The surprising science of sound, flavor, and the coffee-drinking experience.

Imagine this:

You brew one cup of coffee.

You don't add sugar.
You don't add cream.
You don't change the beans.

But you change one thing.

The music.

Could the exact same coffee suddenly seem sweeter, more bitter, or simply more enjoyable?

Surprisingly, research suggests that it can.

And it reveals something fascinating about coffee:

We don't experience flavor with our mouths alone.

Your Brain Is Drinking the Coffee Too

When we describe coffee, we usually talk about what's happening inside the cup.

The roast.

The origin.

The aroma.

The brewing method.

But your experience of that coffee is also being shaped by what's happening around the cup.

Sight, smell, touch—and even sound—can interact with the way we perceive food and beverages.

Researchers sometimes call the influence of sound on taste and flavor sonic seasoning. Research in multisensory perception has explored how particular sounds and musical characteristics can draw our attention toward certain sensory qualities. Frontiers

And coffee has actually been put to the test.

Scientists Tried It With Coffee

In a 2021 study published in Food Research International, researchers had consumers taste coffee under different musical conditions.

Some listened to music associated with sweetness.

Others listened to music associated with bitterness.

And some tasted the coffee without the musical stimulus.

Here's where things get interesting.

When participants listened to the "bitter" music, bitterness remained the dominant sensation for longer.

But with the "sweet" music, perceived bitterness became less dominant—and sweetness became more prominent in participants' descriptions of the coffee. ScienceDirect

The coffee itself hadn't changed.

The environment surrounding the coffee had.

That's an important distinction: music isn't literally adding sugar or removing bitter compounds from your coffee. Rather, the evidence suggests sound can influence attention and perception during the tasting experience. ScienceDirect

Even Noise Can Affect Your Cup

Music isn't the only sound that matters.

Another coffee study had participants drink the same coffee while exposed to louder versus quieter versions of realistic food-court noise.

Under louder noise, participants tended to be less sensitive to several characteristics of the coffee—including sweetness, bitterness, acidity, and aroma/flavor intensity.

The effect was particularly noticeable for perceived bitterness and aroma intensity. ScienceDirect

Think about that for a moment.

You could carefully choose beautiful beans.

Dial in your grind.

Measure your water.

Perfect your brew.

Then drink it surrounded by noise while answering emails, watching television and rushing out the door.

You haven't necessarily changed what's in the cup.

But you may have changed your experience of the cup.

So What Does “Sweet Music” Sound Like?

This is where the science becomes especially interesting.

Research into sonic seasoning has explored associations between sensory qualities and characteristics of sound. But there isn't one universal Spotify genre that magically makes every coffee sweeter.

Personal preference, culture, memory, emotion and context can all play roles, and much of this research is still developing. Frontiers

So rather than giving you a "scientifically perfect coffee playlist," we'd rather invite you to experiment.

Welcome to the...

The Kainos Sound & Sip Experiment

Brew one coffee.

Pour it into two equal portions so you're comparing the same brew.

For your first tasting, choose something that feels:

Light • gentle • bright • peaceful

Take several sips.

Don't overthink it.

Simply notice:

How sweet does the coffee seem?

How noticeable is the bitterness?

What flavors grab your attention?

Then give yourself a short reset.

For your second tasting, switch completely.

Choose something that feels:

Dark • intense • dramatic • heavy

Taste the other portion.

Then ask yourself:

Did anything change?

Maybe nothing does.

Maybe the difference is subtle.

Or maybe you'll suddenly notice something in the coffee that was there all along.

That's the fun of the experiment.

Coffee Is More Than What's in the Cup

This is one of the reasons we love coffee.

A great coffee experience isn't simply chemistry.

It's also sensory.

The sound of beans entering the grinder.

The aroma released after grinding.

The first drops of the brew.

The warmth of the cup.

The room you're sitting in.

And apparently—even what you're listening to.

Coffee gives us an opportunity to notice things we normally rush past.

Perhaps that's part of creating a better coffee ritual.

Not necessarily buying another gadget.

Not adding another ingredient.

Sometimes it's simply changing the environment and paying attention.

So this week, brew your favorite Kainos Grounds roast.

Put on some music.

Take a sip.

Then change the soundtrack.

And taste it again.

Same coffee. Different soundtrack. What do you taste?

Kainos Grounds
Brew Excellence. Fuel Purpose.