There are many gadgets available on the market that will support keep your coffee at the right temperature. Whether it’s an old-school thermos with magical insulating properties that keeps your coffee balmy for hours, or a more contemporary internet-connected coffee mug with Bluetooth connectivity and an app and power supply that keeps your drink at the precise drinking temperature, for example keeping your coffee hot, there are options. But if the coffee is too balmy? Where’s the gadget for that?
Don’t worry, you burnt tongues, you overly excited melted caffeine drinkers, because there’s actually a gadget for that. And it’s cute as hell. Introducing Nékojit FuFu, a little robotic kitty that will hang on the side of your cup and blow into it.
As reported Technical breakdownadorable little marshmallow cat will premiere at CES 2025 as part of a whole line of quirky animal robot motifs by Yukai Engineeringa Tokyo-based startup that also introduced something called the purse goblin. (If you browse Yukai’s website, you’ll find pillows with tails and Anagami Ham, a stuffed toy that bites you, so they trade quite freely in this very particular climate.)
But Nékojita FuFu has its usefulness. In Japanese, “neko-jita” means “cat’s tongue”, which is idiomatically used to refer to people with a low tolerance for balmy food. “FuFu” is the sound you make when you blow on food to chilly it down. Which no one will ever have to do again thanks to Nékojita FuFu.
The idea was born during an internal, all-night hackathon, “during which the team leader recalled how many years ago he needed support blowing freshly cooked food for his son because it often left him out of breath and dizzy.” It’s windy.
And as is their wont, the people of Yukai came up with a solution that only they could afford. Nékojita FuFu is not just a one-trick pony that blows air onto the surface of coffee, no. Nékojita FuFu uses a “special algorithm” that Yukai calls the “Fu’ing” (cute) system “to blow with random force and random intervals, like a person.” Nékojita FuFu has options. According to Tech Crunch, the cozy mug companion has multiple modes, which Yukai describes as:
Basic main mode: Consistent punches of medium strength/length with low pauses
Look at this!: He gradually grows stronger, as if he was fascinated by the appearance of the food
I’ve got it!: A powerful lead followed by sustained power
Princess: An elegant, sluggish and steady enhance in strength
Sing my praise: A continuous series of powerful and low blows
Ready?: Medium stop-and-go blowing, as if checking if it was chilly enough to eat
Until you fall: A long, powerful and continuous blow in one breath
I won’t spill: Steady medium winds with low, deep breaths in between
Unfortunately for Nekojitas everywhere, their friend FuFu isn’t scheduled to be released in Japan until mid-2025, so they’ll have to chilly their coffee the old-fashioned way: by waiting. But given the choice between patience and a cat coffee companion, I think the answer is pretty clear, and it only costs $25.
