I received my Frank Green stainless steel & ceramic coffee cup as a gift. And I have to say – it matches my Airpods pretty well. But is this popular mug really the Apple of reusable mugs? Let’s find out in my detailed and honest review.
About Frank Green
Frank Green was started in Melbourne by serial entrepreneur, caffeine enthusiast and passionate environmental advocate, Benjamin Young. Before starting Frank Green, Ben worked within the merger and acquisitions sector of waste management. He realised that rather than managing waste after they are produced, the smarter move would be to alter behaviours that create waste in the first place. He discovered that a staggering 38% of Australia’s landfill is actually single-use coffee cups or water bottles, and only 7% of what goes in a recycle bin actually becomes a recycled product.
Another cool thing to note is that according to Frank Green’s website, you’ll begin to offset the environmental impact it took to create your cup in about 15 uses. Nice!
On to the review…
The Look
My white Frank Green looks like the apple of coffee mugs. It has a really sleek look which the brand spent ages perfecting. The cup is curved to fit comfortably in your hand, and it is intended to be more like an accessory than just a mundane reusable product.
It has won design awards such as Australian Brand Awards Eco Innovation Winner 2018, Good Design Awards and more. Doesn’t hurt for the brand that their cups are super instagrammable too!
Look: 5/5
The Material
The body of the cup is made of premium grade 304 stainless steel and ceramic, while the lid is made of BPA-Free Plastic.
I love the ceramic inner layer because you could enjoy the benefits of a home coffee cup. Flavour is affected, and the ceramic material doesn’t keep odour unlike under reusable cup materials. The double insulated layer also keeps your drink warm. The plastic they use for cap is Tritan, a copolymer that is BPA free and US FDA and EU approved. I think the material is very elegant, but I am giving it a 4/5 due to its influence on weight and heat retention, to be covered later.
Material: 4/5
Drinking experience
I appreciate the design of the cap but I personally feel it’s a bit awkward to drink from. It’s a small hole on a curved rim, so I feel like it might spill a bit over when I drink. A bit of stain residue is always leftover when I finish taking a sip, which makes for not the smoothest drinking experience.
If I am at a fixed location, like when I am working at home having Zoom calls, I would simply take the lid off to drink. It’s actually pretty nice to drink from the metal rim of the cup. When the lid is on, I also find that the button takes a bit of energy to push, as if my index finger is doing a bit of a work out.
Drinking experience: 3/5
Does it Leak?
Although I have seen on online forums or comment sections with people saying the cup leaks, I suspect it might be because people haven’t been screwing on the lid parts right or closing the cap tightly. When this is done correctly, I’ve chucked the coffee-filled mug in my bag, swung my bag around for quite a bit, and my bag has been coffee free. You can also see the leak test I have done in the above video review.
UPDATE: For some reason I’ve had two leak accidents in my bag over the months of using this cup. When I am extra super duper careful it doesn’t leak, but I feel like from my own experience and comments online, it’s prone to leaking for some reason even when it’s designed to be leak-proof. I suspect this is because the many lid parts are not easy to be screwed on perfectly after cleaning!
Leak proof? 4/5
Heat Retention
The Frank Green does keep your drink warm for a while, but not as long as I expect for a cup body with insulated layers. I think this is because of the plastic lid. You could tell because after pouring hot liquid in the mug, the body feels cool to touch from the outside but the plastic lid gets a bit warmer, which means heat gets lost through here.
However I do feel like it keeps warm to a reasonable degree and if you are not a ridiculously slow coffee drinker or traveling for a distance before sipping your drink, it should be fine. But if you’re looking to keep something warm for a long time so that you could drink later, this might not live up to your needs.
Heat Retention: 3.5/5
Weight
My 10oz / 295ml ceramic & stainless steel Frank Green comes up to 230g.
Not bad. Comparatively a Stojo 16oz is 208g and Keep Cup 12 oz is 208g
Weight: 4/5
Ease of Cleaning
The Frank Green cup lid needs to be separated into 7 parts for cleaning. I frankly feel like I already lost some parts just looking at them. Having said that, I do feel like it allows for a thorough cleaning experience. It also just takes time and experience to get used to taking it all apart and putting it together again. But it’s like riding a bicycle. One you’re used to it, it’s a piece of cake. The cup is also dishwasher safe.
The downside is, there is a ditch on the rim of the mug lid that is pretty hard to clean well. Meh.
Ease of Cleaning: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.75/5
This is a fantastic cup to use especially while driving. Also for if you want to just throw it in your bag while on the go. I don’t think there is such a thing as the perfect cup (yet). So I think it sometimes really depends on what aspects you prioritise more. For example, one person might not mind a heavier mug with excellent heat retention properties, while another might prefer the exact opposite. If you are someone who cares about the aesthetics of the products you use, need a leak-proof mug with okay heat-retention properties – then the Frank Green stainless steel ceramic mug could be for you.
Obviously I also like that the company is pretty purpose driven. And I like this piece of advice founder Benjamin gave to budding eco-entrepreneurs: To have a successful business, they have to ensure that they are solving a market problem. In the case of Frank Green, each time a cup is used, the cafe saves anywhere between 20-40 cents. Over a year, for each customer that’s been converted to a reusable cup, the cafe saves $100. So the cafes are motivated to promote the use of reusable mugs too.
This goes along with my strong belief that sadly we can’t just do business because it is nice for the world we have to think about how it fits the financial and practical needs of people and businesses we are connected to.
What do you think? I hope my review of the Frank Green stainless steel ceramic cup has been helpful! Do you think you’ll get one? Let me know!
Sources:
Collective Hub
Frank Green