What would you do to get your hands on the latest Stanley cup? Camp out at your local Target in the hopes of wrestling one off the shelves? Fire up a PowerPoint presentation detailing why you deserve one for Christmas? Pay an extortionary premium on StockX? At the tail end of 2023, the latest It item to go wildly viral online—catalyzing a frenzy of demand and plenty of bewildered explainers in the process—wasn’t a gaming console or a buzzy new sneaker: it was an unassuming insulated mug with a rotating cover and a conveniently placed handle.
Suddenly, the Stanley cup, once lusted after by NHL teams, found itself a surprise object of desire among far more ferocious demographics: Olivia Rodrigo stans, steely-eyed suburban moms, frighteningly online tweens.
In 2024, Stanley has enjoyed the type of free advertising marketing honchos dream about. (Forget jibbitz or cozified AirPods—the downtown girlies can’t stop decorating their water bottles with little cherub figurines.) There’s only one problem: The Quencher, the Stanley model largely responsible for the brand’s multi-million dollar windfall, isn’t the one you should buy.
The Stanley Bottle Company was founded in 1913 by physicist William Stanley with the introduction of the world’s first all-steel, vacuum-insulated bottle, a pioneering flourish with a deceptively enduring influence. Over the decades, Stanley has iterated on that bottle, humbly dubbed the Classic Legendary, but the fundamental design remains the same. (The Quencher was released in 2013 as a sort of inverted version of the Classic, adding a highly ‘grammable lid to the mix.) Folks might be swooning over the Quencher’s funky colors, handy straw, and extremely grippable handle, but the OG version is in a class of its own.
“I take mine everywhere—to the office, workout classes, game night with my friends—and I can honestly say I’ve never been this hydrated in my life,” says Carolina Gonzalez, GQ’s Associate Manager of Social Media. “There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about this water bottle that the other girls—Hydro Flask, CamelBak, etc.—just can’t beat.”
The Classic Legendary is made from BPA-free stainless steel with double-wall vacuum insulation; it’s satisfying sturdy, leakproof, and promises to keep your drinks sizzling hot or ice cold for up to 24 hours. It’s true distinguishing factor, though, is a bail handle that collapses to free up space when stowed away and an insulated lid that doubles as a cup. Long before TikTok flipped for the Quencher, that multi-use functionality endeared its predecessor to people on the jobsite and the campsite in equal measure.
Crucially, the CL thermos holds up to 2.5 quarts of liquid (roughly 80 oz.), saving you a couple of refill trips throughout the day if you’re used to hauling one if its meager 60 oz. counterparts. The double-wall insulation ensures the coffee you filled it with in the AM will still be piping hot hours later, when you’re finally able to enjoy it. And where the Quencher skews a little influencer-y, the steely, vaguely industrial look of the original thermos eschews pastels in favor of cold, hard utility. To put it in terms your younger cousin would understand: It’s a certified thirst-quenching queen—and it did it first.
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