There are a great many number of gadgets available on the market to help your coffee maintain a certain temperature. Be it an old school thermos with magical insulating properties that keeps your coffee piping hot for hours on end or a more modern interneting of things coffee mug with Bluetooth connectivity and an app and a power supply that holds your beverage at a precise drinking temperature, for keeping coffee hot, there are options. But if the coffee is too damn hot? Where’s the gizmo for that?
Worry not, ye scorched tongues, ye overexcited imbibers of molten caffeine, for there is in fact a gizmo for that. And it’s cute as hell. Introducing Nékojita FuFu, a robotic lil kitty that hangs from the side of your mug and will blow on it for you.
As reported by Tech Crunch, the adorable little marshmallow of a cat will make its premier at CES 2025 as part of a whole line of animal robot-themed weirdness by Yukai Engineering, the Tokyo-based startup that also introduced something called a purse goblin. (Perusing Yukai’s website you’ll find cushions with tails and Anagami Ham Ham, a plush toy that bites you, so they trade pretty freely in this very particular vibe.)
But there’s utility to Nékojita FuFu. In Japanese, “neko-jita” means “cat tongue,” which is used idiomatically to refer to folks with a low tolerance for hot food. “FuFu” then is the sound one would make when blowing on food to cool it down. Which no one will have to do anymore thanks to Nékojita FuFu.
The idea was borne out of an internal all-night hackathon “during which a team leader reminisced about how badly he wanted help years ago with blowing on freshly cooked baby food for his son because doing so often left him feeling breathless and dizzy.” That blows.
And so, as is their wont, the folks at Yukai came up with a solution that only they could. Nékojita FuFu isn’t just a one-trick pony, blowing indiscriminate air across the surface of your coffee, no. Nékojita FuFu uses a “special alogrithm,” which Yukai refers to as a “Fu’ing system” (cute) “to blow at random strengths and intervals, like a person.” Nékojita FuFu has options. Per Tech Crunch, the cuddly cup companion has a host of modes, which Yukai describes as:
The Basic Main mode: Steady medium-strength/length blows with short intervals
Look at That!: Gradually ramps up in strength as if it’s captivated by how the food looks
I’ve Got This!: Strong head-start followed by sustained power
The Princess: Elegant, slow and steady increases in strength
Sing My Praise: Nonstop series of strong and short blows
Ready Yet?: Stop-and-go medium blows as if it’s checking to see if it’s cool enough to eat
‘Til You Drop: Long, strong, and nonstop blow in a single breath
Not Gonna Spill: Steady medium blows with short deep inhalations in between
Unfortunately for the Nekojita of the world, their FuFu friend isn’t set to be released in Japan until mid-2025, so they’ll have to cool their coffee the old-fashioned way: by waiting. But given the choice between patience or kitty coffee companion, I think the answer is pretty clear and it only costs $25.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
