Have you ever wanted to grab your coffee cub and swing it around, watching in awe as your coffee defies gravity and impresses your friends? Neither have I, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not impressed by the SpillNot Mug Holder. This thing is designed to hold your mug and allow you to transport it easily without spilling a drop, wither you’re walking across your office or running to catch a bus.

The mug holder works because the flexible handle has enough give to it to eliminate the lateral force that causes coffee to slosh over the side of a mug when you are walking (or otherwise moving forward) with it. This means that, unless you trip and fall, you’re not going to end up with coffee drops all over your pants and shirt if you’re using it. The flashier side of this tool is that you can use it to do tricks, flipping and twirling your mug without spilling a drop, and it is a pretty impressive office party trick if you put a little practice into it first.

Now, since I basically have a coffee machine at my desk, this mug holder isn’t going to save me from spilling coffee all over my laptop. If your office is on the other  side of the building from your breakroom, however, and you’re as prone to sloshing too-full cups of coffee all over your hands when you are walking (been there, even when my coffee cup has a lid!!) , you just might want to consider it as a stocking stuffer this holiday.

When I was a kid, my favorite mug had a frog in it. It wasn’t a real frog that I had stuffed into my mug, but a ceramic frog that sat at the bottom of the mug and was slowly revealed as you drank. Inevitably, I was drinking milk and the frog’s little head poked out when I was about halfway through. I recently found my old mug, tucked away in a box in the garage, and it brought back all those old memories. It also gave me the urge to see if something a little more grown up was out there: there is. Hidden Animal Mugs are beautiful ceramic cups that have delicate, detailed figurines inside that are revealed as you drink – just as my frog was. The whimsical designs include a fox, an owl and a bear. Their colors match the tone of the cup, so they’re subtle but fun at the same time. The cups, unfortunately, are sold individually so getting aset can be a little expensive. Fortunately, I only need one for myself to bring a little nostalgia to my coffee break.

I opened up my Uncommon Goods catalog a few days ago to find myself staring right at the Face Mug. It’s a neat mug that has a compartment at the bottom to hold cookies or other things that you might like to much with your coffee, much like the Dunk Mug that I’ve seen before. The difference is that the Face Mug has a much more interesting, if slightly creepy, look about it. The gaping mouth of the mug seems to ask you to “FEED ME!” with cookies and other goodies. Fortunately, you don’t have to stare into the “face” of the mug while you’re drinking your coffee and can simply enjoy the convenience of having a handy cookie holder. Also, if you take one to work, you can be pretty sure that it won’t disappear from the break room because it is so distinctive!

I would like to say that I’m always able to relax at my kitchen table or at my desk while I’m drinking my coffee, but the truth is that, like just about everybody else out there, I am often drinking coffee while engaging in some other activity. They make travel mugs for commuters and other active coffee drinkers, and now I’ve seen the Knee/Lap Mug, which is intended for those whose “other activity” is a little more sedentary. The mug comes in two formats: an over the knee model and on the lap version. The knee mug has a base the curves up in an inverted arc, which will sit snugly over the curve of your leg and offer much more stability than a flat-bottomed glass. The lap mug has a pointed base that sits comfortably between your legs. It does make a difference when you just want to kick back on the couch and work on a crossword puzzle without having to reach over to the table every few minutes to grab your mug!

Iced coffee is one of the most refreshing drinks that you can have when the weather starts to heat up. This is especially true if you live somewhere where it starts getting hot even before the sun comes up and want to start the day with iced coffee instead of hot coffee. I will make a big pot of coffee, chill it and pour it into ice cube trays to make ice cubes that won’t water down my iced coffee. You can do this with any type of ice cube tray, but the Cool Beans Coffee Bean Ice Cube Tray makes ice cubes shaped like coffee beans that will compliment your iced coffee in looks and flavor. The tray is silicone and, while firm, bends easily so you can pop the formed beans out. Whether you use this type of tray or not, fill up a big ziploc bag with a few batches of coffee ice cubes and get ready to enjoy plenty icy cold coffee drinks in the summer.