The Basics Bar Tools

All of These Cocktail Straws Suck. But in the Good Way.

Grasping at straws. Draw the short straw. The straw that broke the camel’s back. There are as many idioms about straws as there are alternatives to the drinking conduit that shares its name. As bars, cities and countries continue to institute bans on single-use plastic, eco-friendly options keep popping up that won’t junk up our oceans. We've rounded up several alternatives to plastic straws.

  • Aardvark Paper Straws ($8 for 24)

    This manufacturer is the only paper straw company that’s approved by the FDA and EU. They’re made from natural cellulose paper and include 33% more material than competitors, which results in them holding their shape for two to three hours before falling apart. Aardvark carries lots of options, from cocktail and ecoflex to different colors, stripes and ones printed with a company name or logo.

  • Alink Stainless Steel Straws With Silicone Tips ($7 for 8)

    Alink Stainless Steel Straws With Silicone Tips

    These stainless steel straws come with removable soft silicone tips to protect lips and teeth. They’re in assorted colors so you can tell one drink from another make it more comfortable to sip cold or hot drink.

  • Bali Boo Bamboo Straws ($11 for 12)

    Buluh bamboo from the mountains of northern Bali is harvested sustainably and organically for these straws. “It grows in abundance without the need for irrigation, fumigation or any other type of chemical,” says Diego Morodo, the co-founder of Bali Boo. The straws are biodegradable but are also strong enough to be reused many times after being hand-washed with the included brushes, cleaned in the dishwasher or boiled for 10 minutes in water and vinegar. A package includes diameters of various sizes from 6 to 11 millimeters to accommodate cocktails, smoothies and milkshakes, and the straws won’t interact with ingredients.

  • Eco at Heart Stainless Steel Straws ($13 for 8)

    Eco at Heart has offers three different sizes of straws: original smoothie, bent smoothie and juice. The latter is recommended for cocktails, and all are made with 18/8 food-grade stainless steel so they won’t leave you with a metallic aftertaste and are 100% BPA-free. Each pack includes a straw brush for hand-washing, or they can be popped into the dishwasher.

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  • Fresh360 Glass Straws ($10 for 6)

    Fresh360 glass straws

    These durable glass straws come in several colors and can be used in hot or cold drinks. They even come with two brushes for easy cleaning. Just be careful about dropping these since they’re made with glass.

  • Hay! Straws ($8 for 100)

    Hay! founders Gilmar Arellano, Emma Grose and Alexey Savin launched their company in 2018 with what they call a “simple approach to effect necessary change.” Hay is hand-selected from small farmers, minimally processed and packaged in eco-friendly, unbleached craft boxes printed with soy ink. One pound of hay yields around 1,000 biodegradable straws that break down within two to four months. “Nothing on the market—not metal, bamboo, bioplastic—could hold up to the surprising amount of forces a plastic straw does—not until we found hay,” says Arellano. “It never gets soggy whether in a hot or cold beverage for minutes or hours.”

  • Hiware Paper Straws ($11 for 200)

    Hiware paper straws

    If you’re looking for every drink to be an Instagrammable indulgence, the switch to paper straws should be easy. These come in assorted colors and make the perfect colorful garnish for any drink.

  • Hiware Silicone Straws ($9 for 5)

    Hiware silicone straws

    If you don’t love the feeling of steel, copper or paper against your lips, silicone straws could be a better option. These come in assorted colors and are much softer than the other options.