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Coffee & Five Senses

&
COFFEE FIVE SENSES
TOUCH

To most people, the process of appreciating coffee only involves two senses: taste and smell. The other senses:
touch, hearing and sight are also indispensable if you talk about “enjoying” coffee in a deep way. What makes
it a complete sensory experience is more than what’s in the cup. The brain and mood stimulation by surround-
ings plays a big role as well. In the coming issues, we are going to invite doyens of the senses from various
fields to unfold the secrets of coffee and the five senses.

Touch - the Neglected Appreciation Feeling.

Senses are closely connected with our high speed aroma, touch and environment.
working brain, which processes 500,000 data points Many people doubt about
per second. Touch is bronze medalist to sight’s gold the role touch plays in tasting
and hearing’s silver; all are absolutely critical to the coffee, despite its dominance in
tasting experience. Starting with the sense of taste, we all five senses as shown in the
would make our judgments predominantly based on Sensory Homunculus, which
what our tongue has to say. For most laymen, howev- is the brain’s map of the
er, sipping a cup of coffee goes beyond how it tastes; body. Over-sized hands,
they also care about the aftertaste lingering in mouth, lips and tongue imply that
drinking utensils, and the coffee house atmosphere. It touch has the highest sensitiv-
is fair to say that tasting a cup of coffee involves taste, ity among all.

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