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Comment by patwolf | Hacker News Reader

+1 for Zojirushi. I do wish they made something shaped more like a traditional mug than a travel mug. I've tried various brands of insulated mugs, and at most they let me stretch out my cup of coffee to 45 minutes. With a Zojirushi I can make a cup last hours.

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I know the Zojirushi is recommended a lot, but I'm not a fan. It certainly does a great job keeping stuff hot, but the silicon(?) parts pretty quickly takes on a strong smell of stale coffee that ruins it for me, at least when trying to drink from it directly. Pouring it out into a mug helps, but kind of defeats the purpose of it.

I've tried everything to get rid of the smell but have not been successful.

Zojirushi keeps the drink too scalding unless you pour it out into a different vessel. Try an Ember mug. A little annoying to keep it on the charging coaster but keeps it at a drinkable temp indefinitely.

I used to think the concept of a mug warmer or a heated mug was quite silly. My wife and I received Ember mugs a few months ago, and they're a lot less silly than I thought--they just keep your cup warm to exactly the temperature you prefer. If anyone is still on the fence, I highly recommend some kind of mug warmer or heated mug. There is something quite freeing about not worrying if you're drinking your coffee/tea/etc fast enough to avoid it getting cold.

Have to say I disagree about the Ember mug. It's a little bit like the warmer setting on a diner coffee pot, the coffee will stay warm a long time but won't necessarily stay fresh. And if you drink your coffee with milk the Ember mug starts to develop a film along the sides of the cup after about 30 minutes which is kind of unappetizing. You also have to keep it charged on the stand in between uses so you can't put the mug away in the cupboard (unless you have an outlet in your cupboard).

I stopped using it and now just use a Yeti tumbler. It keeps my coffee hot for at least 2-3 hours which is long enough for me, without any of the downsides of the heated cup.

How does it compare to a Yeti?

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