design, the easier it is to clean. Designs with built-in side handles are often the hardest to clean because there are few cleaning tools to reach all the nooks and crannies, like a long, thin, and malleable brush. In contrast, water bottles with wider mouths and no handles are the easiest to clean. Also, if you like drinking from a straw, you will need a straw brush.

Other features (motivation, sleeve, magnet top)

There are also other features we’ve encountered while testing gallon water bottles. For example, some plastic water bottles have encouraging labels on the outside to promote hydrating throughout the day at each hour. If you want a plastic water bottle but hate condensation or want a carry strap, you can also choose a water bottle with a neoprene sleeve. Lastly, some water bottles also have magnets to keep screw caps from getting lost.

Budget

No matter your budget, there are affordable and upgrade options for anyone. While many of the plastic water bottles we found were under $35, the insulated stainless steel water bottles ranged from $50 to $150.

How we selected

We picked eight-gallon water bottles priced from $25-$150. Of the eight bottles, four are lightweight plastic, and four are insulated stainless steel. Some of these bottles also have sleeves with other features like carry straps and pockets. There are also various ways to drink from water bottles, like sippers or straws.

How we tested

We used each of these gallon water bottles for daily errands and gym classes for two months. We also created controlled product tests to review how easy they were to clean, how tight the seals were on each lid or if they leaked, and analyzed their overall usability.

Cleaning

We cleaned each water bottle over a dozen times. Since most of them were not allowed to go into the dishwasher, we hand-washed them and made notes on the number of pieces we had to wash, the difficulty it was to clean thoroughly, if we needed to remove additional sleeves, and any tools we needed to clean. The easier a bottle was to clean, the higher they scored out of 10.

Leak tests

We filled each water bottle with red-colored water and tightened the lids. We laid each water bottle over a paper towel-lined counter and timed how long the paper towels stayed dry. Most of these bottles stayed fully sealed throughout 30 minutes except the RTIC and the Yeti bottles, which needed to be tightened after the first five minutes.

Usability & Insulation

For two months, we made notes on using each water bottle. Was the bottle easy to carry? Did the width of the mouth affect easy refilling? How many handles did each bottle have? Did the design of these bottles help with the ergonomics of carrying and drinking from this bottle? We also noted additional features like insulation, weight, infusers, etc. The easier and more accessible the design of each bottle, the higher it scored out of 10.

Additionally, we tested the insulation of the four stainless steel bottles to analyze if they really did keep drinks as cold as they boast on their labels. We filled each bottle with 60 fluid oz of room-temperature water and 65 oz of ice. We checked the temperature throughout 48 hours with an instant-read thermometer and compared each bottle’s results.

The post The Best 1-Gallon Water Bottles appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Important features to consider

Design

There are many different glass water bottles in the market and one of the most important features to consider is design. For example, you can buy glass bottles for water or hot drinks like tea or coffee. These differences change the design of the water bottle or tumbler.

They can come with straws or mouths that feature sippers for easy drinking. Sippers allow you to gulp more water, while straws are suitable for people who don’t like to lift their entire bottle each time they drink water. If you want a bottle that’s easy to use during the day for exercising or driving, we recommend a lid that opens with one touch. If you’re going to use the glass bottle for drinks other than water, like iced coffee, we recommend something with a straw attachment.

If you’re interested in glass water bottles because you want to use less plastic, keep in mind that other parts of the bottle beside the body can also still be made of plastic, like the cap or the straw. Some brands offer caps made of different materials like bamboo or have designs where the mouth is made of glass.

Size

Since glass can be heavy, it’s essential to think about what size of glass water bottle you want to carry around all day. Many of the bottles and tumblers we tested ranged from 16 to 25 ounces because this was the average size and wasn’t too heavy. However, some brands sold water bottles with capacities between 8 to 32 ounces.

Cleaning

The less amount of parts included the faster the cleaning experience. Keep this in mind with glass water bottles or tumblers that include a straw because they often have more parts and need additional tools for cleaning. While the glass tumblers we tested were easy to use because they had wider mouths, the glass water bottles we tested needed bottle brushes to reach all the smaller crevices. Straws also need straw brushes too. We removed the silicone or rubber sleeves for some bottles to prevent any dirt between the sleeve and the glass surface.

Other features

Do you prefer to carry your glass water bottle in your bag? Make sure to pick a bottle with a secure locking mechanism to prevent leakage. Some bottles also have silicone seals that also keep leaks minimal and nonexistent.

Another feature is sleeves made out of silicone or rubber to help grip and reduce condensation. Often these sleeves are removable, but some glass water bottles are a little more difficult to remove and replace. Some silicone sleeves are designed not to be removed, making cleaning easier.

How we selected:

We selected nine glass water bottles and tumblers in various sizes and designs for under $35. These bottles also featured different ways of drinking, like wider mouths for sipping or gulping or straw attachments for easy drinking.

How we tested:

Cleaning

We cleaned the bottles multiple times by hand and ran them through the dishwasher, noting what additional tools they needed to clean, like bottle or straw brushes. We also observed how many items needed cleaning.

Leak/seal tests

We added colored water inside each bottle and laid it on its side for up to 30 minutes to test if there were leakage issues. We performed leakage tests by flipping each bottle over and shaking it repeatedly. Since the tumblers have openings for straws or sippers, we didn’t want to lay them on a flat surface because they would leak regardless. So we tested the glass tumblers by positioning them horizontally over the sink to test their lid seals.

