REVIEW – I love tea. It’s iced tea at night and hot tea every morning. Iced tea is easy because it’s – cold. But I like to drink hot tea when it’s hot (surprise!) so I am constantly going up the stairs to warm my big mug in the microwave… While this lets me get a little exercise, it’s a bit annoying to do it every 30 mins or so. Yes, it takes me a while to drink a mug of tea. There has to be a better/easier way to solve this first-world problem right? You betcha! It’s the Ikago coffee mug warmer and it’s hot. Literally!
What is it?
The Ikago coffee mug warmer is a plug-in heater for your coffee (or tea!) mug.
What’s in the box?
- Ikago coffee mug warmer
- Ceramic mug with lid
- Manual
Design and features
Cup warmers aren’t new to me. I reviewed the VOBAGA Cup Warmer earlier this year. It worked ok, but it didn’t really keep my tea as hot as I’d like. The Ikago coffee mug warmer is definitely a step above the VOBAGA in both design and functionality.
As far as the design, it’s similar. It features a hot plate and an attached cord. But the Ikago coffee mug warmer also has a digital display with touch controls that shows the temperature that you’ve selected as well as the actual temperature (sorta).
The bottom of the Ikago coffee mug warmer has rubber feet and a series of small openings for heat dissipation.
The right side of the device has a small power button.
The Ikago coffee mug warmer includes a mug but I prefer to use my fave mug that you see above. I like to drink expensive loose-leaf tea, so I like to make a large mug so I can get my money’s worth with each mug. I like big mugs and I can not lie.
How do you use the Ikago coffee mug warmer?
Just make your cup of tea as you would normally do and either pour it into the included ceramic mug or your own cup/mug. Note that you should not use plastic cups, styrofoam cups, or metal cups. You should use ceramic or glass mugs. Once you set the mug in place, you can then press the button on the side of the Ikago to turn it on. The color display will light up to show you the current set temp (bottom), and current temperature.
The Ikago coffee mug warmer has IR sensors that let it know when there’s a mug on the hot plate. As you can see in the image above, dashes are displayed when the mug is not setting on the plate.
These sensors are important because if they detect that the cup hasn’t been moved in over 2hrs, the cup warmer will automatically be powered off. Or, if the warmer is on and a cup hasn’t been placed on the hot pad in over 15 minutes, the warmer will be powered off.
Setting your desired temperature is as easy as tapping the + and – buttons above the display. The cup warmer will save your desired setting between sessions. The maximum setting that you can use is 175ºF and the minimum is 105ºF (40ºC – 80ºC).
I was happily impressed by the performance of the Ikago coffee mug warmer. It easily kept my tea at a perfect temp for over 2 hours as I sipped it. Here are a couple of tests that I performed.
Not using the Ikago coffee mug warmer
7:42am – New mug of hot tea 144.5ºF
8:19am 112ºF
8:26am 105ºF
Using the Ikago coffee mug warmer set to 165ºF
7:30am – New mug of tea 145ºF
8:00am – 132ºF
8:30am – 134ºF
9:00am – 132ºF
I tested the cup warmer multiple times and each time it was able to keep my tea just the way I like it – hot.
I did notice that the test under the Ikago coffee mug warmer was very very warm. That’s because there are slots in the bottom of the unit for heat to escape. The unit itself does not have any type of fan which is fine because I don’t want extra noise. But I think it could use a better way to let the heat escape in order to prevent potential damage to a desk or countertop. I’m not saying that my desk has any damage from using this warmer, but it could be a concern. I’m considering placing the Ikago coffee mug warmer on top of a ceramic tile to see if that might help. I don’t want to damage the finish on my new desktops after the drama I had getting them finished.
What I like
- Really keeps beverages hot!
- Easy to use
- Detects when the mug is in place
- Touch thermostat controls
What I’d change
- Dissipate the heat out the sides instead of the bottom of the warmer
Final thoughts
The Ikago coffee mug warmer is the best cup warmer that I’ve ever used. It is easy to use and has no problems keeping my large mug of tea at my desired temp. It’s become one of my daily life-enhancing essentials.
Update 11/27/23
I’ve been using this cup warmer every day for the past 6 months and it’s fantastic! I love how I don’t have to run up and down the stairs all morning reheating my large mug of tea. This warmer keeps it my perfect temp from the first sip till the last. I highly recommend it.
Update 8/13/24
I still use this every day, and it works just as well as the first day I tried it. If it stopped working for some reason, I would immediately order a new one.
Price: $59.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Ikago.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
I’d love to use this mug warmer, but I live in The Netherlands, and need a 230Volt version. I cant find it anywhere!
Please Ikago, many people in Europe want to buy your product, but can’t buy a version that we can use!