Ohelo blue swallows reusable coffee cup

The Ohelo Tumbler - meet your new super sidekick!

Picture the scene:

You are rushing round hectically in the morning, trying to organise every little aspect of your life before rushing out of the door towards work. Trying to do your little bit for the planet you have invested in a reusable coffee cup. Imagine your horror as you reach into your bag to find it has dripped everywhere – soggy phone, soggy wallet, soggy mess. Nightmare!

On getting to work you dutifully start toiling away. You make your 10am cup of tea, but with deadlines to hit and impromptu meetings you are suddenly at 11.30am and your tea has reached a sorry state of luke warm at best (cold if we are being honest with ourselves!). Urgh!

After a hard day grafting you head to your work out. A little you time – somewhere you can do some good for your body, release those endorphins, and if you are anything like us you can justify having a cupcake later on! Everyone has a favourite workout; a super trendy spin class, some zen-like yoga or good old fashion resistance training at the scary area of the gym. But if you like having a protein-shake post-workout you will be very aware that those plastic shakers get all sorts of smelly after a while – hardly appetising but what else can you do?

Do any or all of the above sound familiar? We thought so.

We didn’t go about tackling just one of these issues. Oh, no. Here at Ohelo HQ we like a good challenge so decided we should design a hydration buddy that satisfied all your hydration needs. One mighty multi-tasker. Something that could be at your side any time of day (or night) to satisfy your thirst no matter what the moment called for. Something you could use as a travel mug for your tea or coffee in the morning. Something you could use during the day for hot or cold refreshments. Something you take along to the gym with you to help you out there too. Your new super-sidekick!

Both form and function were paramount. This was to be a tumbler like no other on the market. So along with our awesome product design team we set to work designing a tumbler that was both beautiful and functional.

At first all of our attention was focused on form. Creating an appealing shape to differentiate ourselves from an already crowded market. A tumbler that you would happily take with you to the trendiest coffee shop in town to have your morning latte. Something that was sleek and stylish as well as good for the planet. Through many design iterations we feel we realised our ambition in creating a beautiful reusable product. It’s kinda sexy don’t you think?

With shape and aesthetics achieved our attention was turned to function. Time to make the best reusable coffee cup out there.

A good cup of tea can fix everything. So, it was time to fix that daytime cup of tea. For heat retention it would be a vacuum insulated stainless steel tumbler. This would help keep that cuppa warm until you could get back to it. We would use high-grade 18/8 stainless steel to create a high-quality product. When removed, the lid would reveal a stainless steel sipping edge with internal threads to make the drinking experience all the more pleasurable.

Now you can convert your on-the-go pal to your desk buddy! You are no longer limited to picking the mug with the least suspect stains from the office collection that you very much doubt ever get a proper clean – you can use your own!

No-one wants a soggy bag, so without question it would have to be leak-proof. It would have to be able to be used on-the-go as well as when stationary.  After many iterations of design, we finally settled on a 2-part lid ensemble. The main section of the lid would screw directly onto the tumbler body, thus providing a drinking lip from which you could slurp on the go. The inner section of the lid was designed to allow the tumbler to go from sip-mode to completely leak free with a simple twist. We also included clever channels to allow every last drop of the contents to be drunk. Say goodbye to leaky lids and Ohelo to your new tumbler.

Ohelo travel cup lid - exploded view

So, grab your Ohelo tumbler and simply fill it with your favourite morning pick-me-up before heading off on your commute – your drink will be kept perfectly secure inside your tumbler until you are ready to take a sip!

Going a step further we wanted our tumbler to address other lifestyle tasks.

You need a protein shaker for after your workout? You have a penchant for snow dragon loose leaf tea but can’t put that in a regular travel mug? You like adding fruity chunks and herbs into you water for a refreshing kick, but the bits hit your teeth as you try to drink it?

This is where our innovative stainless steel mesh attachment came to life. We wanted something that could be easily removed if unwanted, but that was able to be left in situ throughout the day for different uses. We didn’t want something that would fall out every time someone took the lid off to refill. We designed our mesh attachment to be cleverly held in place by a specially-designed groove in a silicone seal. Stainless steel was the obvious material of choice as it would be easy to clean, whilst being durable and rugged enough to combine protein shake powder with a liquid. Or a milkshake powder with milk if that’s the way you roll!

As stainless steel doesn’t leach flavours (as plastics can) it allows this tumbler to be used for such a wide variety of refreshments. You can start your morning with a flat-white, have water with chunks of oranges and lemons while at work and a chocolate protein shake after your gym session. A simple rinse should keep flavour transfer at bay.

Ohelo Black blossom travel cup with coffee being poured in

We did it! We created the Ohelo Tumbler!

You can now have your Ohelo tumbler as your own super sidekick. It will not be leading a double life of philanthropy by day and crime fighting by night – we will leave that to the fictional superheroes. Instead, it will accompany you on every adventure your day holds. You can depend on it to keep your bag leak-free, to keep your loose leaf tea hot until you have time to drink it, and so much more. We want to make your everyday better. We love an adventure – take us along for the ride!


Ohelo blue swallows travel cup with woman holding it

News and insights from the Ohelo HQ