Gift for a young man about to go to university

[Aparecium]

I need ideas for a gift for a young man about to go to university. Budget flexible, about £30-£40. He loves his teas, so I thought maybe a really nice, 100% leakproof cup? Or perhaps 2, one for regular tea and one for herbal? (If you drink both you will know that black tea 'contaminates' travel cups and leaves a taint that ruins the flavour of herbal teas.)

There are so many cups that I'm struggling to choose! I could blow the budget on one Stanley cup, or is there something equally leakproof but cheaper, so I could get him a pair?

Or can you suggest a better gift?

I have a Contigo travel mug and its never leaked. It keeps drinks really hot for a couple of hours

Actually read the OP 🙄

The problem with travel
mugs and tea is that the milk starts to taste over heated as it stays hot far longer than in a (china) mug thus making the tea taste nasty - if you’re a v fussy tea drinker like me. 😆

10 pound Greggs voucher every fortnight.

This is a very good point. I’d forgotten that before we had dc we used to take a large flask with black tea and a small flask with cold milk when we went out for a day’s yomp. When the dc started walking with us we switched to cocoa or soup, rather than carry three flasks.

I’m leaning towards one nice cup and a good bottle opener.

I'd just get the one cup, appreciate the issue with the teas but he's potentially going to need to strip everything back if he's in halls of residence, and 2 travel cups might be pushing it. I'd also buy him the tea to go with it, so he has something consumable (always useful) or vouchers for it if you don't know his preferred type.

I got my granddaughter a mattress topper … it was totally appreciated, also made it a joy to get into bed instead of onto a nasty flat mattress! Also some money, also gave her Tesco vouchers to restaurant near uni to treat her friends!

If he is their first child to go to uni they may not realise what are essentials and I'd check what he has/ what they had planned to get.

I don't have any suggestions but I do have a child going to uni and I think the cup is a lovely idea. Please don't listen to people just saying give cash it's really not personal at all. A cup is really useful and it's thoughtful as you know he likes tea. I think it's a really nice idea. My son loves his coffee and i would be really touched and so would he if someone bought him a good quality coffee mug x

A tea subscription would be nice if you have his address - I loved getting things in the post.

Does he like loose leaf tea? I received this as a gift a few years ago, and have given it as a gift many a time since. Absolutely love it.
www.birdandblendtea.com/products/starter-kit-loose-leaf-tea

Toastie maker
Crimpet
George Forman Grill (do they still make them?)
Big food parcel with snacks, pizza bases, pizza pan, pasta, sauces, nice mug and a couple of beers?

DS loves his crimpet and his toastie maker

Crimpit is a good shout, the one for wraps gets used a lot by my uni age DCs. But otherwise I agree with giftcards for cinema, uber eats or similar, they have very limited storage space, nice stuff goes missing or gets damaged.

The mugs are an excellent idea. A selection of nice teas (bags not loose) will also be useful when he’s getting to know people.

I have bought one of the cups recommended on this thread and a personalised bottle opener. I ran these past my recent graduate and my first year student, and got a definitive seal of approval from them. I was going to buy the largest mug, but they advised me to get the medium size one for maximum throw-in-bag convenience.

Thanks for the personalised bottle-opener idea - it would never have occurred to me.

Sounds perfect

I use a leak proof Moon cup with a button to press to lock it. I have taken it in my bag every week and it has never leaked and it keeps coffee hot for about 6-8 hours if not opened. I got it in my stocking for Xmas. DH says it cost about £12. It holds half a litre.

How about a nice teapot, then he can share tea with his friends/housemates.

Tankard, Alka Seltzer Plus, microwave meals, ProPlus and cash.

I really like the cup idea but would stick at one- uni halls tend not to have much storage space. How about a cup and a Deliveroo voucher or similar?

Totally agree. Supermarkets too - find out his nearest/favourite ...