An Honest Review: Is the Prestigious, Consistently Sold-Out Stanley Cup Really Worth the Hype?

If you haven’t heard about the prestigious, 40 oz, dishwasher safe, cup holder friendly stanley cup, then you may be in the minority. However, this cup doesn’t come without a high price point, a whopping $40 dollars a cup. More if you end up desperately buying it through a third party seller who snactched a bunch of them up to sell them at double the price. Yuck. So is it worth it? Does it actually live up to the hype? Or is it an average product with a brilliant marketing team behind it?

I’ll be honest, I bought one of these cups early on when the only color option was white. Then later I bought two more colors during one of the earlier launches, a dark blue and a black. These are the only three special Stanley cups I’ll ever own. Here’s why:

Yes, the 40 oz Stanley cup is dishwasher safe, has a handle, can fit in your cup holder, and keep your water and ice super, super cold. It also keeps your hot drinks hot, although, I haven’t often used this particular cup for my hot drinks as even I am not that big of a coffee drinker. These heavily touted pros aren’t lies, however, I just don’t find them as great in practice as I expected. Let me share my experience with you.

Reasons I Don’t Believe The Stanley Cup Lives Up to the Hype

• The straw features. Here’s the thing, I’ve tried the straw thing, and I hate it. They’re a pain in the but to clean, using straws too often can lead to age lines forming around your mouth, and this means that the top is not spill proof, which is super obnoxious because you will spill this cup someday. Especially if you’re taking it out and about with you and have kids.
• The mouth chugging feature. They claim that you can choose to chug from your stanley cup without the straw, but I haven’t been able to manage this without dripping water all over myself. In reality, the hole was  not make for chugging, it was made for holding a giant straw.
• The craftsmanship does not hold up. My friend had her top break within a couple months of owning the cup. My cups, especially my black one, have the color chipping away from both the top and the bottom. Which means if I were hoping to use them for an influenceresque photo shoot I’d be SOL. Sure, they say they offer a lifetime warranty, but who really has the time to navigate a complicated warranty claim over a cup? I don’t. Anyway, see the damage I’m talking about below after just a yearish.

  

  

• The handle. It’s okay, and does make it easier to carry sometimes, but more often than not I wish it had a handle that could swing up above the cup that would make it even easier to carry.
• Yes, it can fit in your car cup holder (for most cars), but I hate taking this cup out and about with me. Why? Because when I inevitably decide to stop for fast food or drinks, I need to be able to boot it from my valuable cup holder spot, but I can’t throw it on the ground unless it’s completely empty or it will leak everywhere. So I just end up with yet another drink cup to juggle on the way home.
• It also is a pain and the but to take out doors. If you don’t have the perfect spot to balance it away from the action, you’re probably going to spill it. I’ve foolishly tried taking it to the beach, even after digging it into the sand it ended up spilling and filled with sand. The portable chair I had it in while camping ended up tipping over, spilling my drink everywhere. Soccer games, the gym, and everywhere else I tried taking it just ended up stressing me out while I made sure no one came close enough to knock over my super special Stanley cup. Maybe you’re not supposed to take this cups out to as many places, but it’s sold as a “travel tumbler” and the people of instagram have been seen taking it everywhere. So, of course I tried.
• Since this cup became “mommy’s special cup” for a while, my toddlers naturally did everything in their power to get to it. Which lead to, you guessed it, them spilling it everywhere. It’s definitely not a toddler-safe cup. So now when I want to use it, I have to make sure to keep it somewhere high out of reach between drinks.
• There is a fancy little accessory that can be purchased from a third party seller, I believe at a price between 10 and 15 dollars, that is said to make the Stanley cup leak proof, but I’ve never personally purchased it so I can’t vouch for how effective it is. However, even if I were the biggest Stanley cup fan out there, this leak guard would pretty much make the Stanley cup cost upwards of 50 dollars, which is a kind of crazy amount to spend on one cup.

Reasons I Still Like the Stanley Cup Sometimes

• Dishwasher safe. I’ve ruined other nice water bottles by running them through my dishwasher because I was too lazy to bother cleaning them by hand. However, this dishwasher safe feature is found in every single Stanley cup, and I think some of their other design options are actually better for  your average water bottle user.
• It does keep my drink cold for a very long time. I’ve forgotten a cup and picked it up three days later to still discover ice in it. They’re not joking around with the chill, but again, all of their cups are amazing at chilling drinks.
• It’s large. I do enjoy the 40 oz capacity. It’s tricky to find water bottles with this high of a capacity, especially if you want to be able to fit then in your car’s cup holder. And as long as I’m super careful about when I’m using it, it can be a nice cup to have around. But I do only use it as a super fancy cup. Not a water bottle or travel tumbler anymore. Lately, I only find myself able to use it if I’m locked in my office working.

My Overall Recommendation

I don’t believe the 40 oz Stanley cup is the go-to cup for busy mom’s, mainly due to the fact that it spills like crazy. However, if your house isn’t as crazy as mine, and you don’t plan on taking it out much, you’ll probably enjoy this cup. But if you think you relate to my comments and lifestyle, Stanley probably makes other products that are better for you.

This cup has lead me to discover my love of the Stanley brand, however. I just prefer their other styles of cups better.

Alternatives to The 40 oz Stanley Cup

These other Stanley products have all the pros I love about the 40 oz Stanley cup, without all of the cons:

• THE ICEFLOW FLIP STRAW TUMBLER: Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This cup basically looks like the 40 oz Stanley cup, but with an above-the-cup handle and a more solid, flip straw lid which is also leak proof. It’s still dishwasher safe, and will fit into your car’s cup holder. However, it only comes in a 20 oz and 30 oz size.

  • Check it out here

• THE ICEFLOW FLIP STRAW JUG: If you’re looking for even more water storage, the Flip Straw Jug may be the option for you. It comes in a 40 oz or 64 oz size. I have two of the 64 oz bad boys that we like to take on adventures with us, and I love them! However, this option will not fit in your cup holders, obvioulsy.

  • Check it out here.

• CLASSIC TRIGGER-ACTION TRAVEL MUG: This has become mine and my husband’s go-to coffee mug in the morning. In fact, one is sitting right next to me while I write this blog. It comes in a 12 oz, 16 oz and 20 oz size, and will fit in your cup holder. The Trigger-Action lid you press a button to uncover the drinking hole, which I find nice and convenient. I have seen some reviews that the triggers on this bottle is prone to breaking, but I haven’t had any problems with mine yet.

• Even more to love! Stanley also make some nice basic cups (which is basically what my 40 oz Stanley Cup Turned in to), beer mugs, more traditional water bottles, and more drink solutions if you’re looking for something more.

Pro Tip:

If  you’re looking to buy the 40 oz Stanley Cup, or any of their other cups, keep and eye out for their 20% or 25% off coupons or sales. Coupons work store wide, while sales are often limited  to certain cups or products. I haven’t seen the 40 oz Stanley Cup included in any sales yet, but this is also about the first time I’ve seen the Stanley Cup stay in stock longer than thirty seconds after a release.

What do you think? Are you a Stanley Cup fan or do you have another cup you love?

Let me know in the comments below!

Happy shopping,

The Empowered Shopper

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