Ease of use

For each glass bottle, we tested each bottle for an entire week throughout our errands, events, driving, work, and gym time. While we didn’t test dropping these bottles purposefully, some bottles were accidentally dropped, and we noted any damage.

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At first glance, many people tend to judge this mug as ridiculous, over-indulgent, expensive, and over-engineered–and they are not wrong. It is all these things, but more importantly, the Ember mug works well and feels good. Self-professed coffee nerd, Ember CEO Clay Alexander recognized the tepid coffee problem and set out to solve it. Coffee aficionados in this age of YouTube/Reddit/TikTok are known to spare no expense to find the best technological and aesthetic solutions to innocuous problems we didn’t know needed fixing. I know because I am one, insufferable and overbearing.

While designed to impress the most discerning of coffee people, the Ember Mug² meets the demand of a much wider audience, even if they weren’t sure they needed it. People who work all day at a desk, the chronically forgetful, the impossibly busy, parents who are constantly pulled away could all benefit from this stalwart piece of tech. Common are Youtube video comments attesting their love for this gadget–especially after initial skepticism.

How does the Ember Mug work?

Equipped with multiple sensors and a microprocessor, the Ember Mug² intelligently senses the liquid capacity and heats it using convection. Heated water rises to the top and creates a current, heating up the contents uniformly and precisely to the set temperature. The lithium-ion battery provides about 80-90 minutes of continuous heat off of its charging base. Syncing to a smartphone through bluetooth allows you to set the temperature to the degree in a range between 120 °F (50 °C) and 145 °F (62.5 °C).

It turns on automatically when it senses liquid inside. After two hours, the mug automatically shuts down if there is no movement triggered by the accelerometer.

Ember Mug² design and materials

The Ember Mug² takes a pleasing form, rounded, well-balanced with a satisfying, weighty feel. It’s really nice to hold and with its sleek matte finish (in black or white), it will fit right in with the vignette of carefully considered objects on your desk. Ember CEO Clay Alexander admitted that designing the mug was a painstaking process, fitting all its tech into the bottom of the mug in a nice, unnoticeable way. This cup is expensive, and this styling delivers on that price tag.

This version of the ceramic mug has a smooth, satin finish and look. (Ember has more recently released metallic versions of this mug with a higher gloss finish and material). Sandwiched between the walls of the mug is a steel piece that heats up the sides. It’s not considered double-walled but more of a triple layer since there isn’t much air to  insulate the outer layer. The cup feels warm to the touch when heated, not cool. Experientially, this is closer to using a regular ceramic mug. It’s nice and cozy.

An unexpected touch is that there is a rubber bottom, gripping your table a bit and adding to its sense of stability and weight.

Ember vs. stainless double-walled mugs

Double-walled stainless mugs, tumblers and bottles from companies like Yeti, Klean Kanteen, and Hyrdo Flask provide a low tech solution to the tepid coffee problem. While these double-walled mugs can keep your beverage hot for about as long or longer, there are a few things that the Ember does better. These lidded mugs steadily decline in temperature, while the Ember cools down until the target temperature and stays there. According to influencer coffee god, James Hoffman, this would be the best case scenario for preserving flavor from the ravages of time.

Insulated thermoses, like Zojirushi or Hydroflask, tend to keep the heat well above comfortable drinking temperatures for too long. This may have the potential to degrade the flavor of the coffee quicker. For example, when you attempt to reheat your coffee in the microwave, you may too easily overheat it, which in effect overcooks all that good stuff you painstakingly crafted in the brewing process.

If you are a fussy coffee person, you know that keeping precise temperatures is key to everything, from roasting to brewing to finally drinking. The people at Ember know this.

Moreover, stainless steel travel mugs touch your lips differently–cold, metallic. They bring to mind less ideal situations like camping or rushing out of the house. Moreover, the inside walls tend to trap oils and alter the taste of your beverage. They do such an efficient job of keeping all of the heat inside that the outside is cold to the touch. On the other hand, ceramic mugs give off a pleasant radiant heat which is nice to hold in cold mornings. As an avid user of stainless mugs, this is the thing that I miss the most about ceramic mugs. The Ember gets you back that warm coziness and even better, makes it last a whole lot longer.

The Ember Mug vs Ember Mug²

The biggest difference between the older version and v2 is the battery life–it’s 50% better to be exact. Secondly, it’s got better waterproofing. V2 is submersible up to 1m deep for up to 30 minutes without damage. Knowing this frees you from stress as you lovingly suds up your mug.

Lastly, the charging base is slightly rounder in profile and the mug sits a bit differently in the cradle. The mug itself has not changed shape or function at all, indistinguishable from each other visually.

From the time V1 was released until now, the 10 oz. Ember Mug² has increased in price from $80 to $99. With increased battery capacity and higher demand for computer chips, it’s no surprise that the price has increased.

The Ember smartphone app

The Ember Mug² has an app for both iOS and Android that allows you to adjust and customize. You can sync more than one mug and have different settings for each. Once you have decided on your ideal drinking temperature, there is little reason to keep using the app. However, you can use shortcuts for different types of drinks requiring different temperatures. In its default shortcuts, coffee is set to 55-57​​°C while different tea types range from 57-59°C.

Worry not if you wander outside the range of your phone, or if your phone runs out of battery. The mug is designed to work with or without a connected smartphone. Going in and out of range is okay too.

