I want to give this 100 so badly! This thermos is incredibly well made and amazingly designed. Steep basket attachment in the cup, compartment in the lid to store dry loose tea (either so you can steep it later for time-sensitive teas that need to be babysat, or if you plan to make your initial cup or a second serving later), rubber bottom to keep it from clanking on surfaces, and damn, does this thermos keep your tea hot! However…I really wonder at the price point. ($30) I have a large and extremely well-insulated Thermos-brand travel mug that does everything this does, minus the basket attachment and tea compartment, and it was half the price; I feel as though those two aspects, while important, aren’t themselves worth half the price? (Steep basket or not, I wouldn’t buy the mug unless it was sturdy, vacuum sealed, and well insulated — all way more important for keeping the tea satisfying.) I’m in fact fairly sure my Thermos is 4oz bigger. The loose tea compartment was something I discovered after the fact, too. I was just mainly sold on the fact that I could finally steep tea into a thermos (my other one has too narrow of a neck or any of my steepers to fit through.) Kind of just wish it was a tad more affordable — like, five bucks cheaper — given the small size and the fact that the tea compartment is something I doubt I’ll utilize all the time.
That and, I just wish…that I could drink out of this thermos with tea leaves still in the steeper. The attachment nestles underneath this mouthpiece to drink from and if your tea leaves are small enough, you HAVE to remove/empty the steep basket out before you drink. I’m sure it just wasn’t functional to make the holes any smaller to keep tea leaves from draining out (they would probably clog up the thermos too, it would likely be impossible to drink out of) but for an on-the-go thermos, I dream of being able to throw everything in and be able to enjoy the tea immediately without having to open the thermos, unlock the basket, and deal with that before being able to enjoy my tea. (I usually have to set aside ten minutes before going out to make my tea and prep it for drinkability before leaving…which is what I had already been doing with my tea-unfriendly Thermos before I bought the Timolino.) I figure the idea is that it’s all prepared for being able to make tea out of the house, and not so much “you threw your tea together on your way out the door!” which is still incredibly convenient. Maybe I’ll experiment throwing my tea leaves into a teabag into the thermos and see how well that works. Believe me, this part is my personal wish, not a reason why I knocked five points off of my score!
But enough of my complaining. Overall, I’d say it’s worth the purchase! Trust me, your tea will NOT go cold unless you remove both “lids” and keep it completely open (yeah, even the mouthpiece manages to keep my tea from growing cold!) Also I’m pretty sure they roll out with new colors every season or every-other, so these will be addictive for collecting if you’re like me and love color options.
