Guys, if there's one thing I hold near and dear to my heart, it's my beloved coffee mug collection.
For a few years, I've been collecting mugs of different shapes, sizes and colors from cities I've visited and antique shops I've explored.
Now, I have so many damn mugs crowding my cabinets, my roommate's mother has bought me a mug tree just so I can display my prized possessions next to our coffee maker.
It's a beauty, that's for sure.
If you love coffee mugs as much as I do, I have great news for you: According to a new study, the shape and size of your mug affects the taste of your coffee.
So now, I'm about to go home and test the differences among all my mugs. I'll probably be awake for 72 hours straight, but it's worth a shot.
According to Metro, a study will be published in March in Food Quality and Preference. It will explore the correlation between mug size and coffee taste.
To perform the experiment, 300 volunteers from China, Colombia and the UK were chosen. They had to rate their coffees based on the shape and size of the mugs they drank from.
The contestants took aroma, bitterness, intensity, temperature, caffeine level and sweetness into consideration.
It turns out, the participants concluded coffee taste intensified when the coffee was served in short, narrow mugs. They also claimed it was more bitter and aromatic when consumed in this way.
If you think about the size of the cups espresso is served in, this conclusion makes a lot of sense: Espresso is pretty damn strong.
On the other hand, volunteers concluded wider mugs make for a sweeter flavor.
I'm no expert, but this might explain the gigantic mugs all your fancy flavored lattes are served in.
While discussing the relationship between coffee mug size and the taste of the coffee, the study allegedly reads,
If cafe owners, baristas and crockery manufacturers want to manipulate people's expectations of coffee, they should carefully consider the diameter and height of the cups they use/produce, as these features will likely affect expected aroma, bitterness, sweetness and intensity.
See? Coffee mugs are important. They're extremely important, so you'd better stock up (like I am).
The participants in the study were also asked to rank how much they'd pay for the coffees, based off the size of the mug and the taste.
Apparently, those from the UK and Colombia would rather pay for bigger mugs, while those from China said the mug sizes didn't matter with regard to price.
So, the next time you're at a cafe or brewing your own cup of joe, make sure you're drinking from the right mug. It'll make all the difference.
