Colour of coffee cups can change the taste of your brew, study finds

Does the taste of coffee also depend on the cup we serve? According to an experienced lecturer from Oxford, the answer is yes. His study yielded surprising results. Read on, and you might change the colour of your home dinnerware.

Every coffee lover knows that the taste of their favourite drink depends on many different factors, from the type of beans used to the additives. Meanwhile, psychology seems to prove that not only these variables matter. It is also essential which cup we drink coffee from. Which colour will make the coffee taste sweeter, and which will make it distinctly sour? Several studies have been conducted on this topic. The results? Incredible. The colour of the cup is just the beginning.

We all know that we also eat with our eyes. However, this is usually said in the context of beautifully decorated dishes, delicious ingredients, and garnishes on the food. But does such a trivial (at least seemingly) thing as the colour of the dinnerware also matter? In the case of coffee — absolutely. This issue was examined by Oxford psychology professor Charles Spence and other involved scientists. Here's what they discovered.

Professor Spence's experiment involved giving participants the same coffee in three different mugs—clear, blue, and white. The results were relatively unanimous. Participants liked the coffee from the white cup the best and the clear cup the least. The latter was reportedly exceptionally unappetising. Let's remember: it was the same drink in the white cups.

Professor Spence is not the only scientist who has conducted such studies. Similar experiments took place in Brazil, where researchers examined whether the taste of coffee is also affected by the shape of the cup. Once again, it was confirmed that such details matter. Participants preferred coffee from a so-called tulip-shaped cup in this particular case.

In yet another study described on the portal sciencedirect.com, it was discovered that a pink cup adds sweetness to the coffee, while a green or yellow one adds acidity. Interestingly, in 2020, the journal Food Quality and Preference also described an experiment in which even the texture of the cup matters! Coffee from a rough cup seemed more acidic to participants, while the drink from smooth porcelain was distinctly sweeter.

Will you now change the type of dinnerware you use? Or do you believe that such variables don't affect you?