The hot steam rising from coffee and the flame of a candle cannot be well simulated

If your candle model has a billboard flame you can apply the warm glow neon material to it. It actually works decent in shallow-depth-of-field renders where the detail isn’t paramount. Not ideal, but there you have it.

If TM would also alpha channels in video materials, and have an option to always face cam, that could be a great option too.