The iOS app seems to have some functionality with Apple’s Health app, helping to denote caffeine intake. This requires using the app each time you have a drink. For those tracking this anyway, this feature could be helpful.

For most people, setting the mug to Celsius or Fahrenheit, checking battery life and changing temperatures will likely be the most common uses of the app.

Charging time and battery life

To charge the mug, you simply place the mug on the charging base. Keep in mind that it only charges when the mug is empty. Placing a full mug on the base draws only enough power to maintain the target temperature, not enough to simultaneously charge and heat. This is a minor detail that wasn’t immediately obvious.

It takes about an hour to charge up completely. The battery lasts about 80 minutes for the 14oz size and 90 minutes for the 10 oz. size when using without the base. If you want to take longer than this to finish your beverages, you’ll want to keep the mug on the charging base between sips. The charging base lives on my desk to draw out the life of my beverage for sometimes over three hours.

Usage experience

I’ve been using this mug almost exclusively for the past few weeks. It functions mostly like a regular mug, except it requires a bit more babying to maintain. Follow these rules and the mug should last:

• Always handwash the mug (warm water and soap)
• Make sure that the base is completely dry before placing it on the charger
• Avoid using with metal utensils

In my opinion, the extra care is worth the extra function. The weight and feel of the mug is pleasant, and it has a nice radiant heat that you miss from using double-walled mugs or thermoses. For desk warriors, putting this base station where you would normally place your vintage ceramic mug is a lateral adjustment.

The learning curve is very small. Off base, you can power it on or off by holding down the rubberized button at the bottom of the cup. The same button puts the mug into bluetooth pairing mode when held down.

The only thing that wasn’t completely intuitive is that the mug does not charge while full. We are used to being able to use our phones while plugged in, but this is not the case here likely due to the smaller draw of energy. If you stay in one spot with the charging base, it’s not a bother at all. For those who move around a lot, 80-90 minutes is the time limit. If your cup is still full after it runs out of battery, you cannot simply charge back up while the mug is full. You must empty it first, as it refuses to charge and heat at the same time.

There have been some reports of unpairing in places with interference. Depending on how much you use the app, it could be pretty annoying to have to keep re-pairing the mug. However, I have not had any issues with this and I’ve got many bluetooth devices around me.

Conclusion: Is the Ember Mug² worth it?

From busy parents, forgetful people, to chronically slow folks, the Ember Mug² fills a void that most people might not have considered. At the time of writing, the Ember Mug² is $99 (and $129 for the larger 14oz model)–a steep investment for a cup. However, we find that it delivers what it promises and lives up to the cost.

Thermoses and double-walled, lidded mugs may offer comparable functionality, but the Ember adds to that more precision, sustain and control while preserving the warmth and comfort of a traditional ceramic mug. It’s pleasantly textured walls heat up to a cozy touch and remain warm the entire time it’s on.

Ember also makes a heated travel mug (if an unheated travel mug isn’t your fancy) using the same heating and sensing technology for those on the go. The v2 travel mug has a battery capacity of up to three hours, making it a better candidate for those who want more time and freedom from a charging base.

With a kitchen cabinet full of perfectly functional low-tech mugs, it might be difficult to justify the premium cost. However, I have been using it almost exclusively since I’ve got it, rendering all my traditional mugs obsolete. If you have suffered enough cups of cold coffee, wasted enough time brewing another cup of tea to replace that one that was sadly forgotten, then the Ember Mug² might just be worth it after all.

Hot Stuff: Ember Mug²

A mug you didn't know you needed. Upgrades your hot beverage experience at a relatively high cost.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post Ember Mug² Review appeared first on Your Best Digs.

To use our calculator, fill out how many cups of coffee you want to brew and how strong you prefer your coffee. Then, use our recommended measurements by weight or volume to brew the perfect cup. Once you’re ready to make a cup, make sure you’re using ground coffee at a similar grain size to table salt and quality water.

Cups of coffee

1 (6 oz.) 2 (12 oz.) 3 (18 oz.) 4 (24 oz.) 5 (30 oz.) 6 (36 oz.) 7 (42 oz.) 8 (48 oz.) 9 (54 oz.) 10 (60 oz.)

Strength

strong (1:15) medium (1:16) light (1:18)

Water

By weight: 182.6 g.

By volume: 6.2 oz.

Ground coffee

By weight: 11.1 g.

By volume: 2.0 tbsp.

Tips for Perfecting Your Brewing Method

Once you the coffee-to-water ratio that suits your taste, there are a few extra steps you can take to make the perfect cup. Take an extra 2 to 3 minutes to run through the list below, and your friends and family may mistake you for a barista.

Clean your coffee maker. Nothing is worse than your coffee passing through oily build up. Run vinegar through your coffee maker once every few weeks to remove any build up, but make sure to run it with water after to remove any reminisce of vinegar.

Buy fresh beans. Recently roasted beans will make all the difference. Try to buy from trusted local roasters, or from brands that consciously packages their beans to last a while. It’s common for beans from large bins at the grocery store to be sitting for weeks, so you may want to rely on packaged beans. And, once you purchase your beans, remember to store them in an airtight container, away from light.

Perfect the ground. We recommend that you grind only enough beans just before brewing since coffee begins to lose its quality once it’s ground. Avoid blade grinders at all costs and opt for burr grinders for better grind consistency. For drip and pour-overs, you’ll want to grind the beans so that the consistency is similar to granulated table salt, and adjusting size as needed.

