SUPER MUG DYNAMICS

I once tried to calculate the exact moment that summer ended. There I was, sitting on a bench by the river in Pangbourne, watching the clouds and waiting for them to hide the sun.

There was a much easier definition this year. I think it was the moment that Emmie and Nick flew back to Toronto - something which happened this morning.

Sure enough the rain is fizzling out of the greyest of skies and the trees are turning. Soon the leaves will burst into gold and yellow and purple and bronze and the air will carry that famous chill as the nights draw in.

It seemed appropriate then, that today I should start using the mug that Emmie painted for me about a month ago. Isn't it awesome? There's nothing better than a thing that could only have come from one person, and could only have been given to one person. I love it.

When I first unwrapped it, I suspected that this super mug would go a long way to solving the mug-related troubles I've had for the past few months.

To recap, if I may: the company changed all the corporate mugs in the kitchen and replaced them with swanky new ones, complete with transfers of the new company logo stuck to them. Only, these new mugs have turned out to be 26% less efficient than the old ones, thanks to their ultra-thin walls and greater surface area.  Plus the logos are peeling off.

Much to the tedium of my colleagues, I've been going on about this travesty for quite some time.

'Well why don't you just bring in your own one?' asked someone once.

And so, in a stroke of creative brilliance, my friend Emmie made me the Super Mug.

And do you know what? It's turning out to be amazing.

First of all, the walls are 4mm thick and made of proper porcelain. There was hardly any heat transfer at all as I carried it back from the kitchen.

Secondly, the surface area is smaller, even smaller than the old mugs, by about 11%. This is brilliant because it means less tea can evaporate in a unit time.

Overall the capacity has gone down too. The Super Mug holds 66% of the amount of tea that the swanky new mugs can, making it much faster to drink.

In fact the whole tea-drinking experience is immeasurably better, thanks to the proportion and thermodynamic superiority of... the Super Mug.

However, all of that (though undoubtedly brilliant) is secondary to the fact that it was dreamt up and created by my friend, and is a mug that's just for me.

As the Autumn rolls in and summer drifts away; as the crispy leaves start to blow through soggy streets, and puddles reflect the dim glow of the orange streetlamps, I know I can take a sip of hot tea from my very favourite mug, and smile as I remember the summertime.