Back In The Coffee Matrix

ARE CHAIN COFFEE SHOPS LYING TO OUR SENSES?

It’s been nearly three weeks, but has left like just one, but I’m back home now. I’m back in London. Arriving here was as expected; the cacophony and air pollution where the most obvious signs of being back in this great city. Another thing, which I actually didn’t expect, is the taste of my first cup of coffee being back here. Weak, smooth and not as potent.

I suppose it makes sense. Back in the mountains I drank ”Turkish” coffee, which is darker and stronger, exclusively. My taste buds had become more accustomed to that flavour of coffee, so tasting one from a cafe here now tastes really different.

I also learnt, from a post in this community, that chain coffee shops would sometimes use highly roasted beans to remove the regional flavours so they can mix the beans together, or source from multiple places, yet retain a consistent taste. It’s that consistent taste that I was met with at this chain coffee shop downtown.

I’m also back to walking. Thankfully the weather is very good today so I slipped on my (newish) walking shoes and head out. I’m a few hours away from home, by a combination of walking and the bus, and found one of my favourite chains - Harris + Hoole.

A few minutes into sipping my Americano, I got thinking about the generic taste and how the chain shops achieve it. I wondered if I would be able to tell the difference between an Americano from Coasta vs Starbucks. I wondered how much of the taste we experience is actually due to other things like the environment we’re in. Does the coffee taste ”better” in a trendier looking cafe with a homely vibe? What about the cup? Does the name on the cup contribute psychologically to the taste? Does this Harris + Hoole Americano taste better than, say, one from McCafe, simply based on the name printed on the paper cup?

I’ve been reading a lot of books about the brain in recent years and I’m always aware of how much psychology influences our reality or, should I say, perceived reality. I remember being in Havana, Cuba, in the early 90’s and ordering ice cream. Someone there, a Cuban, told me that all the three flavours were in fact the same ice cream, but coloured differently. The differences in flavour I was tasting was in fact due to a combination of visual deception and, believe it or not, faith. Being told it was “chocolate” ice cream, and being brown, made it true in my head. What I was really tasting in the three flavours, vanilla and strawberry being the other two, was sugar.

Back to coffee. I’m quite sure the ambient smell of this place, that roasted coffee smell in the air, also plays a part. A lot of our taste is really actually smell. Back in the mountains, devoid of these extra psychological and olfactory influences, I was free to experience to true taste of the brew in front of me. I think it’s only a matter of time before I’m properly settled back in the matrix though, and these chain shop coffees taste amazing again :)

Peace & Love,

Adé