Use quality filtered water. Tap water can ruin the taste of coffee with its contaminants, so opt for bottled water or filtered tap water to maintain the full flavor of the coffee.

The filter makes a difference. Bargain filters can be thin, affecting the brewing process. Plus, many are bleached, which is bad for the environment and some claim it affects taste. We recommend that you select a thicker, unbleached filter.

Turn off the coffee maker when brewing is complete. If your coffee machine doesn’t shut down automatically, make sure to turn it off when brewing is complete to avoid a burnt taste.

Sources: National Coffee Association | Forbes

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We also tested the less-well-known narrow-neck Klean Kanteen bottle, which performs better in insulation tests because of the smaller opening letting less heat in or out. It’s also preferred by some of our testers because they feel it’s easier to drink from.

The Tests

Cold water test

We filled a large stockpot with water and dumped in about 4 pounds of ice from a handy portable ice maker. We let the ice melt, since it soaks up extra heat when it melts, and it’s hard to ensure there isn’t more of that thermal capacity going into one bottle or another. If you’re actually trying to keep a drink cold for 24 hours, pack in as much non-melted ice as you can.

We measured the temperature of the water over the course of 40 hours. The peak outdoor temperature was 94 degrees Fahrenheit, and the bottles were all in the sun for about an hour. Overnight lows were around 73°F.

There are two control subjects in this test group: An un-insulated stainless steel klean kanteen, a YETI Rambler Insulated Tumbler with an even larger non-sealing lid than the wide-mouth bottle.

As expected, the bottle with no insulation tracks very close to ambient temperature after just two hours. (That’s why it dips overnight and rises during the second morning.) Also no great surprise after past tests, the Klean Kanteen with its narrow mouth managed to beat the other insulated bottles.

What was a bit of a surprise is how poorly the YETI tumbler performed when the sun hit in the morning. You can see that the tumbler is insulating well on the first day, but the large, thin plastic lid is clearly a liability when it comes to soaking up solar heat.

The other surprise was the Hydro Flask, which starts to gain significantly more heat than the other two bottles after the third hour. By the middle of the second day, the difference was about 7°F compared to less than 1°F between the other two.

Easy drinking

Here’s the test that’s far more subjective.

We’ve been testing water bottles since 2017, and there are three ways to think about drinking from them.

Some like sipping from wide-mouth water bottles, since that opening is more like a cup and the top rim is less likely to hit your nose.

Others prefer a narrower mouth, since it allows you to hydrate without worrying as much about spilling.

A third option is to drink from a spout — all of the water bottles we tested can be fitted with an optional spout or straw lid. The spout restricts you to drinking much more slowly, but it ensures you don’t spill all over your shirt. If you’re trying to keep water ice-cold for an entire day in the heat, a spout also keeps heat from rushing in every time you drink.

Cleaning

The wider a bottle’s mouth is, the easier it will be to clean with a good kitchen scrubber.

There are two reasons not to put a vacuum-insulated-stainless-steel bottle in a dishwasher. The first is over concerns about joints inside the insulating sleeve being stressed by the heat, which causes the metal to expand and contract and may damage soldered joints or plugs. The second concern is about damage to that eye-catching colored coating. YETI says all of their bottles are designed to take the heat of a dishwasher. Hydro Flask and Klean Kanteen both say not to put any of their insulated bottles in the dishwasher.

The Hydro Flask – Wide Mouth

The Hydro Flask is one of the most popular insulated water bottles on the market, starting as a humble Oregon design team selling bottles in 2009 and eventually growing a brand strong enough to sell for $210 million in 2019.

Hydro Flask has stayed a steady course, expanding into other lines of insulation-related gear but keeping their water bottles front and center. Redditors and Instagrammers alike are very enthusiastic about the brand and their very generous policies toward replacing things like broken caps or even entire bottles.

Pros

• Lifetime warranty
• Wide selection of sizes and colors
• Popularity makes accessories easy to find

Cons

• Insulation performance is only average
• Narrow lid openings not very narrow
• Wide lid openings not very wide

The YETI Rambler Bottle

The YETI – Rambler Bottle is strong competition for Hydro Flask. This is another brand that has skyrocketed from humble beginnings to a widely-recognized brand. They’re probably still better known for their coolers and the original Rambler insulated tumblers, but this bottle has made big waves.

The main points of innovation YETI has made are in design, with a mouth, lid and accessories all innovating slightly over what other manufacturers are doing. The Mag Dock spout cap has the best features of CamelBak’s excellent Chute Mag bottle. The Bottle Cup Cap turns the YETI into a thermos.

But at the end of the day, this bottle is still vulnerable to dents and scratches, just like any other bottle, and it will set you back $5–10 more than either of the other top-tier brands, or a whopping $35 more than generic insulated bottles.

YETI’s warranty is also only five years, while both of the competitors in this price bracket are offering a lifetime warranty to offset the steep initial investment.

Pros

• The widest mouth of any insulated water bottle
• Rugged design is guaranteed dishwasher safe
• Innovative caps for sipping, chugging and pouring

Cons

• Only a five-year warranty
• Price is usually higher

The bottom line

Choosing between YETI and Hydro Flask is tough. If you like wide-mouth openings, they’re both fine, though the YETI is wider. Both have excellent straw lid options, though YETI also has a few interesting spout designs to choose from. Both bottles keep your drink cold for a full day, though the YETI has an advantage.

