STERILITE 498971 Round Pitcher, Clear & Blue Atoll

I don't know why it is so hard to find one gallon pitchers these days. My local retailer only carries 2 quart despite the fact I could easily find them years ago. The only other 1 gallon I could find on Amazon was Rubbermaid (too expensive) and one or two generic Chinese pitchers. Since I know Steralite is made in the USA and their prices beat other American competitors, I decided to go with them.This pitcher came scratched up, but I don't think it's been used. It's just the type of plastic it is made of. It's made of polypropylene and that stuff just scratches easily in my experience. The upside of polypropylene is it is tough, heat resistant, and very inert when it comes into contact with many bases or acids (which makes it excellent for food/beverages). Due to its heat resistance, polypropylene is one of the rare plastics safe for microwaving, dishwashing and holding boiling water. So if you make hot tea, it will be no problem to pour the hot liquid into this container for mixing. Polypropylene is naturally free of BPA and phthalates and is probably the safest plastic on the market. And it is 100% recyclable (resin code #5).This pitcher has a nice lid which has been leak proof for me so far (though I don't require leak proof for my application). My old Steralite pitcher, also made of polypropylene, lasted me about 20 years (I went too long in replacing it). I hope this one lasts me a number of years.Bottom line: It is a good pitcher made of good materials. It's downside is it scratches very easily, but this will cause no harm to its functionality or safety.

Arrived quickly and was HUGE compared to what I had. This is the best size for many ice teas.

Sterilite has always been a top notch maker of plastic containers so I decided to buy this one instead of the thin glass, or cheap plastic pitchers that tend to be a little floppy when hot water is used. For someone who makes a gallon of iced tea everyday it's perfect. It's strong, the lid fits and holds well and it can handle hot water. I make a gallon bag in the coffee maker, let it steep for a short 10 minutes, then add the fresh brew to a half gallon of water already in the pitcher. Then let it cool until it's just warm and stick it in the fridge. It's perfect. If anything ever happened to it I would buy another one. Pro Iced Tea tip: Cloudy tea? You may have hard water. Caffeine binds to the calcium and clouds up your tea. I use water from Twice the Ice and have been making perfect Iced tea ever since.

My husband is very picky about his iced tea pitcher, so when he needed a new one I took time to look around. We finally settled on this one because it's large (a full gallon) and seemed to have a good pour spout. We were correct. Pouring, even when completely full, is easy. The handle is sturdy and there are no drips. We were a bit fearful about leaks based on the way the lid attaches, but it really doesn't leak. The lid is a bit rubbery all over which allows for a good seal every time. We tested this by filling it completely, then turning it upside down over the sink. Obviously we held the lid in place a little so the weight of the water wouldn't pop it off, but there were no drips anywhere. The shape of it also makes it really easy to clean and mix your drink. Overall, we're really happy with this pitcher. I would absolutely buy it again.

I don't seem to understand some of these negative reviews. If it's dirty, clean it. I cleaned mine before use and it's fine. It's alright if it's a bit scratched up as you're going to probably scratch it up more with use. The lid flap is really sturdy to me and I feel like you'd have to use quite a bit of force to break it like some others said happen to them. It really is leak proof as our isn't leaking on us. Overall, I think it's a great product for the price and would buy again if need be. Big plus for us is that the lid isn't in the gallon mark range like some other products have it.