Smartcafe Cafetiere Hot Mug, Red

There is no question that the SmartCafe mug is a brilliant device. I have owned and used several over the last 5 or 6 years and cannot imagine how I would enjoy my morning coffee without one. There are hundreds of reviews telling you how fantastic the mug is so I'm not going to repeat all that here but I do want to answer those few that keep complaining about coffee grains in their coffee and the size of the cup.

Here's how I make my perfect coffee. The aim is to keep all the coffee grounds below the fill line. Remember, any grounds above the fill line are NOT trapped by the plunger:

1) Before you start, make sure the cup is DRY inside. That will prevent coffee grounds sticking to the sides of the cup and sneaking past the plunger.
2) Put the coffee into the bottom of the cup - easy if you follow (1)
3) Add the hot water GENTLY - no splashing grounds up the sides - and most important ***FILL TO A LEVEL BELOW THE FILL LINE*** - a centimetre or so below the fill line should be OK
4) Stir GENTLY - keeping the liquid and grounds BELOW the fill line
5) Wait for 30 seconds or so to allow the coffee grounds to start to sink
6) Put the plunger into the cup so the filter just goes into the liquid and seals against the sides of the cup
7) Add more hot water, filling the cup as much as you like. Now that the coffee grains are trapped below the filter you don't have to worry about the fill line. No need to be gentle now either, you want the extra hot water to mix in with the rest
8) Allow to brew for whatever time suits you and your coffee, then push the plunger down GENTLY. If you push too hard and too fast you may get HOT coffee squirting out of the cup.
9) The end result is a FULL cup of perfect coffee, free of coffee grounds.

It's not as complicated as it sounds. Just common sense.

I use mine at work just to get away from the awful coffee machine. Great value and works really well.

Finally I have purchased one of these. A friend has had one for years and yet I could never find a shop that stocked them. I love proper coffee but am the only one in my house who drinks it and so a full cafetiere is a bulky wasteful item. This is also far faster when I'm wanting a single cup before I head out to work in the morning. It is simple to use and the insulated mug prevents the coffee from cooling down too much whilst you wait. Sure, you can get the occasional coffee ground in the bottom of your drink but I find that with my cafetiere as well.

My only problem is the size of the cup. The plunger apparatus and grounds occupy the bottom of the mug and the max fill line is quite a long way from the top. Look at the picture. The colour change on the outside of the mug is NOT the max fill line. The max fill line is BELOW the top of the handle. Fill the mug past this line and coffee will leak out around the little tab at the top of the plunger. It all adds up to a coffee mug that holds only half a standard mug of coffee.

I love the thought behind this mug, I use mine every day and it is far superior to instant coffee. I just wish it was a little larger