# Using coffee stirrers - the right way **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495 "2005-11-23T22:26:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/1 "2005-11-23T22:26:24Z")
I am not sure that’s what they are called. I am talking about those plastic sticks, usually brown, flat or cylindrical in shape, available at take out coffee shops, and used to stir the milk/sugar in the coffee. I have noticed a lot of people, and when I say that I mean really lots, using the stirrer in what seems to me rather inefficient way. Now I think, in the process of stirring, the stirrer should be made to _scrape_ the bottom of the cup while slowly moving around the liquid in a somewhat random manner. But what I see is people using the stirrer in a “swirling” motion, going round and round the cup in circles and picking up speed. The stirrer has a diameter of at most 2 or three mms that hardly provides the agitation required to achieve mixing and disolving sugar. To my mind, the latter is an incorrect way to stir coffee. Even when using a spoon, I would think, scraping the bottom while moving the spoon slowly in a random manner results in better mixing and dissolving the sugar. So, the question is, do these people(and trust me they are not few) not know the correct way, or is there something wrong in my thinking? Also, be honest, how do you stir your coffee/tea whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/2 "2005-11-23T23:53:44Z")
I doubt that there is a “correct” way to use a stir-stick. Either way very quickly results in entropic distribution of miscible fluids. Myself, I would never scrape the bottom of the cup for two reasons: You’re sticking the stirrer down farther than is necessary to do what you want to do, which seems both awkward and slightly messier, and, if you’re using a polycoated or foam cup, you may introduce (more) contaminants into your brew. Either way, I don’t think many people are concerned with efficiency when it comes to stirring coffee – it takes such a trivial amount of time and energy. Back before I took the tenet “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” to heart, I used to stir my coffee with a couple of turns widdershins and a couple deosil. More than sufficient to introduce enough chaos into the system to quickly turn the trick. As far as actual incorrect usage of stir-sticks goes, the only one I can think of is the one that led McDonald’s to stop using those long white ones with the tiny spoons on the end. ---
**Author:** ![VegaBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ee7513/32.png) [@VegaBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegaBean)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/3 "2005-11-23T23:54:25Z")
You are most assuredly wrong. According to Emily Post, those sticks are an aboonation, and playing with them is for children. And spoons should never be scraped against the bottom of the cups. It makes noise and if either the china or spoon is inexpensive it makes marks. ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/4 "2005-11-24T00:01:10Z")
I think the most efficient way to use these is to stick the stirrer into the sugar sludge on the bottom of the cup and blow bubbles into it, causing \*\*vertical \*\* mixing of the drink instead of inefficiently agitating the coffee while maintaining separation of the coffee strata. Also, you’re not expending any extra effort in an unnecessary stirring motion–you have to breathe anyway! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/5 "2005-11-24T00:02:55Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > entropic distribution of miscible fluids Band name? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/6 "2005-11-24T00:14:09Z")
I use both methods to stir my coffee with either tool. The reasons for this are that, if there is powdered creamer on top of the coffee, (sometimes that’s all that’s offered) I find that the swirling motion is better at dissolving the creamer into the coffee. I’ve found that scraping the bottom (or nearly scraping the bottom) of the cup and making X’s and +'s randomly dissolves the sugar better. As an aside, how do you properly punctuate when using a letter, number or sign in a sentence in plural? I’ve forgotten the proper way to do that. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/7 "2005-11-24T00:17:56Z")
Adding, that I do cut across the “vortex” that is made to help dissolve the creamer, so I guess I use variations of the methods mentioned in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/8 "2005-11-24T03:10:07Z")
