review: i am not a paper cup

It seems silly to review and critique something as simple as a coffee cup.  However, that silliness fades the first time that you shower yourself with magma-grade coffee or dump a mugful on the carpet of your car.  The i am not a paper cup has, for me, solved most of these problems.  It is essentially a ceramic and silicone mug designed to look exactly like a paper cup.  It also acts just like a paper cup in the handling aspect.  It does not have any sealing features or ways to prevent you from dumping the whole mug, but it also prevents you from leaving it rolling around behind your car seat.  The cup was revolutionary for me as I always enjoyed the design of disposable cups.  They also provide a convenient level of protection against spills (read: enough protection to use near a computer).  Perhaps out of all of the awesome things this mug can do, my favorite is that the entire assembly can be popped into a microwave for a warmup.  Also worth mentioning is that the cup fits perfectly in 99% of car cup holders, something that cannot be said for most travel mugs.

All is not roses though with the i am not a paper cup.  The largest single downside is that the cup itself will set you back $16.00.  There are generic versions that are starting to become available, however, they defeat the purpose of having a ceramic mug, and the sealing quality of the silicone lid.  The second largest pitfall is the carrying capacity of 10 oz.  This is fine for around the house and when at places that there is a never ending fountain of coffee, but when on the road this number seems quite small.  The other downside to the 10 oz thing is that the 10 oz is measured from the very top of the cup, a place that I am not comfortable filling to when out and about.  This drops the effective volume to more like 9 oz.  There is also a fiscal drawback that can occur while using this device.  Refills are normally less expensive oz for oz but when your mug looks like the stores 16 oz cup and weighs in at 9 oz, you see where I am going.

I will attach a picture of the mug with some more updates a little later on.

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