App controlled devices are everywhere. But an app controlled coffee mug is kind of different. The coffee mug in question is the Ember Mug 2:
Here’s the deal. This mug will keep your hot beverage of choice warm. If you’re using the mug alone, it will keep your beverage warm for up to 1.5 hours because of the built in battery. If you use the included charging coaster you can keep your beverage warm all day. All of this can be controlled by an app that is available for iOS and Android. So how well does this work? Let’s find out. Starting with what’s in the box:
Open the box and you see the mug right at the top of the box. It’s made of stainless steel coated with FDA food-grade ceramic. It also comes in two colours. Black and white as well as metallic colours at a higher price.
Underneath the mug is the charging coaster.
Underneath that is the power adapter for the charging coaster.
Finally you get the usual documentation, including this:
In an Apple like move, you get some stickers to let the world know that you have an Ember Mug.
The Ember Mug 2 that I got holds 10 fluid ounces (there is a 14 fluid ounce version available as well as a 12 fluid ounce travel mug). Out of interest, I decided to compare this in terms of weight to a “regular” mug that holds a similar amount of liquid. Here’s what I came up with:
- Regular Mug: 333 grams
- Ember Mug: 412 grams
So the Ember Mug 2. is marginally heavier. Presumably because of the battery. While it does feel heavier, it isn’t a deal breaker in my mind as it really doesn’t affect how the mug is used.
Setting it up is easy, I plugged the coaster into the wall and placed the Ember Mug 2 on it. I then installed the Ember app on my iPhone 12 Pro which then after pairing it via pressing and holding the power button on the bottom of the mug for 5 seconds prompted me to update the firmware. Once that was done, I noted that it was at 27% of a charge. So I let it charge while I did some work. Once charged, I got my wife to roast and grind a coffee for me. Yes, my wife and I take our coffee so seriously that we have the gear to roast and grind our own coffee so that we can have the best quality coffee possible. Then we do the pour over method using a reusable filter to get the perfect cup of coffee:
The water was boiled to 96 degrees celsius which is clearly too hot to drink. Fortunately, the Ember Mug can help you with that as it you can pick the hot beverage that you are drinking via the app and keep it at that temperature:
You’ll also note that there’s a tea timer that will allow you to properly steep your tea. Nice touch! Plus you can add your own presets between 50 degree celsius and 62.5 degree celsius.
Once the beverage reaches the desired temperature, you’ll get a notification on your phone.
I can verify that sipping coffee over a two hour period and using a thermometer to check the temperature, it was half a degree off the stated temperature in the app. That’s perfectly acceptable to me. And the taste of the coffee remained constant because of the fact that it was always at that temperature. Thus if you take your coffee or tea seriously, this mug will help you to up your game.
When it comes to cleaning, you need to hand wash it and make sure that the bottom is dry as that’s where it charges from. After all, electricity and water don’t mix.
Other observations include the following:
The app had a recipe section. But these five recipes are the only ones that are available at present. Hopefully more recipes are added over time.
There’s an LED light that you can alter the colour so that if you have multiple Ember Mugs, you can tell them apart. I set mine to blue. In case you are wondering where the LED is, here’s a picture:
Finally, you can also control the mug from your Apple Watch which is handy if that is your preference. Alternately, the Ember Mug 2 is fully functional without the Ember App. In this case, it will maintain a default temperature of 57 degrees celsius if that is your preference.
So what’s the downsides of the Ember Mug 2? The only thing that I can see is the price. At $99.95 USD for the 10 fluid ounce version, it’s a big price tag to have the perfect cup of coffee or tea. And the prices only go up from there for the larger or travel versions, not to mention the metallic colours. But the flip side to that is that if you take your coffee seriously, which my wife and I do, the Ember Mug 2 may be be worth it to you as from what I can tell it works exactly the way the company says it does and the result is good coffee as nothing good happens in the world unless you have good coffee.