If you’re worried about durability, either bottle will dent if you drop it on its side when it’s full of water, so finding the handle or carry system that works for you is essential. That said, the folks in charge of Hydro Flask’s lifetime warranty are very generous when it comes to accidental damage, while YETI’s warranty runs out after five years.

All in all, we think the YETI Rambler Bottle is the better of these two ultra-popular brands, but for the best insulated water bottle our money is still on a dark horse contender: the Klean Kanteen – Classic insulated.

Klean Kanteen has innovative lids and gives you the option of a narrow-neck design to keep drinks cold even longer than the YETI. It’s also a bit less expensive and easier to find. Klean Kanteen has a lifetime warranty, though they don’t guarantee their bottles against damage from a dishwasher like YETI does for the first five years.

Best Overall: Klean Kanteen

This lesser-known insulated bottle has most of the best attributes of competing brands. It's not as cheap as a generic bottle, but you will get a full lifetime warranty for a lower price than either Hydro Flask or YETI.

See Price at Amazon.com

The post Hydro Flask vs Yeti: Which Is Better? appeared first on Your Best Digs.

• EHM – Ultra II (not recommended)
• Other finalists we tested
• Are there alkaline water benefits?
• How we selected finalists to test
• Important features to consider
• Alkaline vs. conventional filters
• How we tested
• The bottom line

EHM – Ultra II (not recommended)

We don’t recommend alkaline water. Not from a cheap filter pitcher, not from an expensive machine, and certainly not from a bottle that costs triple what regular bottled spring water costs. Alkaline water is in almost every way just a marketing ploy, and the only benefit we can find is that some prefer the taste of it.

If you’re really convinced that you want to add minerals to your water this way, the best alkaline water filter is the EHM – Ultra II, since it at least gives you control over the rate of water flowing through the filter, which adjusts how much it changes.

EHM doesn’t tell us exactly what’s inside these filters, and that’s the biggest problem. Dr Tanis Fenton is a Canadian nutritionist who has studied alkaline water, and she says the health claims from manufacturers are a trick at best. See our interview below for more info on the science behind alkaline water.

There are actually some risks that come along with using filters like the EHM. Dr Fenton warns: “Since we don’t know what they are adding to the water or what method they are using to change the pH, we can’t evaluate it.” In contrast, bottled mineral water often includes a comprehensive assay of the minerals included.

One of the Amazon listings for the EHM filter cartridges claims the use of “maifan stone,” a naturally occurring mineral-rich rock formation that can contain everything from magnesium to iron to trace amounts of lead. A 2011 research paper often cited as proof that maifan stone is an effective filter media for removing lead was retracted by the publisher. There’s no reason for us to think using this filter is any more dangerous than drinking well water, but there’s little indication EHM even knows exactly what their filters take out or put back in.

The EHM is, to be fair, a well-designed pitcher, with a flip-up filling hole cover to keep out dust and a sealed reservoir that doesn’t leak unfiltered water (or fall out) the way some pitcher reservoirs do. This pitcher has a hole molded into the lid that looks like it was designed to work with an electronic timer to indicate filter life like premium Brita and PUR pitchers have, but it’s just covered with a sticker.

The one case where this pitcher makes sense is if the following all apply:

• You don’t like the taste of the chlorine or other treatments added to your tap water
• You’re not worried about filtering out any other compounds specifically
• Your local tap water source has low mineral content
• You specifically prefer the taste that extra minerals add to water
• You don’t worry about trace amounts of poisonous minerals that may be included in these filters by accident

With a filter cost of around 25 cents per gallon of filtered water, this is definitely cheaper than buying bottled mineral water.

Key takeaways:

• Alkaline water is a scam, don’t buy this for health reasons.
• The EHM – Ultra II adds minerals — supposedly including calcium, magnesium and potassium — at a rate you can control.
• If you like the taste of mineral water, you might prefer this to a standard filter.
• Don’t count on this filter to remove anything harmful.

Other finalists we tested

We tested three other pitchers with alkaline-mineral-adding filters, and they weren’t much different than the EHM. They all change the pH of water the same way, using mineral clumps or beads mixed in with the other.

Hskyhan (not recommended)

The Hskyhan – Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher is like the EHM, but it lacks some of the refinements like variable flow rate. The replacement filters cost about double what the EHM filters do, almost as much as a premium PUR or ZeroWater cartridge. Aside from the awkward name, this pitcher is one of the better designs overall. If this pitcher had NSF-certified lead-removing filters, it would be worth looking into, but the filter design it ships with is just a scam.

Seychelle – pH2O Pure (not recommended)

The pH2O Pure water filter from Seychelle Environmental Technologies is the pitcher we’re most ambivalent about. This pitcher uses a more advanced filter design than the others. It should, if the claims are true, be competitive with the best filters from Brita and PUR. Seychelle shows copies of test results in marketing materials, but these aren’t independently verified and they don’t even list the model number of the filter that was tested. The fact that the test shows a “99.00% reduction in total suspended solids” almost definitely means the test was for a different filter than this one, since our test and tests we’ve seen in customer reviews show that dissolved solids are the same or higher.

