“Why do you bother using that at home?” my husband wondered.
He was referring to the DUUN® Tumbler sitting on my desk. I’d been given one at work so I could write about it for the website – it’s always easier to describe a product when you’ve actually tried it out, so I used it to bring my morning tea to the office with me.
There were a few things I liked about the DUUN® Tumbler right off the bat: for one thing, the outer shell has a slim profile, so I knew it would fit in my little car’s drink holder without any problems (something I’d had trouble with in the past with other tumblers). I also liked the way it felt in my hand – I’d snagged one in hibiscus (which adds a nice pop of pretty color to my mornings), and I could tell the textured layer covering the sleek, stainless-steel shell would make the tumbler easier to hang onto. (I also suspected – correctly, as it turned out – that the outer layer would maintain an even outer temperature so the thing wouldn’t be too hot or cold to handle in extreme weather.) I also liked the size – DUUN® Tumblers hold 15 ounces, and while I usually make my own tea (or, occasionally, coffee) in the morning, on those occasions when I’m running behind I swing by the nearby coffee shop on my way into the office. They’re happy to put my drink in my reusable travel mug instead of one of their own paper cups, and the DUUN® accommodates their “tall” size easily.
I wasn’t so sure about the lid, which is made of plastic – I’m not a fan of plastic when it comes to food and beverage containers, both for health and for environmental reasons. But the good news is that the DUUN® Tumbler’s lid is made of Tritan plastic, which is BPA-free and doesn’t break down into microplastics when disposed of improperly, so that was a big plus. Whether or not it would drip while I was sipping at it would remain to be seen.
As it happened, the lid worked nicely, easy to open with one hand (important when you’re driving) and not prone to spilling – I was pleased, because I’d tried other mugs with lids that didn’t work nearly as well. But what really sold me on my new DUUN® was the way it kept my beverage hot – the first day I used it I hit the ground running, getting pulled into a series of impromptu meetings all over my office building while my morning tea sat forgotten on my desk. By the time I finally got back to it at around lunchtime, I expected it to be practically iced tea – but to my amazement, it was still steaming. The borosilicate class insert did just what it said it would. Not only was my drink still warm, it tasted the way it should, too – I’ve noticed that tea drunk from a metal, plastic or cardboard vessel never tastes quite as good as from a regular cup, but with the DUUN® Tumbler, my drink tastes the same as it does when prepared in a ceramic mug.
Between the “clean” taste of my drink and the way my new tumbler kept my drinks hot, I was sold to the point I started using it on work-from-home days, too. The fact that it was so easy to clean (the insert is dishwasher safe) sealed the deal. (I’m not big on hand-washing dishes if I can avoid it.)
The DUUN® Tumbler: Built to Last
My husband was still skeptical after hearing my review.
“It sounds great, but there’s no point in getting me one,” he said ruefully. “I’d probably destroy it within a week.”
He had a point. As an environmental consultant he has to wear a lot of different hats, and in addition to time in the office he spends a lot of time on the road, traveling over a wide variety of terrains to conduct tests and surveys, moving between a desk and a classroom and more. When it comes to his job, my husband’s number one need for everything from his clothing to his vehicle is durability. He had stopped having coffee on work mornings years ago because he could never find a travel mug that would stand up to his rough-and-tumble schedule, let alone keep his drink hot.
Such was my faith in the durability of the DUUN® Tumbler, however, I got one (I chose the slate color) to put in my husband’s Christmas stocking. He looked at me in surprise when he found it.
“You know I love mine,” I argued.
“But–”
“Just give it a try,” I insisted. “You can tell just by handling it that it’s made of premium materials…it really is very rugged.”
He sighed. “That glass insert will probably shatter the first time I drive with it over a rural back road.”
“I don’t think so. But if it does, there’s a warranty – they’ll replace it at no extra cost. Then you can just save it for road trips.”
We both forgot he even had a DUUN® Tumbler of his own for several weeks. Then one night it snowed, and the temperature dropped, and while my husband was outside scraping the ice off his windshield the next morning, I filled his DUUN® with hot tea and handed it to him when he came back in. I did it again the next day, and the next. Pretty soon he was taking it with him every day. The following summer, he swapped out the hot beverages for iced tea and found it stayed cold and refreshing on even the most sweltering days inside the DUUN® Tumbler.
The year warranty had run out before I remembered to ask my husband how his DUUN® Tumbler was holding up.
“Great. It does a fantastic job, and is super sturdy,” he admitted. “I’m surprised at just how rugged it turned out to be. There’s only one problem now…”
“Really? What?” I asked.
“I feel like I can’t go anywhere without my ‘baby bottle!’” he grumbled.
But he’s still using his DUUN® – and so am I. As far as I’m concerned, anything that makes Monday mornings a little easier is a winner!
