Modulating flavour with your coffee cup(s)

TLDR: Drink your filter coffee from two cups with different lip-thickness and see what you prefer πŸ’πŸΏβ€β™‚οΈ You’d be surprised how different the experience can be from either cup. Could also be a cool consideration when serving customers/friends a cheeky brew.


Here are some cool observations/experiences on how different cup features or shapes promotes various drinking experiences:

Cup Lip: changes how much and where on your palette does the liquid hit during a sip

THICK β†’ more liquid enters your mouth + hits hard and soft palette = more perceived body, texture = can be perceived as heavier + more sweet cup

THIN β†’ less liquid enters mouth + hits hard palette FIRST then soft = more delicate + higher perceived acidity = lighter + brighter cup

Body Contour: changes volatile aroma presentation and how it escapes as the beverage cools

STRAIGHT β†’ volatile aroma escapes faster + cant swirl

ROUNDED β†’ traps aroma more + allows swirling

Lip Spout Direction: similar to the lip thickness

CONVEX β†’ (similar function to thick lip) liquid more likely to travel to back palette = more perceived body and texture

CONCAVE β†’ (similar function to thin lip) liquid more likely to hit hard palette first + focuses aroma to nose due to smaller exit = more perceived acidity + more vibrancy/brighter

ETC: we have similar-sized cups in the industry, width of cup is not really as varied amongst the different options (except for mugs which can be tall or wide).

Coffee Example:

Criteria Coffee – Bolivia, Los Rodriguez, Washed Anaerobic SL34 – π˜™π˜°π˜’π˜΄π˜΅π˜¦π˜³ π˜•π˜°π˜΅π˜¦π˜΄: Bourbon, tangerine, toffee

My notes and observations:

π˜›π˜©π˜ͺ𝘀𝘬-𝘭π˜ͺ𝘱 𝘀𝘢𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘡𝘦𝘴 β†’ caramel, nougat, blood orange, bourbon, lactic acidity (creamy)
π˜›π˜©π˜ͺ𝘯-𝘭π˜ͺ𝘱 𝘀𝘢𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘡𝘦𝘴 β†’almost floral, blood orange, more citric acidity

Thanks for reading #3

jos x