The fact that tipped the scales against Seychelle is the other promotional material. While the marketing claims on their Amazon listing and webpage were no less worrisome than any other alkaline water purveyor, a pamphlet included with the pitcher features a long list of decades-old, thoroughly debunked claims about water quality and the purported importance of “healthy” alkaline water. Worse, they include a testimonial from a former NASA engineer, who claims that he is “living proof” that Seychelle’s “pH water filtration system will reduce the illness such as cancer as well as other conditions.[sic]”

The Seychelle filter is supposed to remove fluoride, but in our test with 4 parts per million of fluoride in the challenge solution (about four times the amount you’d expect to see in city water), the reduction was only 75%.

OXA (not recommended)

The OXA – Alkaline Water Filter Pitcher is the smallest we found, which means it’s a bit easier to pour from and keep in a refrigerator. That said, it also had the quickest flow-through rate, and as a result the filter made the least difference in our tests. It can still remove chlorine, but it doesn’t even add very much in the way of alkaline minerals.

Are there alkaline water benefits?

We looked for the source of the claims about alkaline water and traced most back to two base claims: the “alkaline diet” hypothesis and a study testing hydration for athletes.

We asked a certified personal trainer, Lucas Enge of Mosaic Health, what he knows about the trend and its traction in the “biohacking” community. He says the alkaline diet and the water fit together closely.

“Drinking alkaline water is founded on the principle that high acidic water consumption is going to cause oxidative stress and potentially cause disease,” Lucas says. “[According to this theory] alkaline water consumption ought to help prevent high acidity. Most advocates of alkaline water would likely (not necessarily) follow an alkaline diet simultaneously.”

Does he think it’s a sound theory? “I’m not convinced alkaline water is the solution,” he says. “Find yourself a high-quality water-filtration system.”

To get a research-based assessment of the alkaline diet claims, we reached out to Dr. Tanis Fenton, a nutritionist who has spent considerable time reviewing research and educating the public about claims made by diet promoters. In 2016 she co-wrote a systematic review of claims about alkaline water and cancer specifically.

Dr. Fenton gave us her findings in simple, unambiguous terms: “We have looked for evidence that the alkaline diet [benefits] bone health, cancer prevention and treatment, weight loss and heart disease and have found no evidence to support that it makes any difference at all.”

She notes that the hypothesis about dietary pH is based on century-old data, and that more recent studies totally disprove the old acid–ash hypothesis. “The body, and specifically the lungs and kidneys, work to maintain a normal blood pH. If something goes wrong with this process: for example, if one has a lung or kidney disease, or they are poisoned, then the body may not be able to maintain the normal blood pH. People who have a blood pH outside of the normal range are very sick and generally need to be hospitalized in an ICU to keep them alive.”

We asked if there could be anyone who would benefit from drinking alkaline water, even in special cases, and she said “No, other than the companies that are using it as a marketing strategy.”

One popular claim about alkaline water is that it can hydrate your body differently than normal purified water. This claim has been tested in one study: In 2016, the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition published “Effect of electrolyzed high-pH alkaline water on blood viscosity in healthy adults.” Dr. Fenton notes that while the study looks at four different markers for the effectiveness of hydration, only one showed a different result with alkaline water, and she calls the validity of this one measurement of hydration “very questionable.”

Dr. Fenton doesn’t deny that you could get good results from switching to an alkaline diet, but that all depends on what you’re eating now. “If someone wants to try the alkaline diet, I would tell them that are some desirable aspects of the diet including the encouragement to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit, to eat less sugar and less processed foods. I would caution them that the alkaline diet promoters sometimes say that protein is not important for health, which is not true.” Do note, drinking alkaline water doesn’t have anything to do with those positive aspects of the alkaline diet.

How we selected finalists to test

When we searched the web for reviews of alkaline water products, we discovered a minefield of hype and vague claims. Top-ranked review pages show little if any testing, and do nothing to temper the enthusiasm of marketing pitches for “vital” and “balanced” water. We didn’t find any reviews that actually include consultation with experts.

The pitchers all use standard approaches to filtering water, with cartridges containing granules of activated carbon. Some also use ion-exchange resin to grab minerals, and some add layers of “KDF” (made from brass shavings) to speed up chlorine reduction. (KDF media is more popular in high-flow dechlorinators like the shower water filters we’ve reviewed.) All are using some form of compressed mineral powder (similar to what’s in an antacid tablet) to boost pH.

Most are also including red “tourmaline” (quartz or possibly hematite) ceramic beads, which manufacturers claim will add “far-IR radiation” (better known simply as “heat energy”) but don’t do anything beneficial for your water. We’ve tested products that use tourmaline ceramic plates to reduce static cling in our hair dryer review and flat iron review, but those products use heat and pressure to release ions from the tourmaline.

Mainstream manufacturers like Brita and PUR all use extensive tests by third-party agencies like NSF international to show off how effective their filters are at removing harmful or taste-altering chemicals. We were surprised at how little information was provided about the filter performance for alkaline water pitchers. Given how effective activated carbon is at removing chlorine, we thought we’d see at least some test results to show that they can deal with easy filtration tasks.

Only one filter pitcher manufacturer from the alkaline crowd, Seychelle Environmental Technologies Inc, provided documentation of testing. The test results are comparable to results from other popular filters, and it was reassuring to see some evidence to back up claims about “improved” water. That said, the documentation doesn’t show clearly which of their products (the line includes three different types of filters) was tested by the labs.

In addition to the one pitcher that offered some filter performance proof, we picked the four best-selling filter pitchers with good customer reviews on Amazon and with good availability of replacement filters at a price comparable to conventional filters.

