My Self-Heating Mug Is One of the Best Gifts I’ve Ever Received
I have a whole cabinet full of mugs I rarely use. Not because they aren’t lovely, but because the temperature-controlled Ember is my one mug to rule them all. I have long epitomized the stereotype of the busy mom who pours coffee, sets it down somewhere, and loses track of it until it is lukewarm, then puts it in the microwave to reheat and forgets it there until it is lukewarm once again. Or I did, until I received an Ember mug as a gift about four years ago. It has a heating element in the base that will “hold” coffee at my desired temp — 140 degrees, controlled by an app — at least until the battery dies. And if I ever get famous enough to be the subject of a “What I Can’t Live Without” interview, it will absolutely be on my list.
The brand makes a few different styles (including a tumbler that I also own and which is too big for my car cup holders, and a handle-free “cup”), but my favorite is the classic handled Ember in the 14-ounce size (don’t bother with the 10-ounce).
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It’s like any basic coffee mug except that it has a battery inside, so I can’t put it in the microwave or the dishwasher, and it comes with a charging coaster that lives on the counter beneath an outlet in my kitchen. Every day when I am done with my (hot until the last drop) coffee, my dear husband hand-washes it (true love), places it upside down on the dish rack, and later on, once the base is dry, puts it back on the charger to juice up for the next morning (the charger is not supposed to get wet).
It’s possibly a miracle that I have been using the same mug almost daily for four years and it still holds a charge for at least an hour, which is typically enough time for me to savor my daily pour-over. (It has even made a cameo on the Strategist — that’s me holding it in the top-center photo on this story about sweaters.) But my pro tip is that I always use a lid, which obviously helps retain heat and extends the battery life. Ember makes one with a slider on top that’s just fine. I use it most days, though if you are picky about the edge of your mug not feeling too “thick,” I also like this silicone one that I found on Amazon and that you can push down into the top of the Ember so that your lips don’t even touch it.
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You can probably guess where I am going with this: The Ember mug makes a fantastic gift for anyone who likes their coffee or tea piping hot and can deal with the trade-off of having to hand-wash and charge it every day. If your mom is one of those people, well, the 14-ouncer is currently 35 percent off, and Mother’s Day is this Sunday. You know what to do.
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