When it comes to hydration, you can’t just drink from a glass anymore. The water bottle has turned into a status symbol and declaration of who you are. If you are up with the trends, you’re probably sipping from an Owala FreeSip at the moment, characterized by its dual sipping top, fun colorways, and locking lid. Before that, you likely had a Stanley 40-ounce tumbler that you possibly snagged from a Target or Starbucks drop. But there’s a new brand in town taking over the hydration scene.
I first noticed it while I was getting my nails done a few months ago. My nail tech — the coolest person I know — was sipping from a hot pink monochrome tumber water bottle. It looked vaguely like a Stanley, but its smoothed-out edges and flipping straw gave it a trendier look. On the side was the brand — HydroJug written in bold font but a subtle pink just light enough to make it legible.
Slowly, I noticed more out in the wild. At the coffee shop, I saw a girl studying with a vibrant light blue variety, and at the airport, I noticed someone carrying a deep merlot colored one. As someone who works in the food world, I had to ask myself, do we have a new ‘it’ water bottle on our hands? Has the Owala been ousted?
What is the HydroJug?
My suspicions were confirmed when I came across Casey Lewis’ After School Substack. Lewis, a journalist who reports on Gen Z consumer trends, watched hundreds of Christmas gift haul videos on TikTok from Gen Z and compiled the most popular gifts they received. The second most popular gift according to her data was the HydroJug.
The brand is relatively new to the space. It was founded in 2016 by two brothers, Jake and Hayden Wadsworth. Out of their garage in Utah, they wanted to create a giant water bottle that would replace recycled milk jugs and hold most of the water you needed to stay hydrated in a day. Now, HydroJug has a large variety of water bottle options and sizes available, but the most popular seems to be the 40-ounce HydroJug Traveller, according to Lewis’ newsletter.
(Lewis did mention that one particular Stanley tumbler did still make an appearance — the LoveShakeFancy Stanley that has had a few limited releases. You’ll recognize it from its light pink and white floral pattern.)
Just like its competitors, the Traveller is triple insulated to keep drinks cold for hours and has a tapered base to fit into cupholders. The lid is slightly different, with a leak proof closure, flip up straw, and transparent material. The colorway options are more limited (and a lot of sold out), with about eight monochrome options (pine, light blue, caramel, pink sand, black, merlot, cream, and sage) and 5 patterned options (blair, rodeo, autumn, wildrose, and camo)
Where can I buy the HydroJug?
As of publishing, the HydroJug sells their product on their own website. The 40-ounce traveller will run you $45, a very comparable price to the $45 40-ounce Stanley and the $40 40-ounce Owala. You can also purchase some products from Urban Outfitters, Amazon, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.