Ember Mug 2 – coffee, hot, the way you want it (review and 1 month update)

01/01/2024
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The Ember Mug 2 is a rechargeable 295 ML (10oz) or 414ML (14oz) heating mug that, among other things, keeps your coffee/ tea or beverage at the preferred drinking temperature.

To be clear, it is a mug with an internal heater/sensor, a rechargeable battery, and a charging base. The batteries provide 10/14oz and 90/80 minutes or continuous temperature control on the charging base.

Upfront, you need to know two things:

First, it is the Ember Mug 2. The Ember Mug 1 received a lot of variable user feedback about reliability, ceramic paint issues, and company support (via an email to the USA – no way to talk to the company).
Second, it is not a product you buy on a whim. 10/14oz from $199/299 is a lot for a coffee mug, so you really want to enjoy coffee. I can see this as an ideal gift for a coffee person.

Its main use is to keep coffee at the ideal drinking temperature. That presumes you drink coffee slowly, perhaps the same cup spread over an hour or three. You may buy a 14-oz cup at the barista and want to sip it all day.

Update – 30 days of constant use (1/2/24)

While the review is accurate, it reflected a week or so of use. Now, after a month or so, we wanted to add our findings.

First, we are still using and will continue to use it, proving that it is a useful device. Too many gadgets are just trendy for a short while.

Second, we continue to use it because it works. Add coffee and drink up to several hours later.

Third, we really like setting the temperature to suit us. While 57° is recommended, we think that 53° is perfect for milk coffee.

Finally, unlike microwaving to reheat, it does not stew the coffee. Yes, milk coffee drinkers will have to contend with milk skin forming, but a bamboo spoon removed that easily.

It gets our buy recommendation.

Australian Review: Ember Mug 2 10 and 14oz

AU website	Ember 10oz 14oz Please scroll to the bottom of the page and ensure Australia (AUD $) is selected.
Price	10oz from $199 (depends on colour) 14oz from $299 (ditto)
Colours	10oz white, black, copper, stainless steel, gold, rose gold 14oz same
From	JB Hi-Fi
Made in	China
Company	Clay Alexander is the founder, an American inventor and serial entrepreneur who holds more than 200 patents worldwide and is the founder and CEO of Ember, a global consumer electronics brand and maker of the world’s first temperature control mug.
Warranty	1-year ACL
More	CyberShack coffee news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass+

We reviewed the 14oz, the best size for a coffee lover. But the actual capacity is a little under that, especially if you have frothed milk – if you want to be picky.

It has a variable heating temperature via the app from 50-62.5° – milk coffee is typically made at 60-65°.

It is 117mm high and should fit under most coffee makers – yes, you can make coffee in it via a coffee machine, dripolator/infuser, or use coffee bags. Or you can make tea, hot chocolate, and various in the cup.

Sensors monitor the temperature and control a heating element (default 57˚°). Alternatively, you can use the Ember app to set the temperature in 1° increments. We found 53° was best for milk coffee.

Caveats

The ceramic colours can be scratched using a metal spoon – get wood or plastic if you need to stir.
There is no cup lid – having this would be really handy. Take away cup lids work OK.

App – Pass

Download the Ember Mug app for Android or iOS. While it needs you to establish an account, it is purely to advertise to you – you can turn that off.

The app will send notifications when it reaches the set temperature if allowed.

Observations

Milk coffee: The froth quickly dissipates to become just milk coffee and gets a ‘skin’ after about 30 minutes (on real milk – may not be so with plant substitutes). You need to stir it to avoid that.

It does not ‘stew’ the coffee as a microwave reheat can. But it does reheat from the bottom (see left image bubbles – convection heat).

Our thermoprobe recorded 53.8° when the cup showed 57°. Not sure which is more accurate.

It is better for black coffee.

Maintenance – Pass

Apart from the no-metal-spoon rule, which also includes harsh scourers – anything that could damage the ceramic finish- perhaps the stainless-steel version would be best.

You can handwash (IPX7 but no dishwasher) the mug and gently wipe the charger coaster. We found that rinsing as soon as you are finished avoids coffee stains.

Ember Mug 2 or an insulated (double-skinned) travel mug?

We used a thermoprobe to measure the temperature of barista coffee, which was 63.7° (too hot to drink). Both cups were at 25° ambient room temperature.

The Ember Mug 2 dropped quickly to approx. 50° while its elements kicked in. It took ten minutes to reach 57° and stayed there for the test duration.

The travel mug dropped similarly to 47.5° (as the coffee heated the stainless steel) and gradually declined over four hours to room temperature.

It heats leftover coffee from ambient 25° to 57° in approx. 60 minutes. But put in 50-60° coffee, and it reaches the ideal temperature in minutes.

CyberShack’s view – Ember Mug 2 is the ideal gift for coffee lovers

I find it hard to justify the price, no matter how well-made or novel it is. But some do, and this is for them.

My wife likes to buy two coffees in the morning – one for breakfast and one for later that day. The Ember Mug 2 has allowed her a more leisurely sip and keeps the second cup in better condition than microwaving (she keeps it on the charging coaster for that) with the caveat that she needs to stir her milk coffee to avoid skin.

Ratings

We won’t issue a formal rating as we lack benchmarks.

Features: App, heating, and more – it is all you need to enjoy hot coffee as you linger over the newspaper
Value: If you can afford it, then fine.
Performance: Black coffee is excellent and does not stew. Milk coffee can develop a skin, and you would be better off making fresh coffee with a similarly priced device – see our Lavazza milk coffee maker reviews
Ease of use: Plug and play – the app makes it easier to adjust temperature and update firmware
Design: Minimalist but be careful with scratching the ceramic interior.