Some time ago a friend gave me some very nice mugs. They’re good for all mugular requirements such as coffee, tea, Horlicks, Ovaltine and mugs of Jameson.

However, a strange problem has emerged with one or two of them. Picture the scene: the mug is standing with one spoon of sugar in the bottom. I pour in either hot coffee from the coffee pot, or hot water on top of some instant coffee (because I am a lazy cunt and it’s not so much making the other coffee but cleaning out the pot that’s the problem).

Either way the weirdness happens. From the bottom of the mug an amount of coffee appears to leak onto the counter top. Simple, you might think, there’s a hole in the bottom of the mug. But riddle me this: why is it that when I mop up the ‘leaked’ coffee and dry the bottom of the mug, not a single drop more appears?

It only leaks at the time of pouring. At first I thought I was just being a sloppy pourer but after careful examination of my pouring technique I realised that was not true.

The coffee leaks, at first, then stops leaking. Surely if there was a place from which the coffee could leak it would leak all the time so there can’t be a hole. But then how does the initial leak happen?

I have to say the whole thing has me somewhat perplexed.