Important features to consider

Certified filter performance: If you’re depending on a filter to make your water cleaner, and not just trying to improve the taste, it’s important to look for actual certified test results. NSF International provides the most complete testing we’ve seen, running the filter well beyond its rated lifespan to ensure the filter can actually live up to its claims. None of the alkaline water filters we found are actually certified by an agency like NSF, though Seychelle does provide a copy of a lab result for an unspecified filter.

Adjustable flow rate: If you really want to add alkaline minerals to your water, it’s nice to be able to dial in the amount of change by adjusting the flow rate — Slower flow through the mineral layer will increase the amount of dissolved solids.

A sealed-reservoir design: If you want to pour a glass of water right away when you fill up the pitcher, you need a design with a top reservoir that doesn’t allow unfiltered water to leak into your glass.

Space-efficient pitcher size: If you’re chilling your water, you’ll need to figure out what shape of pitcher will fit your refrigerator best. A narrow oval shape will fit better on most shelves, while a tall cylinder might be better for some fridge doors.

Easy-clean design: The minerals added by the filters in these pitchers will eventually lead to build-up in your pitcher, so a design that has fewer nooks and crannies will collect less of that sediment and be easier to clean. Vinegar or any cleaner designed to help with hard-water scale should be effective.

Ionizers vs alkaline minerals: We didn’t test any water ionizers, since they are very expensive to purchase and operate. Ionizers don’t provide the taste benefits of extra minerals, either. Ionizers use electricity to split your water into hydroxide-rich alkaline water and acidic water, but there’s no reason for most people to do this. (You could use an electrolyser with salt and water to make lye and chlorine disinfectants, but it’s an expensive way to do that, too.)

Alkaline vs. conventional filters

There are a few important differences between the pitchers we recommend in our water filter pitcher review and the pitchers that advertise “alkaline water” as a feature.

First and foremost, the water filter pitchers we recommend are tested by an independent laboratory and independently certified to remove specific contaminants. It used to be that people weren’t especially worried about any one specific contaminant, but the Flint water crisis helped shine a light on the problems caused by lead pipes in older houses. More and more people are now realizing that they have low levels of lead coming out of their taps, even if the water supply is totally lead-free.

Only one of the alkaline-water filters, the Seychelle, has any manufacturer claims about tests for lead removal, but the test results provided have some problems, since they don’t tell us which of Seychelle’s filters was tested and don’t even show the expected added mineral content.

Our Favorite Water Filter: Brita - Longlast

Brita's filters are tested and certified, and the new Longlast design will filter 100 gallons.

See Price at Amazon

Secondly, availability of filters for these alkaline water pitchers could be unreliable. Brita, ZeroWater and PUR filters can be purchased at local retailers, and you can still use your oldest Brita pitcher with the newest filters.

Finally, there’s price. Many alkaline water filters are insanely expensive given what’s inside — granular activated carbon with mineral tablets mixed in. In contrast, the certified-lead-removing Brita – Longlast filters are actually less expensive per gallon than many generic replacements.

How we tested

After using each of these water filters for daily drinking in a household of four, we checked the advertising claims with laboratory equipment in controlled tests.

Changes to pH

We tested a sample of water from each pitcher for pH using a Hanna Instruments HI98103, calibrated immediately before the test and rinsed in cleaning solution between samples.

Results from this test showed that each of the filters was successfully adding some dissolved minerals, but repeated tests showed that the results varied from fill to fill. As predicted, quicker-flowing filters didn’t change pH as much as filters that took a long time. The EHM – Ultra II is the only pitcher that allows you to control this flow rate. In its middle setting, though, the EHM only gave us a slight bump from 7.5 to 7.9; we had to slow it down to a dribble to see a notable bump up to the claimed pH 8–9 range.

If you don’t have a calibrated electronic pH meter, it’s difficult to know what the actual water pH would be, but at least adjustment is possible. You could also use a tester for dissolved solids (which measures the electrolytic properties of added minerals) to calibrate the flow rate, if you’re not worried about hitting a specific pH and you just want the flavor.

The fast-flowing OXA pitcher made barely any difference, but the variability of the rate these minerals will dissolve in your water is one of the biggest problems with this type of filter. Without control over flow rate, you’re relying on the consistency of the mineral clumps or beads to ensure that the pH stays consistent — the manufacturers offer no guarantees.

Chlorine removal

Each of the filters removed the 2 parts-per-million of chlorine added by our local water treatment facility, down to a level that wasn’t detectable with a Hatch CN-66T test kit. This isn’t a surprising result, since even a well-used generic carbon filter can remove chlorine.

Fluoride removal

Sodium fluoride is a difficult mineral to remove from water. Typically, slow-acting activated alumina filters are used if you need to remove fluoride, unless it makes sense to use more expensive systems to get completely pure water. The only pitcher-based system we’ve tested thus far that’s effective at fluoride removal is the ZeroWater ion-exchange system.

We tested each filter with a 4 parts-per-million (ppm) fluoride challenge solution, and we only saw a final reading below 1 ppm with one filter – the EHM. Ironically, this is one of the pitchers that did not claim any effectiveness at removing fluoride. Our tester speculates that the result is because of a chemical reaction between the indicator chemical or the fluoride and the alkaline minerals, rather than the presence of some component in the filter successfully removing fluoride.

