Coffee Taste Test

There are so many things to love about coffee and we got to discuss them in earnest on Wednesday. It's warm on a cold day, gives you a caffeine boost, and is just a nice routine to have to start the day. You have to wait for it to brew and then wait for it to cool which may allow relaxation and there are so many ways to "take it" that it can be a new experience every time.

The residents and I talked about memories they have of drinking coffee and what ways they like to consume it. We also talked about how it was part of their routine with their families and finally I asked if they know of anyone who is a coffee snob.

Before and while we were talking I was brewing and getting ready the coffee taste test. I had their normal coffee, normal decaf, name brand coffee, name brand decaf, and name brand coffee brewed at half strength as per the instructions. One person at a time I brought them two thimble sized cups, told them what they both were but not which was which, and let them try them to see if they could tell the difference.

The results we mixed since most of the residents are not black coffee drinkers in general and would have preferred sweetened or dairy-fied versions of what I was offering. However, most often they could not tell the difference between the type they are normally served and name brand. Also, few had luck telling the difference between decaf and regular. Most often they could tell which was full strength and half, but they often knew before drinking it because they could see it was lighter in color.

My opinion that coffee is more about the experience than the intricacies of taste was left unshaken and of course as a "spy" for the kitchen I told them I would be passing along the message that they could not tell the difference between their regular coffee and name brand.