When I’m stuck using those thin plastic things, I use 3-4 of them bunched together. Makes a wider profile in the liquid, creates a hell of a vortex and while it’s still in full swirl, I add the creamer. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/9 "2005-11-24T03:15:19Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > As an aside, how do you properly punctuate when using a letter, number or sign in a sentence in plural? I’ve forgotten the proper way to do that. ☹ At last, something I can answer! From the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed.: > [@](#): > > So far as it can be done without confusion, single or multiple letters… and numbers used as nouns (whether spelled out or in numerals) form the plural by adding _s_ alone: > > _x_s and _y_s > the three Rs > the early 1920s The “so far as it can be done without confusion” bit is key, though; I’d use an apostrophe in “I made straight A’s,” because I think the reader might be distracted by “I made straight As.” And I stir my coffee by scraping the bottom and going in a circle in one direction, then reversing and going in a circle in the other direction. I’m sure I’m not doing it in the most efficient manner, but (a) the energy expended is minimal, and (b) it definitely gets thoroughly stirred. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/10 "2005-11-24T03:54:38Z")
There is an incorrect way to stir coffee? I suppose now you are going to tell me I’m not supposed to drink it through those teeny straws, either. ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/11 "2005-11-24T04:08:16Z")
I take the cup and the stirrer back to the counter, give them to the clerk and say ‘Stir my coffee, coffee monkey and I’ll give you this shiny nickel’. 9 times out of ten you’ll get scalding hot coffee thrown on you, but ooooohhh that tenth time is so worth it! ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/12 "2005-11-24T04:31:13Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > When I’m stuck using those thin plastic things, I use 3-4 of them bunched together. Makes a wider profile in the liquid, creates a hell of a vortex and while it’s still in full swirl, I add the creamer. When I must use the damn things, this is my technique, as well. Those sticks are woefully inadequate to create enough turbulence to dissolve the sugar. If I pour the coffee myself, I’ll put the sugar in the cup first, pour an inch or so of coffee, swirl the cup like mad, then fill the cup to the top. Works great, and no need for those miserable sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/13 "2005-11-24T04:48:59Z")
The best way to mix your coffee is to put the cream (or whatever) and sugar (artificial for me) in the cup first, then used the addition of the coffee to make it mix. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/14 "2005-11-24T06:11:54Z")
God, those little plastic tubes are miserable. One trick is to completely bend a stirrer about 3/4" from the end so it looks like an extra tall “L.” I’ll stick the bent end in the cup as far as it will go into the sugar-sludge at the bottom, and twist the stirrer between my fingers. The “foot” acts like a blender blade down there, dissolving the sugar faster than the normal method. When I’m real impatient I’ll forego the stupid stirrer entirely and simply hold the lid tight and shake the cup martini-style. ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Thin\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Ice)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/15 "2005-11-24T13:32:40Z")
I use a tiny battery-powered outboard motor I still have from my days of building balsa model boats. It does a dandy job. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/16 "2005-11-24T19:22:38Z")
I take it black, that saves me all the trouble. Once when working in a coffee shop known for its bitchy customers, we had one man approach us in full rant mode - "How in the hell are we supposed to use these straws?! They’re too short and they’re so thin I can’t suck any liquid up through it at all! What kind of an establishment is this? Blah blah blah ! Why I oughta - " and my co-worker interjected “Sir, that’s a stir stick.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/17 "2005-11-24T19:53:20Z")
> [@Roderick Femm](#): > > > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > > > entropic distribution of miscible fluids > > Band name? No. Just no. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/18 "2005-11-30T04:46:02Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Myself, I would never scrape the bottom of the cup for two reasons: You’re sticking the stirrer down farther than is necessary to do what you want to do I must most emphatically disagree. Without sticking the stirrer into the 3/4 inch thick sugar layer at the bottom, how am I to get it mixed into the coffee? Merely making some surface turbulance is not going to make so much as a dent–literally–in that amount of sugar. And yes, I do need that much sugar. Really. I think what I hate most about those plastic tube stirrers, however, is how they get all floppy and useless when you put them in something as hot as coffee. I prefer the wooden sticks that my local coffee shop provides. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/19 "2005-11-30T05:35:58Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Without sticking the stirrer into the 3/4 inch thick sugar layer at the bottom… Honey, that ain’t coffee – that’s well on the way to being a _cake_. What you want is a stick blender. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495/20 "2005-11-30T05:47:49Z")
Okay, the right way to use a stirrer is to hold the flat bit between finger and thumb, and stick the pointed bit in your drink. Many people use them upside down. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-coffee-stirrers-the-right-way/332495.md?page=2)