Something new with bq.

Water bottles seem to be all the rage these days. Walk into a sporting goods store and you would be shocked how much market there is in the hydration game. Bottles’ shapes and sizes, not to mention accessories, have hit an all time peak when it comes to options to choose from. We here at duuude love ourselves a nice bottle (yes even ones filled with confidence serum), but what if sometimes less is more? The crew over at bq Bottles came out with their version of the best water bottle you need to own and kicked it our way to see what we thought.

With hundreds (ok maybe not that many) of bottle brands claiming to keep stuff colder the longest, hotter the longest, and durable enough to withstand the next zombie apocalypse, how is a duuude (or guy) to choose?

While we can’t tell you what bottle is best for your exact lifestyle, we can grab a bq bottle and put it through the water bottle Olympics and see how it stacks up against our crew’s standards. 

Opening ceremonies begin in 3..2..1...

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

When we initially opened the shipped out water bottle from bq the box instantly grabbed our attention- clear and cool way to identify what the bottle is all about. Clear cold logos to show how long things stay cool and warm icons for those hot beverages we all desire to keep hot, clearly labeled and well displayed. The shape of the box and the outline of the bottle on the box gives you an instant idea of what is inside. 

Once we cracked open the box and slid out the bottle, the texture and durable feel was an instant win. The smooth to touch design and easy grip texture fit perfectly in our hands. The bottle felt like it could withstand a fall from the truck bed or look nice sitting on the office desk. The bottle cap features a silicon soft grip bottle opening giving an easy to grip twist off bottle cap.

The bottle’s steel shield bottom made from food-grade stainless steel protects the bottles bottom and also takes care of the drink inside with its 360 degree stainless steel environment. Yeah, they have the stainless steel game on lock when it comes to insulating this bottle (we’ll get more into that later). The bottle design was well balanced with a not overly bulky width and not so tall height that it takes two hands to lift it off the table and drink from. The opening is a nice size as well, giving space for some ice cubes to slide in but not so wide that you drench yourself in the face each time you take a sip. This bottle has a great design and offers a unique twist on construction compared to other bottle brands out there.

Our overall duuude first impression: If sleekness matches with functionality we may have a winning bottle on our hands!

TESTING IT OUT

Now we are at the main event: the ultimate water bottle test. Our crew wanted to test this bottle not only against itself (is that even a thing?) but also against some top name brand bottles. We won’t mention those brands here but we will say the two we tested against are often found at most retailers and are some of our top rated ones in other posts on duuude. 

To start our test off we wanted to test the hot and could claims that BQ puts on their box. bq’s bottle uses the optimal thickness of stainless steel that offers 24 hours of cold insulation and 12 hours of hot insulation. 

Our crew dropped 10 ice cubes into the bottle (without water) and sealed the contents inside with their foam insulated cap. We did the same thing with 2 other brands bottles for a side by side by side comparison. Then we waited and stared at the bottles. *in full disclosure we walked away after 2 min of staring at the bottles doing nothing....But we did come back to find the following results of the bq bottle at these timestamps:

24 hours- Ice cubes still in tact- minimal melting

28 hours- still ice visible

30 hours- holy freaking cow still ice in the dang water!

40 hours- water only- but heck that was a solid run!

The other bottles dropped off somewhere in the 18-24 hour range and none of them lasted the 30 hours like bq did. 

Ok bq- you got us (and them other brands too). Over 24 hours and there is still ice in there. What the heck did you make the bottles out of!?

bq is not here to answer so we will- in our review we found that bq uses a bottle cap design that features components giving it an extra 2 hours thermo protection for hot water and 5 hours with cold water. The cap is foam-insulated and compliments the vacuum-insulated bottle’s body, helping to maintain the temperature for a longer period of time. The cap features a double silicone gasket with one hanging out close to the steel shield of the bottle and the other at the lips of the bottle itself providing double seals.

The inner part of the bottle is made from food grade stainless steel. The 18/8 stainless steel, BPA free, Phthalate free, Non-toxic, Non-leaching inner workings of the bottle help keep things you want cold to stay cold and hot to stay hot. That’s something worth writing home about- or something to grab and put a drink in.

The test continues:

• Hot car test: passed

• Cold water test: crushed it

• Judgmental coworker who has “all the answers” test: they said “nice bottle”- we call that a win!

• The impulse to want to grab this bottle when heading out the door: nailed it

We’d say that in the series of tests (or games) we put the bq bottle through, it came out as a strong contender in the water bottle/flask game- especially for those looking for a different design and bottle structure.

STANDOUT FEATURES

While the bq bottle as is, is a great addition to your hydration carrier game, there were some stand out features worth noting-

• The twist-off cap shields the mouthpiece from germs and dirt- nice win for those who like to travel and use a bottle on the go

• The silicon soft grip on the cap allows for easy opening and closing

• Want a no slip grip? Well, the no sweating design keeps the liquids on the inside of the bottle- where they are meant to be

BONUS FEATURES

An added bonus to the bq bottle is it’s award winning design- no not like a runner up at a local county fair- we are talking a RedDot award in 2017 for redefining hydration with a blend of aesthetics and top level engineering. Nicely done bq!

bq Overall duuude Factor: Looking for something new- try BQ!

Price: Starts at $25.00 (+free US shipping)

BRAND INFO

bq bottles may be a new company to the hydration carrying game but they desire to change the game altogether.

With inspiration, design, quality engineering and some passion, amazing things can happen!

To learn more about bq or to shop their bottles, head over and take a look at what’s going on.