B&M Travel Mug

Reviewed by Martin Childs

B&M, £1.99

Much better tasting than your generic travel mug.

This is definately one product that bucks the old saying of "Light, strong and cheap: choose two" although we'd probably have to modify it slightly for travel mugs:

Easy drinking, taste free and cheap: choose two

The standard travel mug

To consider what makes a good travel mug what you should really do is to consider what is wrong with your conventional generic travel mug:

Lid The regular design travel mug is has a recessed well containing a sliding flap to cover the little little slot you drink through. There are a a couple of things wrong with this:

• After a short time the flap becomes loose and as you go to drink it slides back over the hole - theres not flap on the B&M model, problem solved;
• The next problem is that a bubble can form over the slot blocking the tea coming out again B&M has the answer in that your mouth breaks any bubbles forming automatically as you drink as the slot is on the lip of the lid;

Taste The regular design travel mug is made of the that black plastic, sure it looks good but it only takes a couple of months for it to start tasting bad, it really does spoil your brew and you find yourself buying new ones quite quickly.

If you are lucky you can sometimes pick yourself one up where the mug is all metal, kinda solves the problem but the lid is always that black plastic and although it is longer before the taste arrives but it does eventually come!

Cleaning, back to the lid - the flap is a magnet for residue build up in the inside and edges, being recessed it is really hard to clean properly and really does add to the bad taste in no time at all. Also you do come into some hassle when cleaning some regular mugs - you can get water ingress in the lid and the body when you wash it. It doesn't really affect the performance but you can hear it sloshing and it really freaks me out.

The B&M travel mug

I've been using it for a year now and I can safely say that the plastic has stayed tase free the whole time. I've had no issues with build up of gunk, theres no issue with worn out flaps - all in an all round solid performer.

One thing I'd like a bit more of in the winter months is a little more insulation, it seems to get cold a tad quicker than I'd like sat in a freezing cold car though it shouldn't affect most people it's just that I enjoy my tea boiling hot.

I have to admit though I'm now on to my second mug as after I've left it on the roof of my car three times now, forgotten about it, seen it go flying over my head and watched it come crashing to the tarmac. All this abuse has left it more than useable but it has developed a small crack in the lid. A perfect excuse to buy a second unit - I have a spare for when Alison has knicked mine or I've forgotten to wash it and need a mug in a rush.

Rating: 5 out of 5