The Best Coffee Mug in the World (and beyond! guest post)

Prologue

I’ve been looking for a way to scale Joeveo up to its full potential, while at the same time scaling down my involvement in the “business” aspects of the business. The Temperfect Mug, and Temperfect technology in general, have a much greater potential than what I’ve been able to achieve at the helm of Joeveo, so it makes sense for me to hand off management of the parts of the business I’m not expert in to someone who is expert and can do the things necessary to get our mugs into the hands of those who will love them. This will free up my time to design new products, and to improve those we already offer.
Martin Wescott Smith of WTE Solutions Inc. (here in NC) is a marketing expert from way back whom I’ve been in touch with as a potential collaborator-expert for getting Joeveo’s marketing “just right.” He wrote a post for WTE’s blog using some of the latest tools, including AI ones like ChatGPT. Here it is, unedited, below.

Martin’s intro

Giving Martin a tour of my home and Joeveo manufacturing plant was excellent. Martin is right; I handly create every Joeveo mug in my “Founder” line. I think of my “founder” mugs as a limited-edition coffee mug. After my Kickstarter sold out, figuring out how to make a stainless steel temperfect travel mug became an engineering necessity.
We found manufacturing help, but I wanted to keep half the manufacturing process a secret, so that’s why there is so much hand detailing of my Joeveo “founder” line. Martin’s point about buying a computer built by the two Steve’s holds as I work extensively on every Joeveo founder mug.
Martin’s right; I love tinkering and engineering. Time seems to disappear when I’m figuring out how to make one of my products dreams a reality. I start with sketches and specifications. Next, I talk with manufacturers to see who fits my engineering well. Finally, I figured out how to adapt machines to do my piece of the manufacturing.
Keeping half of the Joeveo mug manufacturing in my hands did more than protect my secret sauce – it also ensured quality. So finally, after making thousands of Joeveo mugs, I can discuss manufacturing engineer to engineer.
Handcrafting can be exhausting and has its limits, so, at some point, I’ll need to show a manufacturer my secret sauce, but we have enough “founder” mugs to ship your order, and we’ll be sure to share when we only have a few founder’s mugs left. I appreciate the growing tribe of people who love my Joevoe mugs, and they are great for hot or cold beverages, as Martin shares.
I appreciate Martin’s Best Coffee Mug in the World label and look forward to hearing from customers who love their Joeveo “drinking experience.” Contact me by email at dean@joeveo.com.
Thanks,
Dean

The WTE post

Here is what Martin said on the WTE Blog (reprinted with permisssion).

Best Coffee Mug in the World

How would you make the best Coffee Mug in the world? Coffee Makers get all the attention, but the ceramic Mug, stainless steel tumbler, or large Mug you pour your espresso, latte, or morning Joe into should be as much of a consideration as your coffee maker. You want a mug that keeps coffee cool at first and hot coffee perfect over time.
You want a travel mug that fits in your cup holders, doesn’t burn your hand and is easy to pour coffee shop coffee into. You want the best coffee mug in the world to have sophisticated double wall construction with vacuum insulation and heat retention to hold your morning cup of coffee like the liquid energy French press brew you know and love.
When friends told me about fantastic engineering whose Kickstarter coffee mug campaign was over-subscribed and whose Temperfect Mug they love and swear by for their morning coffee, I had to meet Dean Verhoeven, the brilliant engineer and creator of the Joeveo stainless steel high-quality best travel mug and the equal of the sexiest coffee makers.
Coffee drinkers are a unique tribe. So coffee, cappuccino, and other hot drinks like tea and hot cocoa need a brilliant engineer, an engineer who thinks about “phase change material” and how to create the best coffee mug in the world, and he lives about a half-an-hour drive from my house and the WTE Solutions offices in Hillsborough.

Meeting Brilliant People

I’ve met many brilliant people over my forty years of marketing consumer products goods, being a Director of E-commerce, and creating startup companies. Joeveo’s passionate creator Dean Verhoeven reminded me of my engineer father because he loves to tinker, design, and target functionality consumers like me who don’t know the difference between Le Creuset and Target dishwasher safe mugs want but don’t know how to articulate.
I wish I could explain Dean’s “phase change” process to create the best coffee mug in the world, but then my mug set would look better than something you’ll find at your next garage sale. I don’t know my barista by name, look for BPA-free espresso cups, or drink many hot beverages, but I love coffee and cold drinks (frozen Coke is a favorite). My drinking experiences include my travel coffee mug - the Yeti Rambler before meeting Dean and learning about the best coffee mug in the world.

The Joeveo Drinking Experience

I like how my Joeveo Mug fits in my hand with the rubber logo band preventing drops (been there, done that) while protecting my hand; however, there is so much insulation and “phase change” material between even the hottest coffee and my writing I doubt protection is needed. Dean’s Joeveo mug is substantial and not heavy, but you know you’re holding ergonomic art in your hand.
Dean’s attention to detail and brilliant manufacturing machines; he even has a wooden toggle to help build his boxes. He reminded me of quality we used to take for granted, but it is so rare to find, no matter what we’re willing to pay. The way he drills tiny holes so his Mug’s wall-insulated phase change material can cool and then warm your morning coffee was mesmerizingly brilliant. Imagine being able to buy a product from Howard Hughes or Steve Jobs. Yes, I’ve spent thousands buying Apple products, but what if the two Steve hand-built a computer I could buy? What would that example of American ingenuity be worth? Answer: A lot more than Dean charges for the world’s best coffee mug.
Art requires some sacrifice, and Dean’s Joeveo mug is less dishwasher safe than hand wash, and you’ll need to visit Dean’s Joeveo.com website instead of Target or Amazon to buy the world’s best coffee mug. You may disagree with my top pick. You may have a porcelain mug, silicone, spill-proof, stackable, glass coffee mug, or cookware in different colors you love and swear by, so email your best coffee mugs in the world comments to martin (at) WTE.net, and I’ll add them to this post. But if you want to join the tribe of people who love exceptional coffee-drinking experiences, then the Joeveo coffee mug created by hand by the Steve Jobs of coffee mugs the Triangle’s own Dean Verhoeven then buy a high-quality coffee mug from a brilliant engineer who does things the old way - by hand and one cherished Mug at a time.