# We haven't perfected the fucking spout, yet? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 15, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644 "2008-01-15T20:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/21 "2008-01-16T01:03:36Z")
Not only have we not come up with a solution, there might not be one: > **[BBC News | Sci/Tech | Professor spills secret of the dripping teapot](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/227572.stm)** > > The riddle of why tea dribbles down the underside of a pot's spout has been solved and nature, not design, is to blame. Co-winner of the IgNobel prize for Physics, shared with the British researchers who discovered a formula for the optimal method of dunking cookies. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/22 "2008-01-16T02:12:57Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Is there going to be anything _in_ these glasses? Felching generally involves a liquid. [/QUOTE] [I think you’re in the wrong thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=451462) ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/23 "2008-01-16T02:20:17Z")
I’m sure that **Dyson** will perfect the spout at some point, and that that will be the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/24 "2008-01-16T02:23:06Z")
A Sheldon Comic that speaks to this problem. > **[2007-02-14 - Sheldon® Comic Strip](https://www.sheldoncomics.com/comic/2007-02-14/)** > > Sheldon is a sarcastic, nerdy, family-friendly comic strip filled with pop-culture references and fun, random storylines. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/25 "2008-01-16T02:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] The perfect spout would probably be perfect only for one given pouring rate and one specific liquid. [/QUOTE] Coffee is “one specific liquid.” And while different individuals might pour at slightly different rates, I’d guess that most people’s rates are within a certain small range. Therefore, while you may not be able to create a perfect spout for a mass-produced coffee pot, you should be able to create a reasonably-close-to-perfect-for-most-people spout. Or at least one that doesn’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/26 "2008-01-16T02:38:33Z")
> **[Will the dripless teapot find fans down under?](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17423433-300-will-the-dripless-teapot-find-fans-down-under/)** > > BRITAIN, a nation of tea lovers, isn't interested in the non-drip teapot. Three years ago, design engineer Damini Kumar invented her dripless teapot, but despite all the media attention and praise she has failed to interest a British manufacturer. So... > [@](#): > > BRITAIN, a nation of tea lovers, isn’t interested in the non-drip teapot. Three years ago, design engineer Damini Kumar invented her dripless teapot, but despite all the media attention and praise she has failed to interest a British manufacturer. So she’s now hawking her wares in another great tea-drinking nation—Australia. > > An unexpected hurdle for Kumar has been teapot makers’ reluctance to acknowledge that their products have a problem. “If they produce a non-drip range, then they have to admit that the others drip,” she says. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/27 "2008-01-16T10:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=cerberus] I’m sure that **Dyson** will perfect the spout at some point, and that that will be the end of it. [/QUOTE] Ahh, come on. He’s not even built that fucking sphere yet, and how long have we been waiting? ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/28 "2008-01-16T13:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] I recall reading in New Scientist that someone (a female engineer IIRC) designed a “perfect” spout, but some reason nobody was buying it once it went to market. [/QUOTE] I heard it was suppressed by Big Towel. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/29 "2008-01-16T15:47:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] I heard it was suppressed by Big Towel. [/QUOTE] Who will no doubt be thrilled by the fact that there’s laugh-spray tea all over my monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/30 "2008-01-16T15:54:44Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] The perfect spout would probably be perfect only for one given pouring rate and one specific liquid. Chances are it wouldn’t be as simple as a section of a sphere, cylinder or cone, for example, so it would cost more to manufacture. Not worth the extra expense = not manufactured. [/QUOTE] To expand on what **Green Bean** said, 95% of liquids you’re going to be pouring out of a pitcher are going to exhibit the same properties as water, for all intents and purposes. Also, somebody with manufacturing experience correct me if I’m wrong, but a shape that’s simple, without being “regular”, if you will, still has to be designed, cast, and made into a mold. If there’s any extra cost, it’s going to be in the design phase, not the manufacturing phase. While I recognize that very complex molds can make manufacture difficult, and therefore more expensive, I don’t believe the perfect spout’s complexity approaches this threshold. ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/31 "2008-01-16T16:22:25Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] I’m a little coffeepot Short and stout Tip me over and pour me all over the fucking place [/QUOTE] I peed a little. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/32 "2008-01-16T19:18:07Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] A Sheldon Comic that speaks to this problem. > **[2007-02-14 - Sheldon® Comic Strip](https://www.sheldoncomics.com/comic/2007-02-14/)** > > Read More [/QUOTE] That’s what I came in here to post. I love Kellet’s rants on coffee, and this is one of favorites. A [variation](http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/070404.html) on the theme. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/33 "2008-01-16T20:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Euthanasiast] I peed a little. 😃 [/QUOTE] Maybe she’s holding your handle the wrong way? “Here’s is my handle. Now watch it spout!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/34 "2008-01-16T22:24:12Z")
Props to the OP! That being said, it occurred years ago to my amazingly keen intellect to place the second cup where the runback would spill into it rather than onto the counter or myself. Absent the need for a second cup I simply preposition a paper towel to catch the mess. \*returns to meditations and solving world’s unsolvable problems ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/35 "2008-01-18T00:59:27Z")
Crate and Barrel has a pouring widget that has a double-lip design so that you pour wine, and the drip is caught by the second lip, which feeds back into the bottle. Presto, no more annoying drips that run down the side of the bottle! I’m not sure why teapot mfrs don’t do that, but I will note that the widget was backordered for over a MONTH from when I first ordered it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/36 "2008-01-18T13:26:14Z")
Our tea kettle of many years has been lookking pretty decrepit for a while, and it needed replacing. My major complaint about it is that the damned spout can’t cleanly pour the hot liquid. Every time I use it to make tea or hot chocolate or whate ver, the hot water burbles out and a lot of it invariably missed the cup or mug, creating a little near-boiling sea around the cup. So I was delighted when Pepper Mill got a new one a couple of days ago. Until I saw it. It was _Exactly The Same Model_. After all these years, I’m amazed that she could find exactly the same one. But, considering the problems we’ve had with it (and she has them, too), I’m doubly amazed that she bought the same thing. “Why?” I asked. “It was only five bucks,” she replied. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/37 "2008-01-18T14:57:19Z")
The answer to all your problems might lie in the acquisition of a thermal carafe like the one at: > **[Amazon.com: Cuisinart DTC-975TC12BSS STAINLESS STEEL THERMAL CARAFE BLACK : Home...](https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DTC-975TC12BSS-Stainless-Thermal-Carafe/dp/B0013O63DA)** > > Cuisinart DTC-975TC12BSS STAINLESS STEEL THERMAL CARAFE BLACK (I bought one some months ago. It solved the **fucking spout** issue for us, but that was a side issue at the time. I just wanted to keep the fucking coffee hot.) It has a good-sized hole at the top into which you can pour your tea, coffee, hot cocoa, tequila, etc., into it without splattering it on the counter. Screw the top tightly, and the liquid will keep hot (or cold) until the cows come home. Examine the top of the top when you’ve screwed it tight. It’s jet black, but if you look carefully, with the spout at 6 o’clock, you’ll see the word POUR at 9 o’clock with an arrow pointing at the “9”. Now, spin the top counterclockwise 1/4 turn until the arrow points at 6 (and thus, at the spout as well). Pour. No splatter Now, if you’re especially stupid, cut a small square from a white 3x5 card and scotch tape it directly over the previously mentioned arrow. Then no matter how incredibly dense you are, you’ll always line up the POUR with the SPOUT. Works for me. 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644/38 "2008-01-19T00:41:55Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] If there’s any extra cost, it’s going to be in the design phase, not the manufacturing phase. While I recognize that very complex molds can make manufacture difficult, and therefore more expensive, I don’t believe the perfect spout’s complexity approaches this threshold. [/QUOTE] There is cost associated with manufacturing in the case of quality control. If the “perfect spout” has a high incidents of breakage during manufacturing, or has a shape that causes unacceptably high thermal stresses when rendered in tempered glass, you go with a different design or your increase the price of the finished product to cover the cost of all that failure. It may also be prone to breakage during use or not aesthetically pleasing to most users. So you have an ugly teapot that you hear breaks (but doesn’t drip!) or some other teapot that’s less ideal from an engineering standpoint, but works well enough. The perfect spout may not sell well enough vs. traditional imperfect spouts. Plus, it’s hard to get fancy and daring with your design if you have to have the same perfect spout. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-havent-perfected-the-fucking-spout-yet-really/433644.md?page=1)