SUMMARY:

Our everyday experiences are multimodal, that is, they involve more than one sensory modality. Despite not being aware, the perception of flavour is built up by our brains from the information coming from all the senses. This means that flavour perception goes way beyond taste and smell. Research in the field of consumer psychology tries to understand the mind of the consumers in order to grasp their motivations. The aim of the course is (1) to discuss the main aspects of coffee flavour, and (2) to present the contributions of factors that go beyond the quality of the coffee itself. Cups, packaging, and ambience influence flavour perception and choice of clients. In addition to good coffee, the specialty coffee market should also focus on how to enhance the multisensory product experience.

CONTENT:

Theoretical Lecture (9am – 12pm):

1) How do we gain information about properties of foods and drinks: Introducing the senses of gustation, olfaction, and oral somatosensation.

2) Perception as recognition: Bottom-up and top-down processing in the brain.

3) The sensory repertoire: Flavour perception as anticipation and expectation.

4) What does the colour red taste like: Multisensory integration, crossmodality, and the construction of the flavour experience by the brain.

5) Product intrinsic and extrinsic factors: The effect of cups, packaging, and consumption environment on coffee drinking experience.

Sensory Exercises and Demonstrations (1pm – 4pm)

1) Individual sensitivity to the basic tastes;

2) Effect of colours on the perception of basic tastes;

3) Demonstration of different qualities of mouthfeel (“body”) that can occur in coffee;

4) Oronasal demonstration: The metallic “taste”;

5) Identification of the main families of aromas in coffee;

6) The crossmodal effect of extrinsic factors on the perception of coffee: Textures and colours.