Taste

Testers in our test group had strong reactions to the minerals in the samples. Some thought they tasted better than chlorinated tap water, but all prefered water from a Brita pitcher, and in this test group the ZeroWater pitcher won the most votes with its tangy zero-mineral taste.

The alkaline water got adjectives like “silty,” “musty,” “sandy” and “dirty.” When we tried making coffee and tea with the alkaline water, some testers liked the taste, but not most.

The bottom line

Put simply, alkaline water is a marketing ploy used to get people to buy devices or bottled water that they don’t need at a premium price. If you like the taste of the minerals these filters add, they probably won’t hurt you, but the complete lack of information provided by the manufacturers should give you pause.

While the EHM – Ultra II pitcher has more going for it than the others, you still shouldn’t buy it for any reason other than to add a mystery mix of minerals to your water because you like how that tastes. There’s likely to be as much harmful as helpful in the rocks that EHM puts in the filter, but not enough either way to make any difference.

In our review of the best water filter pitchers, we picked the Brita – Longlast series as best overall, since it’s certified to remove lead, and the filter lasts for about six months of daily use. If you’re looking for a new water filter pitcher, that’s our first choice, though some of our taste-test participants like the no-mineral flavor of ZeroWater better.

A Certified Water Filter Pitcher: Brita - Longlast

While it doesn't change the pH of your water, Brita's Longlast filter is certified to give you 100 gallons of lead-free, chlorine-free water. It's the least-expensive way to improve most city water for drinking.

See Price at Amazon

The post The Best Alkaline Water Filter Pitchers appeared first on Your Best Digs.

How we tested

We researched Nespresso machines and purchased the affordable Breville – Essenza for our testing. The Breville is a compact espresso machine with two settings — espresso (1.35 ounces) and lungo (5 ounces) — and can make six servings before it needs to be emptied of used capsules. A variety pack of Nespresso-brand capsules was included with the Breville, and we sampled them to determine how the compatible capsules compared.

Nestle’s Nespresso capsules are approximately 30% more expensive than non-Nestle brands, which is the primary reason why Amazon users purchase non-Nestle brands. We selected Nespresso-compatible capsules that were not manufactured by Nestle and had the highest ratings on Amazon.

We brewed each flavor of each brand with filtered water at least four times in both espresso and lungo sizes. If the manufacturer recommended a particular size for a flavor, we followed their suggestion, but then tested it again in a different size.

We tasted each flavor without any creamer or sugar and made notes about aroma, flavor, bitterness and balance. If our testers enjoyed a particular flavor, they then added a creamer to see how it held up.

We should also note almost all Nespresso-compatible capsules sold on Amazon are for the Original Nespresso model (like the Breville – Essensa) and will not work in the newer Vertuo models. (Vertuo capsules are dome-like in appearance and come in three different sizes.)

The post The Best Nespresso Compatible Capsules appeared first on Your Best Digs.

Important features to consider

Over the years, we’ve tested the best insulated water bottles for hot-weather hydration, we’ve reviewed insulated travel mugs for keeping your coffee hot all day, and we’ve compared the best insulated tumblers for those who want something easier to drink from.

But while those containers all separated themselves in performance based on how wide or narrow the neck of the container was — a wider opening always lets more heat in or out — these insulated beer coolers have to insulate the same wide-mouth shape to allow a 12-ounce can to fit neatly inside. And once you’re done with that cold beverage, recycle the empty can in our recommended can crusher.

We expected insulation performance to be similar, and it was: The difference between best and worst vacuum-insulated beer koozies in the first hour was only 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit, and only grew to a 6-degree spread after two hours.

So, we don’t think insulation should be your first consideration. Here are some other features that you should consider to guide your decision:

Options for other containers: Four of the designs we tested are specifically designed to hold bottles as well as cans, and many have just enough room to hold a larger pint-size can as well.

Ice packs: Corkcicle and BruMate include a removable gel-filled puck you can throw in the freezer before a day at the beach. These accessories make a difference if you’re only drinking one beverage, and you don’t have some other way to chill it in the hours before your happy hour begins. This ice pack can’t keep a six-pack cold on the way to the beach the way an insulated lunch bag with more ice will.

Drop-in loading design: Most coolers in this lineup use a threaded collar that slips over your can to secure it in the cooler. That’s not especially difficult to manage, but it might collect sand and dirt over time, and designs that just use rubber grips to hold the can in place are almost just as good for insulation and security.

Lids: Most of these koozies are usable as a small insulated tumbler when you’re not tailgating, but only one, the BruMate – Hopsulator Trio, came with a lid.

After we scoured the internet for reviews and testing demonstrations, we came up short on hard facts about real differences between the performance of popular can coolers. So, we purchased eight of the top-selling designs and tested them ourselves. After a week of drinking perfectly chilled beverages and an all-day insulation test, these are our picks for the best beer koozie, starting with the top pick overall:

The post The Best Beer Koozies appeared first on Your Best Digs.

It’s almost unfair how much tea dominates the market in terms of popularity, revenue, growth, and emerging new specialty categories. But given it’s been around since 2700BC, it’s not surprising how much tea’s popularity has spread around the globe, and how much it has become part of people’s daily lives and spending.

We dove deep to find the most interesting and surprising statistics about tea, regarding who drinks it, who produces it, popularity and exports by country, as well as company-specific stats and emerging trends.

The post Tea Consumption & Industry Statistics in 2021 appeared first on Your Best Digs.