Do you have a favourite cup?
How is it going, coffee lover?
If you are a cup hoarder like Vikra, you might have a favourite cup for a certain type of coffee. Do you?
I too had a favourite one. The reason being coffee tasted, or I should say drinking from it, felt wonderful.
I got yet another cup last week.
New fav cup
— Aravind Balla (@aravindballa)
1:07 PM • Nov 25, 2024
I was curious to know why. And not after long, I found myself in another rabbit hole. There is science which suggests that the vessel you drink from plays a surprising role in how you perceive your coffee's taste.
Why does coffee taste different in different cups
Eating or drinking is not just how your tongue interprets it, but a complete sensory experience. Which means it's not just your taste buds, but also the smell, sight, touch and even our subconscious expectations that affect the experience.
The smell makes up for more than half of the experience.
We feel we can't taste food when we catch cold. Wondered why? That's because our smell is blocked. You can test this for yourself if close your nose and eat something.
And this is the reason behind using same cups while cupping coffee, which is a standard protocol to grade coffee, worldwide.
What does the research say
I brewed some coffee and poured it into 2 different cups. I was fascinated to observe that a heavy black ceramic cup made me feel that the coffee was bold and robust. While another was light transparent cup made tasted brighter. However, as I kept sipping both became almost similar, maybe because I knew the coffees were same and my brain then calibrated to that.
Here are the key differences summarized from the notes I took while researching.
Color: White cups tend to amplify the perceived intensity of coffee's flavor compared to transparent mugs. This might be due to the contrast between the dark coffee and the bright white interior, which primes our brain to expect a more robust taste. Blue and clear cups, on the other hand, often lead to perceiving coffee as smoother and less intense.
Shape: The cup's shape influences more than just how we hold it. Taller, narrower cups tend to concentrate aromatics, enhancing our perception of floral and fruity notes. Wider cups, with their larger surface area, can emphasize chocolate and nutty undertones by allowing more oxygen to interact with the coffee.
Touch: The texture and weight of your cup add another layer to the experience. Heavy cups often make us perceive coffee as richer and more substantial, while lighter cups might lead us to focus more on the brighter, acidic notes.
Things to explore
If you are looking to expand your already big collection of coffee cups, I highly recommend the Aroma series of cups that Origami came up with. The cup I bought last week is an "Aroma" cup from the series.
Here is some more info about those cups.
From the coffee-verse
Charles Spence: Multisensory Experience and Coffee - YouTube
Best Coffee in 2024 - r/CoffeeIndia
A Cell-Cultured Coffee Movement is Rapidly Advancing - dailycoffeenews.com
Whats brewing this week
This week I was bidding goodbye to the medium roasted coffee beans, Baba Budangiri from Third Wave Coffee. I found my favourite recipe with an Aeropress which gave a bright yet balanced cup of coffee. 50 min bloom with total time of 3 minutes in the Inverted Aeropress method did the trick. I was surprised how using 2 filter papers affected the brightness.
It's a variant of this recipe:
That’s all I have. Have a caffeinated weekend.
See you.
Keep on brewing!