WASHINGTON – For coffee and tea lovers who like their hot beverage just right, a special container might be the mug to end all mugs.
“What our mug does is, we add in an extra insulation layer that absorbs heat initially to bring it down to that perfect sipping temperature and then re- releases that heat that was absorbed over time to keep it hot for three hours,” says Logan Maxwell, engineer and co-inventor of the Temperfect mug.
The way Maxwell sees it, there’s a drawback to the vacuum flask found in Thermos brand to-go cups and containers.
“You pour your coffee or your tea in and it stays at too hot of a temperature for too long,” Logan says.
Pour scalding-hot coffee into the Temperfect mug and Maxwell promises that you can drink it within two minutes.
“It’s going to be in that nice, beautiful, perfect drinking temperature window for three hours,” Maxwell promises.
Maxwell explains that the insulation used in the mug is a phase-change material, not unlike an ice cube. An ice cube, frozen at first, turns into liquid in your glass and keeps your drink cold.
Right now, Maxwell and his partner, Dean Verhoeven, are sipping from prototypes. But they’re pre-selling the Temperfect mug at $40 a piece to fund the initial production run. The mugs are expected to be ready next spring.
Another potential application for the phase-change insulation could be in baby bottles so that the milk is kept at just the right temperature.
Below is a video about the Temperfect mug:
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