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No one in the house asks me to make their hot chocolate for them as I always make it too hot! I like it that way...as the flavor seems best when it is piping hot! Usually, I will heat the water up in the microwave for hot chocolate and set to three minutes. The water dances when I add the chocolate mix and although I think it tastes best when hot, I cannot drink it at the temperature it comes out of the microwave at, unless it is the tiniest of sips, but even then I often scald my mouth. Therefore, I normally set it down to cool just a little...and forget about it. When I go to take the next sip, it is lukewarm. So frustrating!
When I heard about the innovative Brugo Mug that offers a temperature controlled chamber, I was intrigued. This mug allows each sip to be cooled to the perfect drinking temperature, so that one can still enjoy the taste of their favorite hot beverage without the risk of burning their mouth. It's all in the patented design:
The main chamber holds 16 oz of liquid and there is an inner chamber that is the secret to the "Perfect Temperature Zone" (PTZ). Once the hot liquid is added to the main chamber, simply place the lid on tightly. When the lid is on properly, it will line up with a notch in the mug's design.
Lock: This setting is designed to lock the lid so that it is sealed and spill proof.
Sip: When the dial on top of the mug is turned to this setting, it bypasses the tip & cool setting and the drinker is delivered a drink without the cooling effect or to be used after the drink has already cooled to the desired temperature.
Tip & Cool: This setting is what the dial is turned to whenever the drinker wants their hot beverage cooled to the "Perfect Temperature Zone" which is safe for drinking at about 150-170 degrees.
Turn the dial to the Tip & Cool setting and then tip the mug away from you (to about a 45 degree angle). The liquid will move from the main chamber, into the thermodynamic temperature control chamber.
Next, simply swirl the mug (the website states to do so in a "brandy motion") for a few seconds and then sip. The beverage has been cooled enough that it is not going to cause any burns. The longer the swirl, the cooler the sip.
The Brugo Mug comes in a variety of colors and styles which makes it easy to choose one (or more) that reflects your personality! There is the Executive Collection, the Jazz Collection and the Sports Collection.
My experience with the Brugo Mug:
The Bad: I continued tipping, swirling, sipping....until about half way through my cup of coffee. Wow, that's a lot of work to drink a cup of coffee. What was I doing wrong? I couldn't imagine trying to do all of this and drive! I can barely drive and talk at the same time! I wondered if using this on a daily basis would make it seem like second nature, but each time I used the mug, I still felt a bit frustrated. If I let the mug sit for a short while, it did eventually cool on its own and then I could switch the dial on the lid to "Sip" and drink like a regular mug. Perhaps I should have let it cool this way so that I didn't have so much tipping and swirling to do. Maybe I am just a lazy coffee drinker.
The Lock position on the lid states that it is Spill Proof...which I found out the hard way that it is not completely spill proof. It is not designed to go upside down and in the upside down position, it does leak. Unfortunately, most of the time, when I spill a drink, it is tumbling in that downward, upside-down motion. I would say it is more "Spill Resistant" and would not leave the mug unattended near children.
The Good:Although I did not find the Brugo Mug to be my favorite mug, my husband truly enjoyed using it. He liked the fact that he could make hot chocolate and not have to wait for it to cool down. He didn't mind the tipping, swirling and sipping...but he is more coordinated and patient then myself! The Brugo Mug does do what it claims to do--and for that reason, I would still recommend the Brugo Mug. If you are a commuter who has to take your coffee on the run, it will get you your caffeine fix a bit faster than the traditional coffee mug! That is indeed, a unique approach to coffee drinking!
Where to Purchase: The Brugo Mug can be purchased directly from the Brugo website for $19.95 for one or $14.95 if you purchase two or more! All orders over $50 will receive free shipping as well!
Now that you know where to purchase, how about a chance to WIN!!! The great folks at Brugo Mug are offering one of my readers a chance to win their own Brugo Mug (color picked by Brugo Mug)!!
How to win:
Open to U.S. Residents aged 18 years of age or older. No P.O. Boxes please. Winner will be chosen using random.org and will have five business days to respond to email or an alternate winner will be chosen. Please visit the Legal page to read the Rules, Regulations, Disclosure and Disclaimer in full. Be sure to have your email address visible in your comment or on your profile. If no email is present, then the entry will be void. For complete Rules and Regulations, Disclosures and Disclaimers, please visit the Legal page.
END DATE: Sept. 8, 2010 Midnight Central Time
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Brugo's website and tell me which color mug is your favorite ( 1 entry)
Bonus Entries:
- Follow me by Google Friend Connect (2 entries)
- Subscribe to my blog by email and confirm (2 entries)
- Follow Critique of the Unique on Twitter (1 entry)
- Follow Brugo Mug on Twitter (1 entry)
- Enter any of my other giveaways (1 entry each)
- Blog about this giveaway and link back to this page (3 entries)
- Tweet about this giveaway (Once daily): Enter to #win a Brugo Mug from @uniquecritiques until 9/8. Enter here: http://www.critiqueoftheunique.com
