CUPS affect coffee taste perception?!
Are you aware that the coffee cup you choose can significantly influence the taste and perception of your beloved brew? Beyond being a mere vessel, your coffee cup plays a role in creating a multi-sensory experience that affects how you perceive the flavours of your coffee.
Coffee tasting is a complex process that engages various sensory factors, such as vision, smell, touch, taste, and even hearing. These elements work together to shape the taste experience in our brain, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex , where your brain processes the different sensory inputs related to flavour.
Specific features of a coffee cup can affect how the coffee tastes to an individual. Factors like the mouth width, ergonomic design for comfortable handling, thickness of the cup lip, and the colour of the inner and outer cup contribute to your perception of taste. This phenomenon is rooted in the science of cross-modal perception, where the senses interact and influence each other.
Intrigued? Try it out by pouring the same coffee into two different cups and tasting them side by side. You might be surprised at how the taste experience can vary between the two cups!
For those seeking to enhance their coffee experience further, try drinking the coffee when playing with another genre of music (eg. If you normally listen to jazz, try classical. Or Rock :)
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Now, we’d like to share with you some of our favourite cups:
D'Ancap Palermo Series - Made in Italy: Known for its thick gloss lip and being the preferred choice in specialty coffee competitions. This cup is ideal for sipping a creamy flat white.
Magnolia Mountain’s Porcelain Tumbler - Made in Australia: With its delicate lip and semi-translucent texture, this is by far our favourite for savouring filter brews.
Arita 1616 TY Standard Series - Made in Japan: A minimalist, hardy, and well-designed everyday cup featuring a handle with a flared lip.
The Original Crinkle Cup by Rob Brandt - Made in the Netherlands: An elegant cup that offers a unique taste experience as it tilts and funnels through at different angles, depending which side you drink from.
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Old School ACF Cup - Made in Italy: A nostalgic and weighty cup that retains heat exceptionally well for espresso, provided it's pre-heated.
For those seeking a more precise shape set, Norway’s Tim Wendelboe and Figgjo Cups designed three forms for the coffee brew: Tulip, Split, and Open, you can check it out at their website here.
We hope this little insight into your daily cup vessel enriches your daily brew. Experiment with different cups and discover how a seemingly simple choice can elevate and enhance your coffee-tasting experience. Until next month, happy sipping and exploring!
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Thank you so much as always
Wishing you a lovely month ~
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