2 things that can change how your coffee tastes

A few days ago, while we were reading a paper from Craig Shelton, on ‘Coffee Lovers Magazine’, we were amazed with his findings about taste. Of course we came running to share them with you.

Don’t you ever wonder why, sometimes, the same cup of coffee tastes differently in 2 different sips? Well, science explains:

«Our palate measures all taste relative to what immediately preceded it and in relation to our environment»

1. Taste adapts itself to what you’ve eaten right before.

In fact there’s no machine to measure how sweet, bitter, acid or salty something will taste. Craig gives the example of something sour. Your tongue can’t acknowledge the pH of what you’re eating but, in a few seconds can tell you if it’s more or less sour. So, if you drink a cup of water and after you bite a slice of lemon, water won’t have taste, and the lemon will taste sour. Yet, if you right after tasting the lemon drink a cup of water, the water will taste sweeter. The water didn’t change at all. What changed was just your palate’s reference point.

If we apply this to coffee you can explain why it tastes differently if before you have eaten something sweet or sour: coffee will show itself sweeter if you ate something sour before; and, for the same reason will taste sourer if you tasted something sweet previous your cup.

2. Smell has a great power in your taste.

There’s no news in that most of the taste is smell. Yet, there’s a big difference in what you smell from your nose, and the aromas you get while the food is in your mouth and jumps up through your nasal cavity. And the same substance can give you two different reference points. So, it’s true: your environment can change drastically how your coffee tastes.

If you drink your coffee in a beach it’ll have a different taste than the same coffee in the woods. The beach will add heavy brine and salt irons to it, while in the woods; you’ll have more terrestrial aromas.

Your homework now is to taste your nicest coffee in different places so you can have opposite experiences. If you’re a real coffee lover, I guess you’ll do that. If so, come and tell us what you thought. We would love hearing from you!