The Sneaky Trick for Better-Tasting Coffee

Want to transform your bland cup of Folgers into delicious gourmet coffee? You don't need better beans—just different dishware. The color of your cup may impact the way you perceive the taste and smell of your drink, says new research in the Journal of Sensory Studies.

Researchers had 57 people drink either sweetened or unsweetened hot chocolate from four different colored cups: dark cream, orange with a white interior, white, and red. Participants then rated each drink on its flavor, aroma, sweetness, creaminess, bitterness, and overall enjoyment.

The results: Even though it was the same hot chocolate, people favored the drink when it was in served in an orange or cream-colored cup. In fact, the participants claimed that the cocoa served in those cups had a more intense aroma and sweeter taste to it.

What gives? “Obviously the color of the cup did not literally change the taste and characteristics of the drink,” says study author Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, Ph.D., a teaching assistant at the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain. But eating and drinking are multisensory processes, so what you see will affect the perception of the food you eat, she explains.

Piqueras-Fiszman says that orange and creamy colors may also be associated with sweeter products like vanilla and caramel, which could be another reason for the link.

Want to make the flavor trick work for you? Don’t just stop with new mugs. Here are two more wacky ways color and characteristics alter your perception of food.

Ditch the Plastic Silverware
Using a stainless steel spoon instead of a plastic one gives you the impression that your food is more flavorful, says research from Oxford University. Researchers asked people to eat two identical samples of vanilla yogurt, each with a different spoon. When asked to rate the yogurt on a scale from 1 to 9, the sample eaten with the stainless steel spoon scored 5.5, while the plastic earned a 4.6. The reasoning: Researchers linked the satisfaction boost with the idea that people are used to eating with stainless steel spoons in higher-quality restaurants.

Load Up on White Plates
Eating food off of a white plate can influence how much you enjoy the food, according to a Spanish study. Researchers served people strawberry mousse on both a black and white plate. Even though the desserts were exactly the same, the tasters claimed the mousse served on a white plate was 15 to 20 percent sweeter, more intense, and more enjoyable. But why white? The researchers say it has to do with complementary colors: The whiteness of the plate accentuates the pinkness of the mousse, which makes you believe the dessert was both light and sweet.

Additional reporting from Markham Heid and Tucker McGrath

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