Looking for a lightweight camp mug that has a tiny cooler in one of the 3 lids? Obviously you are, right?
The Snowpeak Kanpai is a sleek travel and camp mug with Sip, Hot and Cold lids and a beautiful gloss finish on the thinnest stainless steel I’ve ever seen. Snowpeak knows how to work with metal.
We put the Kanpai through our mug testing and here’s what we found.
Pros
- Leakproof
- Sip, Hot and Cold lid options
Cons
- Price
This review is part of the recent Best Camp Mug test. See the other reviews:
- Yeti Rambler 532 with HotShop Cap
- Klean Kanteen TKWide Coffee Tumbler
- Miir Tomo Insulated Bottle
- Stanley Classic Travel Mug French Press
- BrüMate Pour Over Mug
- Corkcicle Commuter Cup
What is the Snowpeak Kanpai Mug?
The Kanpai is 3″ wide and 8.5″ tall, similar to many other tumblers and travel mugs. It weighs 12.5 oz (360 g) and holds 18.3 oz of liquid.
On the outside, the double-walled stainless steel is vacuum sealed for insulation. On top three different lids hold your drinks in. A sip lid has a small slider opening a hole to drink from. It’s easy and simple to slide to drink.
Two other lids keep your drink hot or cold for longer. The hot lid is just an insulated flat lid that keeps the heat in the longer. The cold lid has a tiny ice pack inside and can be frozen to create a tiny cooler. One pop or beer can fits inside but doesn’t quite take up the whole space so it can slide up and down still.
All the lids are BPA-free polypropylene.
Pouring and Drinking
The Kanpai is nice to drink from. The lid is lightweight but sturdy and it’s got a smooth edge to it. The top of the cup itself is less smooth but not so sharp it would cut anything. The Sip lid has a small cover that slides back and forth keeping your drink inside.
Is it Leakproof?
The Sip lid isn’t leakproof but would certain keep most of the liquid inside in case of a spill. The hot and cold lids are leakproof and can be thrown in a bag or the back of the car. There’s no latch or button to open them so it’s not likely they would come open themselves either.
Hot test
With all the mugs in our recent camp mug roundup, we ran a 12 hour hot test. Those that were over 120 degrees Fahrenheit by 12 hours kept going for another 12.
Each mug was filled with boiling water around 200F and closed. I checked the temperature every 1-2 hours with an Accuchef thermometer. Each cup/bottle was open for about 20 seconds when I was measuring the temperature. Temperature outside the bottles was warm room temperature.
| Miir Tomo | Snowpeak Kanpai (Hot lid) | Klean Kanteen TKWide Coffee | Yeti Rambler with Hotshot Cap | Snowpeak Kanpai (Sip lid) | Stanley Classic Travel Mug French Press | Brumate Pour Over Mug | Corkcicle Commuter Cup | |
| 7:45am | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| 10am | 189.1 | 185.4 | 177.6 | 179.1 | 167.2 | 161.8 | 160.0 | 149.2 |
| 12pm | 179.2 | 173.8 | 162.1 | 164.8 | 148.3 | 144.0 | 138.9 | 127.6 |
| 1pm | 175.5 | 168.8 | 157.6 | 158.4 | 142.3 | 136.2 | 132.6 | 122.2 |
| 3pm | 167.2 | 158.4 | 146.5 | 148.1 | 130.6 | 125.2 | 120.0 | 111.0 |
| 5:30pm | 159.1 | 148.1 | 136.6 | 136.9 | 120.9 | 114.6 | 110.1 | 102.9 |
| 7:45pm (12 hours) | 152.1 | 139.6 | 129 | 128.8 | 113.7 | 107.4 | 103.8 | 97.5 |
| 7:45am (24 hours) | 127.4 | 111.2 | 104.5 | 102.0 |
Snowpeak says the insulation time is 6 hours. Even with just the Sip lid, the Kanpai was still a drinkable 120 degrees (F) after 9 hours and 45 minutes. Plenty of time to have a hot drink with you all day.
Cleaning
The Kanpai is relatively easy to clean. Snowpeak recommends hand washing so that’s a bit of extra work but as far as handwashing goes, it’s quick. The bottle doesn’t have any nooks and crannies and has a large mouth to see what’s growing in there and get a brush in.
The Hot and Cold lids don’t have any openings so they just need a wash on the outside. The Sip lid takes a little more effort to clean but is easy to do. The small cover slides back and forth and pops off easily by pinching the tabs under the lid. Just don’t lose the cover!
Durability
The cup on on the Kanpai is strong stainless and I know Snowpeaks manufacturing is very high quality. Nothing can break on the Hot and Cold lids so they should be fine for a long time. I worry an little about the sliding tab on the Sip lid and what happens if that gets dropped. It’s fairly thin plastic. So far I’ve had no issues with it over a few trips and many days taking around town and to the office.
Who is Snowpeak?
Based in Japan, Snowpeak has been making ultra-high quality camping and outdoor gear since 1958. Their products mimic home products but are smaller, lighter and easier to pack in the car.
They make tents, packs, clothing, and cooking utensils. Their metal products are super high quality, especially anything titanium. I’ve used titanium Snowpeak pots and utensils for years. They aren’t cheap but are the best you can get.
Conclusion
The Kanpai from Snowpeak is a beautiful mug with multiple lid options. It did well in our hot test with just the Sip lid and probably lasts even longer with the Hot lid on. Cleaning is fairly easy, although they do recommend hand washing. The price is steep for a travel mug but if you can find a sale, it’s going to last you a long time.
Verdict: Recommend
Usual price: $97.95 USD ($115 CAD)
