Now that it’s (almost) winter, I’m constantly wearing my favourite scarf ― a pretty fancy hand-me-down cashmere one that just so happens to be pale pink. That becomes a problem every time I wear it out for a coffee, especially if I’m drinking from a takeaway cup. I think I’ve spilt about two litres of java down its front this year alone.For some reason, I noticed the spillages were way more plentiful in my favourite coffee shop, which has a station for you to put your cup’s lid on yourself. Having read an entry from coffee packaging manufacturer MTPAK Coffee, it seems I’m right ― there really is a trick baristas learn, but the public doesn’t know.Which is?The inside of your coffee cup has a vertical seam where one side of the strip that forms the cylinder meets the other. This seam often runs up to the rim of the container, MTPAK Coffee says, creating a small bulge. When you place the opening of the lid directly over the seam of the cup, that leaves little openings for coffee to leak out of. So, to reduce your risk of spills, “the drinking spout should always be on the opposite side of the seam on the cup,”