I Tested 7 Temperature Control Mugs to Figure Out If They’re Worth It

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Our favorite temperature control mug is the Ember Travel Mug. It can be controlled via its app or the mug itself, is easy to use, and is travel-friendly. Our budget-friendly pick is the ionMug and Charging Coaster. In our tests, it worked well, but we do question its longevity.

I was at a (now defunct) coffee conference called MANE (the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Coffee Conference) in 2012 when I heard George Howell say drinking a cup of coffee should be a “thirty minute pleasure trip.” Howell is the godfather of coffee: he’s one of the inventors of the Frappuccino, creator of the prestigious Cup of Excellence competition, and now runs an eponymous coffee roastery outside of Boston, MA. So when he says coffee should be enjoyed over a 30-minute period so you can experience the changing flavors as the coffee cools, you listen.

So, you can see why I might be skeptical of temperature-control coffee mugs. I do, in fact, enjoy the experience of drinking coffee as it cools and identifying the different flavor notes that become present. But I’m also forgetful, and I don’t always want my morning brew to be a variable pleasure trip. Sometimes, I just want hot coffee, and I imagine others feel the same way. This means I eventually learned to unclench my jaw and open my mind to the world of temperature-controlled mugs, which keep coffee hot for extended periods. 

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