In late September, Seattle’s annual Coffee Fest saw the debut of a handful of inventions that are making drinking coffee more convenient, travel worthy, and high tech.

Last month’s Coffee Fest Seattle showcased the talents of not only competition-ready baristas anxious to show their stuff, but coffee-minded inventors hoping to drum up interest in their products. Here are four that have that “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” quality that might soon make your life a little easier.

Grab your SMUG mug

Have you ever left your desk to visit your favorite coffee shop and forgotten your loyalty card or go mug? Brothers Chris and Mike Hallberg want to put an end to those days with their SMUG Coffee, a go cup that lets customers pay for their coffee with the mug itself.

“It was one of those ‘wouldn’t it be cool’ moments for us,’” said Mike Hallberg.

The mug contains an RFID tag that’s connected to a gift card account for your favorite coffee shop. You simply wave the mug over an RFID reader and it automatically debits the gift account.

Marquette University thought the mug was pretty cool too – they gave Chris Hallberg an award for his business plan before he graduated from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, university in May.

Don’t lick it, Splick It!

This next invention might come in handy before you leave the house with your SMUG. Splick It allows you to text your drink order to your preferred coffee house. The thought is that the barista gets it ready while you’re making your way there and you in turn don’t have to stand in line.

Coffee Fest attendees got to test out Splick It by texting a special code to Splick It’s booth and then picking up their orders a few minutes later.

If you live in Colorado or California, Splick It is already available for use in some 30 stores. Those of us who live elsewhere can look forward to Splick It coming to a café near us after the product officially launches on November 2nd.

Get it TuGo

Denver inventor Karen Porte had decided she’d had enough of trying to juggle her coffee, ticket, and carry-on luggage when traveling. Instead of ditching her favorite drink, she created a portable cup holder that fits between the upright handles of a rolling suitcase.

The TuGo makes sure your coffee stays stable as you pull it along behind you. The product is currently available online at travel-oriented sites like Magellans.com, but Porte said she hopes to bring it to airports in the coming years.

Then get smart

And once you get to your destination, if you’re jonesing for fresh cup of French press coffee, why not give the SmartCup a whirl?

Inventor Jeff Baccetti has created a disposable, recyclable French press perfect for moments like this. Becetti is currently drawing interest from coffee shops looking to provide their customers with fresh grounds or even freshly pressed cups of coffee, but he hopes to begin selling the cups for home use in the near future.

“Everybody’s coffee tastes better when it’s French pressed,” he told Seattlepi.com

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