A while ago, I went to this coffee shop that serves coffee in two different cups. One is a ceramic “aroma” cup, and the other one is more similar to a wine glass.
They said that I should be able to taste the same coffee differently.
Crazily enough I thought I did taste the coffee differently. The one from the ceramic cup felt more bodied, while the one from the wine glass felt lighter and more acidic.
It makes me wonder, is that difference simply coming from the power of suggestion, or does it have a scientific basic to it?
What about you? What’s your favorite coffee cup/mug? Have you experimented with drinking the same coffee from different cups as well?
Cheers.
Ceramic/porcelain definitely makes a difference. I think the biggest difference is when you have a lid over your coffee. Your ability to smell the coffee makes a big difference since your sense of smell affects your sense of taste [citation needed]. The different shaped cups probably affect how the smell hits you and how much.
The Orea Sense glasses are a lovely experience for this very reason!
Now that I’m looking for coffee cups, I can find quite a few of them. Quite expensive too!
Origami cups, fellow Stagg, orea, hario, etc.
I finally bought the ikea dyrgrip glass. I don’t think I’m ready to spend that much for coffee cups just yet 😅
I don’t know about “scientific”, but drinks communities of all kinds swear by glass shapes providing different flavors due to aeration and nose contact for smell.
Wisky glasses have different shapes. Don’t gete started on beer glasses here in belgium there are like 100 shapes.
Wine glasses are different between red and white.
Though I think in “reality” it has more to do with variations in 2 different brews, temperature of the coffee, and the visual/touch components of holding two different glasses. That’s also why presentation is a big part of food.
The one from the ceramic cup felt more bodied, while the one from the wine glass felt lighter and more acidic.
Yeah, I think that temperature is very likely to play a role specifically in this aspect mentioned by OP. The glass would have dumped heat much faster, and perceived acidity normally increases as the coffee cools.
Makes sense. Maybe when I try it again, I better make sure the coffee is already room temperature.
The coffee I drank was the same brew, served from the same carafe, just poured into two different cups.
The temperature loss rate difference makes sense though. Could be one aspect that affects taste perception I experienced.
In addition to smell which has already been mentioned, another possibility is temperature. Different containers will cool the coffee at different rates, so if they’re side by side they’ll be different temperatures.
