Whether its only in the morning, a pick me up in the afternoon or over conversation with friends, how you drink your coffee may be divulging more about your nature than you realize. Douwe Egberts coffee company has released the results of a study by psychologist Donna Dawson in the UK, looking at coffee drinking habits and how this reflects your personality. Whatever your taste or type, the coffee you choose to order and what you add to it, may be revealing more than you think.
According to the study, fans of the quick fix that comes with instant coffee stick to their guns and stay with something familiar, knowing what they like. People willing to put in more sweat by making ground coffee are likely to take their time with things and manage to avoid stressing out most of the time. They take pleasure in amusing or impressing friends and family with small details that involve a tad more effort.
Contrary to the colour of their cup of joe, black coffee drinkers tend to be creative types bursting with ideas and relishing a challenge. Those adding milk or cream seem to be looking to remove the bitter taste from their world.
Individuals that just add sugar however are likely at ease with the circumstances surrounding their life. The study doesn’t mention those that add both, from these results however this seems to imply a confused individual. It also fails to mention anyone who changes his or her coffee tastes dependent on mood. These people supposedly know their split personality well enough to identify what coffee is required for a given day.
The vehicle used to drink with shows something about an individual’s temperament as well. The study suggests outgoing and sociable types are likely to drink from a mug. Those using a cup with saucer however are liable to care about their social standing. Plastic or paper cup drinkers have little time for coffee and use it merely as a fast pick me up. They are in a hurry and don’t want to be distracted by things like doing the washing up.
The speed coffee fans down their drink also speaks a lot about character. Those that sip slowly tend to weigh up all the options, whilst gulpers take little notice of what others think of them.
Dawson also looked at the temperature a caffeine hit is delivered. Very hot coffee drunk quickly reveals an individual who lives each second as though it’s their last, often hurrying in without properly weighing all their options. Waiting for coffee to cool down before touching it however, reveals a person who clearly knows what it is they want and that they are willing to wait patiently to ensure happiness.
These results are interesting coffee table fodder and it’s fun to dissect a stranger at a coffee shop. That being said all information should be taken with a grain of salt; no matter how you look at it, coffee could never definitively classify a person or define his or her personality traits.