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- Keeps things a perfect temperature for an hour
- Nice, simple design
- Capacity could be bigger
- Expensive
- It’s not dishwasher safe
Hot drinks have a limited window in which theyre just right. Dig straight into a scolding mug of tea and youll end up with burned lip and a sense of dissatisfaction. Drink it too late and youre left with an unpleasant taste and a whole different sense of disappointment.
Somewhere between these two states is the vanishingly small window of the perfect cuppa, and it has the kind of lifespan that a mayfly might feel short changed by. The Ember Mug is the technological answer to this problem: an app-controlled Bluetooth mug that can set your drink to your perfect temperature and keep it that way until the last satisfying swig.
Not too hot, not too cold: just right. Its like Goldilocks only without the three bears. Or the porridge.
Ember Temperature Control Mug review: Price and competition
Other mugs are available. Youve probably seen them. You can get a basic mug for under a pound, but it wont keep your drink warm for very long.
Ember stands virtually alone in this space, but it comes at a price. That price is £80. There are various ways you can justify this to yourself, especially if youre a three-cup-per-day kind of person, but however you cut it, its a lot for a mug. That said, its not as much as the one direct rival Ive seen the Glowstone mug which goes for £129.
For understandable reasons, smart thermos flasks are more common. Ember has its own one, which goes for £150, and rival Cauldryn has one that goes for around £100 if you can find it in the UK.
Ember Temperature Control Mug review: What you need to know
If youre still reading after seeing the price, then youre exactly the kind of person that Ember is aimed at. And while having a drink at the ideal temperature whenever you want might sound great, its actually a more subtle experience in person. You know when you sip a drink at exactly the right moment and are quietly pleased with your luck? Its like that forever. Its the kind of thing that you can take for granted very easily: once you try Ember, you may well be reluctant to go back to an inferior mug thats vulnerable to ambient temperatures.
But lets back up here. What is it and how does it work?
The Ember mug comes in two parts: a stainless steel mug with a ceramic coating and a saucer. The saucer isnt designed as somewhere to discard a teabag (in fact you shouldnt, as youre not supposed to get it wet). Its actually a charging pad for the mug itself, as you may have guessed from the USB lead dangling out of the back. That means that if you plug in your mug next to your desk, your drink will stay the right temperature indefinitely. And if you take your mug away, youll still get an hours heating time.
Fill the mug with your drink of choice, and then select the corresponding brew in the app. Your phone suggests an ideal temperature (although you can change this according to your personal preference) and then pings you a notification when its ready. Itll then maintain that level of heat until the last drop or until the battery runs out whichever comes first.
Thats pretty much all there is to it, although Ember does have one more trick up its sleeve. If you select a tea via the app, it will recommend how long you need to leave the bag in for, and give you a handy timer to tell you when to remove it. Yes, your phone already has a timer app, but its a nice addition all the same.
There are two design drawbacks that I can see with Ember. First, its capacity isnt enormous. Although the picture makes it look like a large cup, the bottom of the mug is offset a little from the base for the heating element, which means it actually contains less liquid than youd think. That said, it still works perfectly with a standard Tassimo pod, so its 295ml capacity must be a fairly standard quantity.
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The second point is that, thanks to the fancy circuitry and Bluetooth connection, Ember isnt dishwasher-safe. So while youll be enjoying a technologically advanced cup of coffee, the cleanup process is distinctly old-school and sink-based.
Ember Temperature Control Mug review: Verdict
Make no mistake: £80 is a lot for a mug. My favourite mug before this was a lot cheaper, and it has Derby Countys home kit from 1984 printed on it.
But it does offer the perfect hot drink every time, and if thats a pick-me-up you enjoy, then its hard not to recommend especially if you get through two or three in a day. Just make sure your colleagues dont nick it.
