The plastic soup is getting thicker and bigger, so since 2024, we pay a small amount for, among other things, the disposable cup you get your coffee in. Investing in a good travel coffee mug is a worthwhile choice, but which one do you choose?
Every day in the Netherlands, we throw away nineteen million disposable cups and containers that contain plastic. That’s a waste, so the government wants to reduce its use by 40 percent in 2026.
Entrepreneurs are free to charge you whatever they want for a disposable cup, and the amount is around 25 cents. Add to that the Randstad price of 4.50 euros for a flat white, and your daily treat becomes very expensive.
Anyone who didn’t already have a travel coffee mug now has a lot to choose from. Before you buy one, it’s useful to think about what you want to use it for, says barista Peter Braakman of the Utrecht coffee bar Cupp. “Do you want to put coffee in it at home, throw the cup in your bag and only drink when you’re on the train? Or do you want to take it to your favorite coffee shop, order and take a walk with it?”
1. This material keeps your coffee warm
A paper cup doesn’t retain heat at all. You want coffee hot or drinkable (about 65 degrees) in your cup, says Braakman.
Materials such as glass, ceramic, stainless steel, porcelain and also the recyclable plastic polypropylene retain the heat of coffee well. Coffee with milk – cappuccinos, macchiatos, flat whites – should not be drunk too hot, because then the sweetness of the milk is lost.
If you give your to-go cup to a barista, ask them to preheat it by rinsing the cup with hot water. “A good coffee bar already does that.” A stainless steel thermos cup can keep your drink warm for about four hours.
2. Choose a Material That Does Not Affect the Taste
Those stainless steel thermos cups can give a metallic taste to your coffee. There are also cups made from coffee grounds, Braakman knows, and they give off a taste of old coffee. If you use your cup to pick up coffee and drink it right away, you won’t notice that.
Silicone and rubber can also affect the taste of your coffee, says Jojanneke Goedhart of De Koffiejongens. In plant-based materials, your coffee taste remains optimal, she says. “There are Cafea Based mugs made from the residual material of coffee bean silver skin or coffee cups made from old coffee cups from Circular & Co.”
Glass, porcelain and ceramic travel mugs are a bit less travel-resistant, but preserve the taste of your coffee well.
3. Coffee Cups Where Your Nose Can also Participate
Putting your mouth around a stainless steel or a very narrow cup gives a very different experience to your coffee moment than a wide, ceramic or porcelain cup. You smell the coffee less, it taps against your teeth and you miss the coffee experience, says barista Braakman.
“Some cups therefore have a push button so that the smell of coffee can escape.” Choose a wider model so that the coffee aromas can reach your nose well.
Braakman prefers to walk around with a steel cup that has a ceramic interior. You have to dig deep for that, but a fine product that you walk around with every day is worth it, he says.
4. Traveling with a Travel Mug is done like this
Assume that no cup is so leakproof that you can blindly throw it in your backpack next to your laptop, says Braakman. “Use the side pocket of your backpack, just like you used to take your apple juice.” Milk froth does not survive a trip in a travel mug. If you want to take your own coffee from home, choose americano or filter coffee.
5. How to clean your cup
Rinse your cup after use; it’s not more complicated than that, says the barista. It is better not to wash a thermos cup too often in the dishwasher, because that can cause damage to the insulating layer. If there is a lot of coffee residue in your cup, you can scrub well with baking soda.