Review: Contigo West Loop

The West Loop Autoseal is a sleek minimalist travel mug from Contigo. With a capacity of 470ml and available in a plethora of different colours you should have no trouble finding a colour you like. What really makes this travel mug stand out from the crowd is the ingenious autoseal technology, which basically means you have to hold down a button to take a drink, and when you let go of the button the lid seals closed automatically. There’s also a handy locking mechanism so the mug cannot be opened accidentally, making it completely leak proof. As well as the technology, the West loop benefits from being very conveniently sized, so it won’t take up much room when thrown in a bag (just make sure you’ve pushed the lock button first) and fits most car cup holders like a glove, making it a great daily use travel mug. During my time using the West loop it worked well on the whole. I liked the design, very cool and minimalist. Size wise I think its pretty much the sweet spot for a travel mug. The locking mechanism worked well, and I found the quoted stay hot and Cold times (5 hours for hot and 12 hours for cold) to be pretty accurate. There were a few negatives points as well. I found cleaning it was mildly awkward and fiddly at times. I think the lack of a rubber grip is an oversight. The autoseal is a great idea and works fine on the whole, but I thought the button felt a bit flimsy. To me it was more a question of when this mechanism was going to break as opposed to if it was going to break!

These fairly minor issues aside the west loop is pretty much the perfect daily commute travel mug, at 470ml it’s a great size and with the locking mechanism there’s no worries about throwing it in a bag.