Life

This Coffee Mug Will Solve All Of Your Problems

by Marisa Riley

Every once an a while, I’ll see some amazing, life-altering gadget and wonder, “why the heck didn’t I think of that first?” (like the "WineRack" or stickers that help you find your phone when it's lost). The latest addition to the list: the Hey Joe Coffee Mug, a mug that actually brews coffee on the go. I know. It’s almost too good. Props to The Awesomer for discovering it, and Hey Joe Coffee, for creating this gadget for people who are a well-balanced mixture of lazy/busy (hey there!).

So maybe I’m getting a little to excited about this thing, especially since it's only a Kickstarter right now, but c’mon. It makes coffee…in your hand! Or in your cup holder! As a woman who spends $3 dollars on caffeine far too often because I would rather not spare the extra 10 to 15 minutes making it at home, could be a serious game changer. Seems pretty glorious, right?

So this is how it works: there are two compartments in the mug: one at the top for water, and one in the middle where you can put coffee. Not unlike a traditional coffee machine, you just pour water in the top, which heats and drips through the coffee reservoir into the bottom and voila! Coffee!

If you're jumping to sky-mall-meets-late-night-infomercial-related conclusions, I completely understand. It is, after all, almost too convenient to be true. However, there are an awful lot of upsides, like that you can brew your own coffee by packing it into the little tray like you would to brew espresso. You can also try out Hey Joe’s adorable pog-sized coffee pods (which are actually biodegradable and plantable, as opposed to K-cups). Oh, and it looks incredibly modern and cool — this mug definitely lightyears away from anything you would purchase via a 1-800 number.

The best part? It’s ridiculously user friendly. As in, one-button user friendly. You just press said single button once to brew at 140 degrees, twice for 155, and three times for cold drip coffee. The mug was, after all, inspired by the annoyance caused by spilling coffee, according to the Kickstarter's homepage. The controlled heat combined with the easy-to-sip-from container, this is great news for right thighs, knees, and white pants everywhere.

And yes, tea, espresso and different size options are also being explored for future mugs. It’s a win/win/win/win/win situation.

The downsides: it’s $49 dollars to back and receive your own. It’s also a little big for my taste, but there’s talk of a small option. A five or six-inch tall mug would be perfect (winks in Hey Joe Coffee's direction).

Despite all of it’s pros, it’s pretty funny that no one has done this before. In the past, others have attempted (emphasis on attempted) to create coffee-on-the-go gadgets, though none of them are on the same level as Hey Joe Coffee’s brain child. There are little French presses available, metallic-tasting instant coffee options, portable espresso machines, and what I’m going to call "unique coffee survival techniques" involving coffee filters and rubber bands (or a hair tie?), but nothing you can aggressively slam into a cup holder and speed with.

The consensus: I love this thing and I hope it takes off. If you’re excited about it too, you can donate to the Hey Joe Coffee's Kickstarter and purchase your own. Hey Joe Coffee will stop accepting donations on July 3rd and will ship the mugs in November. Until then, you may have to rely on the coffee-filter/hair tie method, or, you know, Starbucks.

Image: Hey Joe Kickstarter