Vacuum Flask?
Yea, I said vacuum flask. One of the most famous brands of vacuum flask is made by the Thermos® company. Not all flying discs are frisbees®, not all facial tissue is a kleenex®, and not every vacuum flask is a thermos®. Back to the point, at work we are trying to find that perfect beverage holding vacuum flask. Recently, a new flask was brought into the office and I decided to "take it for a spin" so to speak.
Test 1: Does it leak
No one wants a leaky flask, so the obvious first test will be to determine if the flask can hold some coffee. I have a very short fuse when it comes to wasting coffee. Anyway... on with the test.
The Flask
What we're talking about is a 16 fluid ounce steel vacuum flask with two little cups for a lid.
Oh hey, it's a nice almost clean NaNoWriMo Staff shirt.
Wrap It Up
All wrapped up. The mostly white shirt has been wrapped around the therm...uh vacuum flask. Sorry, I'm so used to calling a vacuum flask a "thermos" that I sometimes type it that way.
Why did I wrap the flask in a almost white t-shirt? Because it would be fairly easy to spot leaks.
Pack It Away
Can you guess what is in that motorcycle saddlebag? If you guessed "a vacuum flask wrapped in an almost clean shirt", give yourself a gold star!
Unwrapped
About 40 miles of bad road later, the flask was removed from saddlebag and unwrapped.
Uh-oh, there appears to be a bit of coffee leak. Upon further inspection, I determined that leak was caused by me not rinsing out the little lid cup before screwing it back on the flask. Shame on me.
So... um... how do I get that stain out? Oops. Seriously, I rarely wear white clothing because the chance of me not spilling coffee on white clothes is slim to none.
Two Lil Cups
What did I tell you? Two little cups!
This actually may be a problem with this flask. How is it possible to have a flask with two cups and not share coffee? It is difficult and I couldn't do it. Fortunately, I had already had my morning quart of coffee before I shared from the flask.
Now... what to do for the second test?
You could then rate it's insulation by measuring the size of the cubes after a certain time....