I confess that it is hard for me to fully agree with the flavor profiles we write on our bags. The same goes for all the detailed descriptions we give related to flavor—whether it’s wine, chocolate, cheese, or coffee. I try hard to detect all the notes described, but sometimes they are so subtle that it’s difficult to tell.
This makes me wonder: how useful are all these descriptions? A very experienced Q grader might catch every nuance, but is this actually functional for the busy, everyday consumer?
In my previous blog, I discussed the importance of cupping. It is definitely important to have a way to evaluate your product. Following standards and protocols allows us to chart a clear path for future improvements. However, the identification of flavors is relative. This time, with the help of the Coffee Sensorium, we’ll explore how flavor is a multisensory experience.
It might come as a surprise, but our flavor perception pairs with visual shapes and colors, which also affect the identification of tastes and odors. This phenomenon is called crossmodal correspondence, where two or more senses contribute to the perception of the same object. Essentially, colors and shapes influence how we taste a flavor. This is well-studied in neuroscience.
The Role of Packaging in Coffee Perception
Packaging is now not only related to portioning or preserving the product. Visual characteristics such as shape and color can significantly affect the performance of a product on the shelf. Our brains identify shapes and colors long before we start reading any text or specific information.
Color and Taste Correlation
Our natural color correlations stem from the fact that fruit ripeness in our natural environment is hardwired in our brains. This means we have a preset bias, where our brains process green and red colors with taste correlation. As we know, red is often associated with sweetness, while green is linked to sourness or bitterness.
For example, early research indicated that consumers perceived the lemon flavor in 7-Up as more intense when the beverage was tasted from a can that was 15% more yellow than usual. Another example is how the same coffee can be packed in different colored bags, where people tasting coffee from a pink bag identified flavors of fruits and berries, while those tasting coffee from a brown bag reported flavors of cocoa and brown sugar.
Shape-Taste Associations
This can also be applied to shape-taste associations, where round shapes are related to sweetness, and angular shapes are linked with sourness or bitterness. Most of the time, we think we are making our own decisions, but many of them are just based on how our brains are already shaped.
This concept is well-accepted through the studies conducted by Fabiana and her team. They explain how the shape of a cup changes the perception of flavor, and how the color of the cup also influences the experience of tasting specialty coffee.
This kind of insight is important to consider when judging a coffee brand. In the coffee world, we often rely solely on our perception of flavor, which is already biased. All those flavors can be present in the coffee, but how much of our perception is influenced by these external factors?
Let’s not forget that behind every product, there are many people involved in its production—farmers, pickers, and all the industry workers. It's good to remember that our judgments come from a unique, biased place. This awareness doesn't diminish our particular tastes, but it reminds us not to take our peculiarities too seriously and to avoid making extreme judgments.
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