Since the original coffee post is the one post people have had the strongest opinions on, I thought you all deserved a follow-up now that we're actually on the road.

First off, the AeroPress is still awesome. I do have to admit, though, that pressing it down every single morning does get a little old. But all in all, I still think it's the best option, with the best coffee, for our journey. But we've since gotten some things that make it even better:

1. A reusable metal filter

It looks like this:

Environmentally friendly because you're not wasting paper filters every day. Good for me because easier to travel with (don't have to store the paper ones, or worry about ordering more when I run out). And a lot of people think they make better coffee, because it retains more of the oils that would get filtered out with paper.

The one challenge I had with it is that the water leaks through a bit instead of sitting in the tube waiting to be pushed out. This inspired me to finally try the "inverted method" of brewing, which I was intimidated about. The first attempt ended in weak coffee and a mess all over the counter. The second one was followed by actually looking up how to do it online, and was good from there. :)

This is the one I have, but there are a lot to choose from on Amazon.

2. A portable milk frother

This one was a gift from Mike for my birthday. They look like this:

You just heat up some milk and stick the frother in, and suddenly, a latte!

There are a bunch of different ones online, many of them are super cheap. This is one of the highest rated ones. Really fun addition to the coffee collection, to mix things up a little bit and get fancy.

3. An ember smart mug

Smart mug? Seriously? Yes, seriously.

This one was a Hanukkah gift -- something I wanted, but wouldn't have justified buying otherwise! But I'm really excited to have it.

It pairs with your phone, via the ember app, where you can choose the exact temperature you want your drink to stay.

Today is my first day using it. There was a little bit of trouble trying to sign in to the app for the first time, but once I got past that, it was all easy. I learned that the coffee that comes out of the Keurig starts at 165 degrees. Ember presets to 130 degrees, but it'll tell you the exact temperature of the liquid in your mug and you can change it to match your preferences. Turns out, for me, 130 is actually on the nose.

If you're using the mug without the base (which acts as the charger), it'll heat your coffee for about two hours. If you dock it on the base, it'll heat indefinitely. It takes about an hour to charge, and there's an LED on the mug itself that indicates when the battery is low, charged, or charging, and tells you when your coffee has reached your perfect temperature.

The mug itself is cute, and seems hearty enough to survive living in an RV. Handwash only, and you can't put it in the microwave (there's metal in it), but that shouldn't be a problem. They also sell a travel mug, but that one's more expensive and I just couldn't justify it!

All in all, it's definitely a bit of a splurge, and a lot of a luxury. But now that I have it, I'll have a hard time drinking coffee any other way!

*Note, at the time of writing, the Amazon link is showing the price as way higher than elsewhere! Try the ember website or your local Starbucks to see if it's cheaper.

Happy caffeinating!