When you’re out in the hills, nothing is better than a beverage at the opposite temperature of the air.  Hot when it’s cold; cold when it’s hot.  There are plenty of insulated bottle options out there.  But, one of the best we’ve found is the relatively new Klean Kanteen Insulated series.

Klean Kanteenmakes a full line of stainless steel bottles, tumblers, mugs, food canisters, growlers, and even baby bottles.  Why stainless steel?  Well, Klean Kanteen’s 18/8 stainless is food-grade, BPA-free doesn’t retain or add its own flavors, and doesn’t require a liner like aluminum.  Liner?  Yes!  cheap aluminum water bottles have polymer liners – some of which contain BPA!  Klean Kanteen also uses BPA, phthalate, and lead-free polypropylene for their caps.  And finally, our favorite part – their loop caps create a completely plastic-free environment for your beverage.

The entire Klean Kanteen Insulated Line

Klean Kanteen insulated bottles come in three sizes – 12, 16, and 20 ounce – and are available with the loop cap top or the cafe top.  The cafe top comes apart for complete cleaning – no more coffee residue under your lid.  Each bottle is rated to keep hot drinks hot for six hours and cold drinks cold for 24 using a double-walled vacuum layer.

We’ve tested the heat-retention capabilities of the 12-ounce version with the cafe cap.  We put hot tap water in and left it overnight on the kitchen counter.  When we returned in the morning, about eight hours later, it was lukewarm, but not cold.  We’ll try again with truly hot water (170° instead of our 120° tap water) and see what the temperature is after six hours.

In the meantime, we’re excited to have an insulating bottle that keeps our liquids entirely away from plastic.