Whether consumers are aware of it or not, it seems that a coffee mug's color could potentially affect the way the caffeinated drink tastes when it reaches our mouth, according to a new study.
While it's not the first time that a study has researched whether drinks' taste improve due to mugs' colors (according to Science Daily, a similar paper regarding the relation between hot chocolate's taste and the color of a mug was published in early 2013), it's certainly the first time that a coffee mug's color is studied for this sort of purpose.
According to Medical Daily, the amazing new discovery about coffee mug's color comes from the Melbourne-based Federation University Australia, where a research team have found that consumers can perceive that a coffee drink tastes better when the container used is of a particular color.
The coffee mug color study, which is called "Does the colour of the mug influence the taste of the coffee?" and was published in the scientific magazine Flavour, was first thought of when the lead author heard a barista say that customers would complain of the bitterness of their coffee more often if they were offered the drink in a white cup or mug, according to The Independent.
It seems that the discovery regarding coffee mug colors says that consumers are far more likely to find their coffee bitter if they're drinking up from a white mug. If they're drinking from a clear cup or glass, it's more likely that they'll think it's sweeter or at least just the right combination of flavors.
Now, oddly enough, the study also found that blue mugs apparently enhanced any perception of flavor, whether it was sweet or bitter.
For this particular study regarding coffee mugs' colors, the researchers only used the three colors mentioned above: white, blue and clear. However, it'd be interesting to see what's the exact perception of each and every one of the possible color combinations.
