The travel mug that suits how you carry your coffee

The best travel mug for coffee depends on whether it goes in a bag. If it does, buy the Contigo West Loop: Contigo rates its locking Autoseal lid spill-proof and leak-proof and says it keeps coffee hot for up to 5 hours, and it costs £16.89 on Amazon at the time of writing (October 2026). If you carry your coffee in your hand, the £24 KeepCup Brew Cork is sized to café serves and stands 10.2cm tall without its lid, low enough for a compact espresso machine. The £24 Chilly's Original Coffee Cup sits between them: café-sized at 340ml, with a lock lid and a 6 hour heat claim from Chilly's.

Which travel mug should you buy?

Decide first whether it will ride in a bag. Which? has tested 22 cups and mugs and draws the line clearly: reusable coffee cups 'aren't usually leakproof' and are made for carrying coffee by hand over short distances, while travel mugs are mostly designed to be leak-proof, although its tests found some that 'still leak easily'. Which? also advises a travel mug over a cup if you want the drink hot for more than a couple of hours.

The picks cover both sides of that line. The Contigo West Loop is a leak-proof steel mug for a bag, the KeepCup Brew Cork is a glass café cup that makes no leak-proof claim, and the Chilly's Original Coffee Cup is an insulated steel cup its maker rates leak-proof in a café-sized body.

Contigo West Loop: best leak-proof mug

Coffee cupContigo West Loop Autoseal Travel Mug 470ml£16.89 on Amazon, checked October 2026Check price on Amazon

Contigo's UK page lists the West Loop at 470ml, with double-wall vacuum insulation that it says keeps drinks hot for up to 5 hours and cold for up to 12. The Autoseal lid opens with a button, and a lock stops the button being pressed by accident when the mug is in a bag. The lid goes on the top rack of the dishwasher; the body is hand wash only, according to Contigo.

Independent testers back the seal more than the heat claim. Tom's Guide shook the 16oz West Loop upside down and 'nothing escaped', and Expert Reviews says it has 'the best autoseal' of the mugs on its list, releasing liquid only while your finger is on the button. Tom's Guide's thermometer read 204°F (about 96°C) at the start, 166°F (74°C) at two hours, 137°F (58°C) at five and 111°F (44°C) at ten. That is still warm at five hours, but cooler than the Thermos Stainless King measured alongside it, which read 159°F (71°C) at five hours.

Tom's Guide's complaints are that the rubber-coated lid got too hot to touch with a fresh drink and that the mug wobbles when knocked. At 19.7cm tall it is far too tall for the De'Longhi Dedica EC685's 12cm of cup space, so brew into a cup or jug and pour it in. Skip it if you want to put the whole thing in the dishwasher.

KeepCup Brew Cork: best for the café counter

Coffee cupKeepCup Brew Cork 12oz£24.00 on Amazon, checked October 2026Check price on Amazon

KeepCup makes the Brew Cork 12oz from tempered glass, with a band of recovered cork and a press-fit lid it calls 'splashproof' rather than leak-proof. It holds 340ml, which KeepCup sizes to 'a standard medium coffee', and the company says its cups follow real café serves so a barista can pour into one the same way as into a takeaway cup. It is 12.3cm tall with the lid and 10.2cm without, which clears the Dedica's 12cm. KeepCup says it is dishwasher and microwave safe to 100°C.

Glass does not insulate, and KeepCup makes no heat claim for the Brew. Homegrounds' review puts its heat retention at 'under an hour' and agrees the lid is not leak-proof. Homegrounds also says the cork version cannot go in the dishwasher, which contradicts KeepCup's own page; KeepCup's care guidance is the one to follow.

Skip it if the cup will travel in a bag, or if you sip slowly over a morning.

Chilly's Original Coffee Cup: best insulated cup

Coffee cupChilly's Original Coffee Cup 340ml£24.00 on Amazon, checked October 2026Check price on Amazon

Chilly's lists the Original Coffee Cup at 340ml, 12.9cm tall and 330g, with double-walled insulation it says keeps drinks hot for up to 6 hours and a flip-open lock lid it describes as '100% leak-proof'. The body is 90% post-consumer recycled stainless steel. It is not dishwasher, microwave or freezer safe, according to Chilly's.

Independent heat figures for this cup are hard to find. Which? has tested both Chilly's coffee cups, but its results are for members only, so the 6 hours here is Chilly's own claim. At 12.9cm it is 9mm taller than the Dedica's cup space, so measure your own machine before planning to brew straight into it. Skip it if everything you own goes in the dishwasher.

How do the three compare?

The Contigo West Loop holds 470ml against 340ml for the KeepCup Brew Cork and the Chilly's Original Coffee Cup. Chilly's makes the longest heat claim, 6 hours to Contigo's 5, and the KeepCup is the only one of the three its maker says can go in the dishwasher whole.

Will a travel mug fit under your coffee machine?

Only a short one, so measure first. De'Longhi gives 12cm as the maximum cup height for the Dedica EC685. Of the three picks, only the KeepCup Brew Cork clears that, at 10.2cm without its lid; the Chilly's Original Coffee Cup is 12.9cm and the Contigo West Loop 19.7cm, according to their makers.

At a café the question is size rather than height. KeepCup says its cups follow café serves so the barista can pour as usual, and Which? puts a regular shop-bought coffee at around 350ml. A 470ml mug like the West Loop holds more than that, so expect some empty space at the top.

How much does a reusable cup save on a takeaway habit?

Up to £115 a year at Pret, if you buy one coffee each working day. Pret gives 50p off when you bring a reusable cup, according to its sustainability page. Starbucks UK's 2018 announcement of its 5p paper cup charge describes a 'longstanding 25p discount' for reusable cups, and Costa Club gives two beans per drink instead of one with a reusable cup, according to Supercards' May 2026 guide to the scheme.

The table assumes one takeaway a day, five days a week for 46 weeks, which is 230 drinks a year.

Over a year that is £115 at Pret and £57.50 at Starbucks. At five drinks a week, the Contigo pays for itself in about seven weeks at Pret and the KeepCup or the Chilly's in about ten. If your Starbucks still adds the 5p paper cup charge, each drink in your own cup there saves 30p rather than 25p.

The bigger number is the coffee. A coffee-shop flat white costs £3.50 to £4, while the median whole bean coffee we track costs 63p a cup on an 18g dose. Made at home and carried in one of these, 230 drinks cost about £145 in coffee against £805 to £920 bought out, a difference of about £660 to £775 a year before milk.

How do you keep a travel mug clean?

Follow the maker, because the three differ. KeepCup says the Brew Cork goes in the dishwasher. Contigo puts only the West Loop's lid in the dishwasher, on the top rack, with the body washed by hand, and Expert Reviews notes that the lid 'doesn't have any loose parts'. Chilly's says the Original Coffee Cup is not dishwasher safe at all.

Which?'s list of the mugs it tested labels the West Loop dishwasher-safe. Contigo's own UK page says the body is hand wash only, and the maker's guidance is the one to follow.

Who can skip a travel mug?

• Anyone who drinks their coffee where they make it. A cup from the cupboard does the job.
• Anyone whose usual café gives no reusable cup discount and who only carries coffee as far as the car. The saving above rests on the discount.

The verdict

Buy the Contigo West Loop if the coffee goes in a bag: it is the cheapest of the three, and the seal is the part independent testers praise. Buy the KeepCup Brew Cork if you mostly carry a café coffee in your hand or brew under a low spout at home. Buy the Chilly's Original Coffee Cup if you want a café-sized cup that stays hot and you do not mind washing it by hand.