   Hot cups
  By which I mean, a cup for keeping your hot drink hot on the train.I've had a few which stay hot fine, but they always make stuff taste awful. I can brew fresh coffee and it tastes bad enough to make me feel sick. The ones I've had have been plastic on the inside and I think it's just not cleaning well - no matter how well I try to clean it, the cup always smells of stale coffee.Can anyone recommend a good type/brand for this, which doesn't flavour the drinks? I suppose being dishwashable is too much to ask... I'm wondering if one which is metal or even glass (like a proper thermos flask) would be better?   
Quote:Can anyone recommend a good type/brand for this, which doesn't flavour the drinks? I suppose being dishwashable is too much to ask... I'm wondering if one which is metal or even glass (like a proper thermos flask) would be better?Nope. Metal cups are the worst, if you really care about taste and flavour. Glass and plastic are not much better. A good thick-walled china cup with a tight lid can keep the drinks hot for quite some time.   ;  You mean just like a normal mug, with a lid? I suppose most of the heat would escape from the open top of the cup.But ideally it won't be delicate either, or really heavy.A thermos doesn't flavour drinks , or at least not too badly. That is just glass. And you can get mugs/cups made of glass, which are fine. I think whatever the material in contact with the liquid is must be something which it can't stick to. A mug is glazed, so it must be the glazing which has the good properties, not the china itself.   ;Quote:That is just glass. And you can get mugs/cups made of glass, which are fine. I think whatever the material in contact with the liquid is must be something which it can't stick to. A mug is glazed, so it must be the glazing which has the good properties, not the china itself.Glass has different heat conducting properties than china. It will get cold much faster. For thermoses - it doesnt matter much what are they made of, its the vacuum that does the trick. Heat has nowhere to go, except by radiation, and that happens extremely slow.As for glaze - its not exactly the glaze itself that matters. Pure clay cups are even better at holding heat and not contributing to flavour. The problem is pure clay utensils dont live that long, and are not as aesthetically pleasing. Thats why its glazed.   ;  Yes I know how the thermos works. You said glass flavours drinks and I mentioned thermos flasks as a counter-example.A cup that was also a proper thermos flask would be quite cool. But glass is delicate in those things. Come to think of it, you can get pretty rugged flasks, I wonder if they use metal.   ;  I definitely prefer the taste of water out of a glass tumbler than a plastic one.   ;Quote:You said glass flavours drinks and I mentioned thermos flasks as a counter-example.Oxidizing reaction (or any reaction in general) requires heat exchange. In thermoses any process is slowed down to a crawl, but it doesnt mean its not happening.   ;Quote:Original post by d000hgI think it's just not cleaning well - no matter how well I try to clean it, the cup always smells of stale coffee.Mix three parts vinegar and two parts water, heat to boiling and allow to cool in the vessel you wish to clean, then give it a normal wash to remove the vinegar - works well on the burn marks typically found inside kettles as well.I don't use such a cup, I'm afraid I can't help there.   ;  My theory is if you need a cup to keep your coffee hot, you ain't drinking it fast enough! Chug that stuff and buy another round, ya pansy! :)   ;  if you dont like cold coffe [ore more then you could] jut use somthing like coke instead.on chine coffe cup.also you can use it on thermos.and when anyone asks :what are you drinking .you can say cofee.your friends or others definitely will not want to drink from your coffe.but if they see its a cooke probally they will.   