--- title: Why Coffee Spills Easier Than Beer description: It's all about the foam. canonical: https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/ author: Improbable Research article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-06T16:33:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:57:22.945Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Science Explains Why Coffee Spills Easier Than Beer og:description: It's all about the foam. og:url: https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2412085db7e7658/69878267524fc04d3cdecc4c/72134512-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 72134512 copy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Science Explains Why Coffee Spills Easier Than Beer twitter:description: It's all about the foam. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2412085db7e7658/69878267524fc04d3cdecc4c/72134512-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Science Finally Explains Why Coffee Spills More Easily Than Beer by [Improbable Research](/author/improbable-research/) ## Improbable Research Mar 6, 2015 4:33 PM CUT  Getty Images by [Improbable Research](/author/improbable-research/) ## Improbable Research Mar 6, 2015 4:33 PM CUT The research on why foamy liquid (such as beer or latte) is less likely to slosh out of a cup than non-foamy liquid (such as black coffee), has now been [formally published](http://www.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/why-latte-less-likely-spill-coffee "undefined"). The study is: --- > “” --- The slosh team [presented their work in public](http://www.improbable.com/2014/11/19/the-effect-of-beer-foam-on-resisting-beer-spills/ "undefined") a few months ago, at the Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics. A few years, earlier, that annual meeting went gaga, to a very limited degree, for a [research presentation about why a cup of coffee is so very easy to spill](http://www.improbable.com/2011/11/17/alert-coffee-spill-in-baltimore-next-monday/ "undefined") (or, looked at from the other direction, why it’s so difficult to NOT spill a cup of coffee). That coffee-spill research was eventually honored with the [2012 Ig Nobel Prize for fluid dynamics](http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2012 "undefined"). Here’s the Ig Nobel citation for that prize: --- > “” --- In 2013, that coffee-spill research was the subject of a [dramatic demonstration by Karolinska neuroscientist Gustav Nilsonne](http://www.improbable.com/2013/03/12/how-to-spill-coffee-a-science-demonstration/ "undefined"), at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. A month from now, Gustav Nilsonne will perhaps repeat that demonstration, with both coffee and beer, when the [2015 Ig Nobel Eurotour descends on the Karolinka Institute](http://www.improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/ "undefined"), on Monday afternoon, March 30\. (There will be a second show in Stockholm, at [Boulevardteatern](http://www.boulevardteatern.se/ "undefined"), in the evening.) (Thanks to investigator Mason Porter for bringing this to our attention.) _This_ [_article_](http://www.improbable.com/2015/02/25/the-formal-advance-of-the-research-on-beer-vs-coffee-spilling/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Improbable Research_](http://www.improbable.com "undefined")_._ _More from Improbably Research:_ * [The Coffee Diet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuFUWCO9cf8 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/"},"headline":"Science Finally Explains Why Coffee Spills More Easily Than Beer","datePublished":"2015-03-06T16:33:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:57:22.945Z","description":"It's all about the foam","url":"https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/","keywords":["Innovation","Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2412085db7e7658/69878267524fc04d3cdecc4c/72134512-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Improbable Research","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/improbable-research/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2412085db7e7658/69878267524fc04d3cdecc4c/72134512-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"72134512 copy","caption":"black-coffee","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3734327/why-coffee-spills-easier-than-beer/","name":"Science Finally Explains Why Coffee Spills More Easily Than Beer"}}]}] ```