KOPI Mug review: Keep your beverage warmer longer with this self-warming mug

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If there’s one thing IT people like more than socks, it’s coffee. And almost nothing is better first thing in the morning than a nice warm cup of joe. Unfortunately, especially for the first cup of office coffee, it’s likely you’re getting pulled away, only to return to your desk at a later time to an ice cold cup.

TWINZ studio has made some high-quality items in the past and is back at it with their KOPI Self-Warming Mug. We managed to get our hands on an early sample and our KOPI Mug review puts it through its paces to see just how warm it’ll keep your coffee. Read on for our full review!

Specifications

The KOPI Self-Warming Mug has the following features and specifications:

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  • Self-Warming Mug
    • Material: Non-toxic High-Grade Porcelain Ceramic
    • Specs: 3.5W x 3.7L inch/90W x 94L mm
    • Weight: 10oz/290g (Mug only)
    • Weight: 14oz/390g (with lid)
    • Volume: 12 fl oz/355 mL
    • Dishwasher safe, do not microwave
  • Wireless Charger
    • Material: Aluminum alloy, tempered glass
    • Specs: 4.1W x 0.3L inch/105W x 8L mm
    • Weight: 5.2 oz/149 g
    • Max output: Android 10W(max), Apple 7.5W(max), Mug heating 24W(max)
    • Safety Protections: Temperature control, surge protection, short-circuit prevention
    • LED Indicator: Multi-colored LED, Blue LED indicates cell-phone charging, Red LED indicates mug warming
    • Works with all Qi compatible smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, Note 8, Apple iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X
    • The Fast Charge feature is compatible with Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ and later models of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series. Standard charging speed applies to other Qi-enabled devices.

What’s in the box

  • KOPI Self-Warming Mug with ceramic lid
  • Optional accessories
    • Wireless Charger
    • USB Power Adaptor & USB Type-C Cable
    • Titanium Coated Coffee Filter
    • Titanium Coated Tea Filter
    • Glass Measuring Pitcher
    • Titanium Scoop
    • Titanium Stir Stick
    • Ceramic Coated Canister – Small
    • Ceramic Coated Canister – Large
KOPI-Mug-review-01
The KOPI Self-Warming Mug and optional wireless charger.

Design

The KOPI Self-Warming Mug looks like your basic standard coffee mug. Our 10 oz review sample is light grey on the outside and white on the inside. As for shape, it is wider at the bottom and narrower near the top as opposed to being straight up on the sides. The bottom of the mug has a white dot in the middle of the base which, presumably, is what triggers the charging pad when it’s placed on it.

KOPI-Mug-review-06
The KOPI Self-Warming Mug and lid.

The lid is about 1/4-inch thick with another 1.4-inch lip on it and is quite solid and has a bit of weight to it. As far as ceramic porcelain mugs go, the KOPI Mug does feel and look like a quality mug as opposed to a cheaper alternative.

One thing to note: the KOPI Mug is dishwasher safe but not microwave safe due to the metal particles embedded in the porcelain ceramic.

The optional wireless charging pad, on the other hand, exudes quality. Just over 4-inches across and about 1.4-inch thick, the outer bevelled ring is silver metal. The USB Type-C charging port is located at the top of the side rignt.

KOPI-Mug-review-04
The wireless charger is constructed of metal and a glass surface.

The entire surface of the wireless charger itself is a black glass and it actually looks pretty slick. on the left side, at the 9 o’clock position, is a battery, plus sign, and warm coffee mug icon to indicate its dual purpose. Around the top, from just before the 1 o’clock to just after the 2 o’clock position are the words “Wireless Charger & Mug Warmer.” Finally, at the 6 o’clock position, is a small LED light which blinks red or lights up blue depending on what you’ve got placed on it (more on that shortly).

The underside of the wireless charger has a rubber ring that goes around the bottom to provide added grip when placed on your desk, counter, or another flat surface.

So while the KOPI Mug does look like a fairly standard and plain coffee mug, it does seem to be well constructed. The optional wireless charger, as previously mentioned, leaves no questions as to its quality.

Ease of Use

There’s not much to using the KOPI Self-Warming Mug. Simply brew your hot beverage as you normally would, plug in the wireless charging pad to the wall or your computer, and use it as a coaster when you set your KOPI Mug down. When on the charging pad, the mug will warm

When charging a smartphone, the LED light at the bottom of the surface of the wireless charger turns blue. When warming your KOPI mug, it turns red.

Performance

According to TWINZ Studio, the optimal temperature for enjoying your coffee and other hot beverages is 130°F/54°C. So just exactly how does the KOPI Self-Warming Mug keep your beverage warm longer? TWINZ Studio probably explains it best:

The KOPI Mug is a smart, all-in-one self-warming mug + brew system. Made from super durable ceramic, KOPI’s base is inlaid with metallic particles that respond to an electric charge. When KOPI is placed on its wireless (waterproof) charging pad, the particles react via electromagnetic energy and heat your beverage to the perfect sipping temp. Plus KOPI uses wireless Qi technology, so it can juice up all your smart devices with wireless charging capabilities!

