There are many things around us that are so taken for granted that it never occurs to us to give them a second thought until we look a little closer. Coffee stains are one such thing. When coffee dries it leaves stains that are dark at the edges and lighter inside. The explanation may not be obvious...
This was figured out more than a decade ago.
https://www.livescience.com/15611-physics-coffee-stains-explained.html