YETI Rambler® "Straw Mug 2.0" Insulated Tumbler with Straw Lid 1 piece

The ice outlasts the meet

The Rambler Straw Mug 2.0 is YETI's 739-millilitre mug for cold drinks on the go. Ice survives a whole event day in it, and the outside wall stays dry the whole time. It's not meant for hot coffee, and lying down in a bag it leaks.

The YETI Rambler Straw Mug 2.0 is YETI's straw mug for anyone who packs their cold drink at home and still wants to drink it cold in the late afternoon. 739 millilitres, filled the night before, grabbed on the way out in the dark. And at eleven, when the first people are binning their lukewarm paper cups, the ice is still rattling in yours.

• 739 millilitres covers a whole day outdoors. That's two big glasses, so there's no refilling on the way. In a test of the 25 oz version, the ice was still there after 15 hours, as long as the mug started out cold.
• The handle carries 1.3 kilos without digging in. That's how much hangs from three fingers when it's full. The handle is round and chunky rather than flat, and it sits high on the body so it stays above the rim of the cup holder instead of bumping into it.
• No water ring on the folding table. The outside wall stays dry, even after two hours in the sun. No puddle on the leather console, no dripping hand over a freshly sealed wing, no damp mark on the seat cover.

Detailing1's tip from the shop: The most common mistake happens in the morning, not while you're drinking. Take the mug out of the cupboard at room temperature, throw ice in and set off, and you burn the first hour just getting it cold. Instead, fill it with ice the evening before and put it in the fridge. Then it starts the morning already chilled, rather than spending half the drive working against itself.

Fill it in the evening and just jump in the car in the morning

The routine is quicker than any coffee machine. Ice in, cold brew on top, lid on, chill overnight, grab it on the way past in the morning.

That way you've got half a day's drink with you before you've even hit the motorway. No petrol station stop just after seven, no paper cup, no wondering where to put the empty one when the cup holder's taken. On the drive to a meet, that's the whole difference.

At the folding table behind the open tailgate, it just stands there and stays put. At 545 grams empty, a gust of wind won't knock it over, and the base narrows towards the bottom so it slides into the holder instead of tipping beside it. At 18.8 centimetres high, it sticks out far enough that you can grab it in the half-light without looking.

The same goes for the weekend car. Two hours of country roads, one stop at the exit, one mug that sits in the holder the whole time and stays dry on the outside. If you've ever pulled a fogged-up cup out of the holder and seen the mark on the centre console, you'll know why that counts for more day to day than any hours figure for cold retention.

The straw changes more than you'd think. You don't tip the mug, you don't hunt for a drinking opening, you don't take your eyes off the road. In stop-and-go traffic before the entrance, with gloves on at the track, with the other hand on a clipboard: one sip is one move. A moulded stopper keeps the straw in place.

The straw is also wide enough for anything thicker than water. A smoothie on a Sunday morning, iced coffee with milk, cold brew with ice cubes gathering at the bottom. If you like the straw in principle but want to be able to close it, the travel mug with a closable straw is this mug's sealed sibling.

Measure your cup holder before you order

YETI calls for at least 7.6 centimetres of inside diameter in the cup holder for this mug, an American measure for American cars that often fails in European holders.

Factory holders in German and European cars, on the other hand, are often 70 to 75 millimetres. In an older 3 Series, an A4 or a Golf, the result is regularly: doesn't fit, even though the mug is explicitly sold as cup-holder friendly. Two minutes with a tape measure before ordering are worth more here than any product description. Measure at the top of the holder, not at the bottom.

If it doesn't fit, that's no drama, just a different choice. If your holder measures under 7.6 centimetres, take the slimmer insulated tumbler with magnetic lid. If the mug mostly shuttles between the folding table and your hand and never needs to go in the car, the Straw Mug 2.0's handle is the more comfortable option.

A mug that sticks out over the top isn't just awkward, it's the real day-to-day annoyance. It tips when you turn, it knocks against the armrest, and at some point it ends up living in the passenger footwell instead of the holder. That's exactly why, with this mug, the holder decides the purchase, not the colour.

After that, the if-then maths is simple. If you drink cold and the mug stands upright in the car or on the table, the YETI Rambler Straw Mug 2.0 is the right choice. If you drink hot, you need a mug with a magnetic or screw lid. And if it's going to lie sideways in a rucksack, you need a bottle with a closure rather than an open straw.

Honest about the rest, too. The straw lid is a cold-drinks lid, rated by YETI up to 49 degrees. Freshly brewed coffee doesn't go in, and there's no way round that. The mug isn't leakproof either: the straw sits in an open passage, so it holds upright in the holder and leaks lying down in a rucksack. Fizzy drinks stay out, dairy doesn't stay in it overnight, and the microwave and freezer are off the table.

Still presentable after three seasons in the boot

Whether this mug is worth it for you isn't decided on day one, but after three seasons of boot, summer sun on the parcel shelf and the toolbox next to it.

It rides along, it tips over when you brake, it stands in a baking car in August, and afterwards it looks like something that's been used, not something that's used up. The colour isn't paint but a baked-on powder coat, and that takes a lot more punishment than a finish that's just applied on top.

It isn't indestructible, though. A drop onto tarmac can chip a spot, and scratches and fading are explicitly excluded from the five-year warranty, which only covers defects in materials and workmanship. A dent in the base, on the other hand, is purely cosmetic: the mug keeps things just as cold afterwards. At 545 grams empty, it's still the wrong companion for a rucksack.

In this scene, kit is part of the deal. People who pick their car by colour pick their mug the same way, which is why the Rambler Straw Mug 2.0 comes in nine colours, from Navy and Seafoam through Cape Taupe and Blue Drift to Rescue Red and Tropical Pink. You'll find the same shades on cool boxes and bags in the rest of the brand's range.

And who it's not for: anyone taking hot filter coffee along in the morning, the hiker for whom 545 grams of empty weight in the rucksack is too much, and anyone who can't spare two minutes for the straw and seal in the evening. Mug and lid can go in the dishwasher; straw and seal go in the cutlery basket, the lid in the top rack.

And then there's the one trick no manufacturer puts up front: the straw is where a mug like this dies. No dishwasher jet reaches the inside of it. After a smoothie, milky coffee or anything sweetened, pull it out the same day and brush it through.

Once a week, put the lid and seal in boiling water for five minutes, leaving the small pressure-release seal in the lid. Forget that for three weeks and you'll smell it on the next sip, and then you'll bin the whole mug instead of simply replacing the straw.

Caring for the YETI Rambler Straw Mug 2.0

Chill it the night before, brush the straw weekly

Fill with ice the evening before and chill it. Carry it upright; the straw sits in an open passage.

At the end of the day, pull out the straw and seal. Mug and lid in the dishwasher, small parts in the cutlery basket, then let everything dry.

Once a week, run a soft brush through the straw and put the lid and seal in boiling water for five minutes. After a smoothie or milky coffee, do it the same day.

Notes: Cold drinks only, up to 49 degrees, no carbonation, don't store dairy in it. Not in the microwave or freezer. No abrasive cleaners. The small pressure-release seal stays in the lid.