I hate to do this to you all, but I have to know.
Okay, so I have a mug of coffee. Nice and hot and delicious. I take a sip of the coffee. When I take my lips away from the mug, there is a little drop of coffee on the outside rim of the mug. No matter how I contort my lips during or after the sip, I cannot take a sip of coffee without leaving that little drop.
It is driving me crazy. Why is this? Am I doing it wrong? Does it happen to you? Would it happen if the mug were square?
I feel like there should be a snigglet for this…
Having looked up “snigglet,” I must agree. I was hoping to get a whole swath of Dopers looking at their coffee cups, going crazy about that little droplet.
It could happen. Somebody on here once got thousands of people to see if their wedding ring would fit up their nose. 
Easy, easy. All you have to do is wipe upwards and over the edge of the cup with your lower lip during the disengagement sequence. Completely fixes it.
Others may laugh, but down deep inside they’re just pretending that drop doesn’t eat at them.
My first thoughts have to do with the viscosity and surface tension, but then I recalled the bit about why coffee spills form rings - the coffee ring effect - and wonder if has something to do with coffee doing this in particular (if it does). That effect is due to coffee containing spherical particles and how they pack.
It happens with tea, too.
If you find out the answer to that, perhaps someone can tell me why, when you stir the milk and/or sugar into your hot drink and tap the spoon on the rim of the mug, the sound it makes goes up the scale as you tap.
No s**t? That is amazing! I thought maybe it had to do with mugs being (mostly) inherently round. I am frankly impressed that there is a scientific answer for this. Thank you!
doesn’t help stop it though. dammit! hahaha
My Indian relatives all tout their ability to drink from glasses and cups without letting their lips touch the glass. They do wo with water bottles too. I suppose that would avoid the droplet.
Perhaps, as the liquid is forced by tapping to leave the spoon, it changes the tone the spoon makes in tapping? (i.e., less deadening)
That is legendary. 
Sounds like a variation of the hot chocolate effect.
To be clear, their method is to tip the head back and pour the liquid into the mouth, instead of sipping from the glass or bottle.
Whoa … how did you even know about that? I mean, I’ve noticed it too subconsciously and accepted it as representing a natural aspect of physics or fluid dynamics or whatever. But I never would have suspected that it is a named phenomenon with its own wikipedia page.
Well done!
Whenever I have random or esoteric knowledge where I’m not sure of the provenance, chances are I read it on the straightdope at some time.
Sorry, Chefguy, looks like you’ve asked it before.
So we need Rich Hall to give us a sniglet for the elusive drop then. Seeing as I misplaced his email again (as if…) I propose either miplet or* lipdrip*. FWIW, my favourite sniglet of all time has to be Essoasso, or the person that cuts through a gas station to avoid a red light.
:smack: And got the same answer. :smack:
I prefer a straw. 
It seems to me that attending to this droplet would be the responsibility of your valet or “gentleman’s gentleman”. Following a sip, he should discreetly wipe the cup.
So… a “two men, one cup,” kind of thing.