TWINZ Studio

According to the company, KOPI Mug will keep your drink at a steady 130°F/54°C and includes a lid to help ensure maximized warmth. During testing, in a 68°F/20°C room, the mug can keep your drink at or above 130°F/54°C for an hour-and-a-half with the lid, 30 minutes without. On that note, even without the lid, your drink will stay at or above 122°F/50°C for 90 minutes or longer. Before we get into our tests, I just want to note that while it is called a self-warming mug, you actually need a wireless charging pad in order to do so.

So just how did it fare during our testing? We’ve only had the sample for a day or so and have done limited testing with a few cups of coffee. As much as I love my coffee, you can only drink so much a day! On that note, my house is currently set to 64°F/18°C. We used a classic meat thermometer to gauge the running temperature of our coffee. In addition, we plugged the charger into our laptop and were pulling about 7.75 to 8W during testing.

KOPI-Mug-review-13
When placed on the wireless charger, the KOPI Mug keeps your coffee or other beverage warmer longer.

KOPI Mug without lid on charging pad:

  • Temperature right after brewing: ~165°F
  • 15 minutes after brewing: ~133°F
  • 30 minutes after brewing: ~125°F
  • 60 minutes after brewing: ~118°F

KOPI Mug with lid on charging pad:

  • Temperature right after brewing: ~165°F
  • 15 minutes after brewing: ~138°F
  • 30 minutes after brewing: ~128°F
  • 60 minutes after brewing: ~120°F
  • 120 minutes after brewing: ~115°F

KOPI Mug without charging pad:

  • Temperature right after brewing: ~165°F
  • 15 minutes after brewing: ~128°F
  • 30 minutes after brewing: ~105°F
  • 45 minutes after brewing: ~68°F

So, as you can see, the KOPI Self-Warming Mug does indeed keep your coffee warmer longer when placed on the charging pad. Even though it was a bit below the stated 130°F target after half-an-hour, our test environment was also 4°F colder. Regardless, the KOPI Mug with charging pad definitely keeps your beverage warmer longer. As far as the wireless charger is concerned, the glass top was warm to the touch after having the mug on it for an hour but it wasn’t hot enough to burn or be a cause for concern.

On that note, we’ve only had the KOPI Mug for a couple of days, however, given the technology behind it (ceramic inlaid with metallic particles), I expect the mug to function as tested for the foreseeable future. Should that change at some point, we’ll definitely re-review and update this review with our findings.

In addition, you can use the wireless charging pad to charge your smartphone. During our testing, we tested it with our Google Pixel 3 and it does indeed charge it, albeit at a slower rate than the Pixel Stand which is expected.

Rating the KOPI Self-Warming Mug on performance was a bit of tough choice. On one hand, it does what it advertises: keeps your hot beverage warm longer. On the other hand, it didn’t keep it quite as warm as advertised.

While TWINZ studio and our tests were done using temperature thermometers, I do find that I like my coffee on the warmer end of the scale. While 115 to 125°F is a far cry warmer than 68°F, drinking lukewarm coffee isn’t as enjoyable as drinking hot coffee. On that note, drinking lukewarm coffee after an hour is definitely preferable to drinking cold coffee.

Price/Value

The KOPI Mug is currently on Kickstarter in the production stage and has almost tripled it’s US$30,000 all-or-nothing goal. With only a few days left, there are still a limited number of Early Bird KOPI Mug with wireless charging pad perks left at $60 (MSRP US$80). If you’d like to forgo the charging pad, you can order just a mug for $15 (estimated retail $20) and use it with your own 10W wireless charging pad.

While this may seem steep for a coffee mug, a good quality wireless charging pad can set you back $25 or more. Given the solid design and build quality of our review sample of both the porcelain ceramic KOPI Mug and the wireless charging pad, there’s definitely some value there. And hey, can you really put a price on keeping your coffee or other hot beverage warm longer? That being said, if you already have a charger handy or can find a cheaper 10W charger, the $20 MSRP of the mug is fairly reasonable.

On that note, there are still a few days to back the campaign with various packages available depending on what accessories you’d like to add. While we didn’t get to check out any of the optional accessories, we’ve seen some of TWINZ studio’s other products like their titanium chopsticks and straws and the quality of those is top notch so we’d expect nothing less of the KOPI Mug accessories.

Wrap-up

While cold coffee isn’t the end of the world (heck, I enjoy an iced Americano from time to time), it is nice to be able to have a cup of coffee stay warm longer so you can fully enjoy it. With top-notch build quality, the KOPI Self-Warming Mug does just that through a wireless charging pad, something you may already have laying around.

*We were sent a sample of the KOPI Mug for the purposes of this review.

Last Updated on February 3, 2021.

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