Abstract
Many coffee preferences are known, but studies that comprehensively integrate simultaneous contributions to coffee enjoyment are lacking. An online citizen-science questionnaire designed to identify those factors associated with momentary coffee liking, surveying demographics, extrinsic/intrinsic qualities, and coffee-related habits, is presented (N = 2987; 5 continents; 7 languages; 11 countries; 77 nationalities). The results indicate a higher liking for coffee consumed black, during spring, in the morning, on Wednesdays, and from ceramic cups. Higher-priced coffee is appreciated significantly more, and liking-consumption quantity appears best-optimised at 4–5 cups/day. Several key characteristics for coffee-dislike are evident: waking-up late, drinking from a cup with a lid on, at noon during autumn, with cream, and, potentially implying a possible coping mechanism for bitterness-disliking, adding sugar to coffee. These results constitute the first multi-country cross-context integration of momentary coffee liking and provide an empirical foundation for context-sensitive models linking sensory/behavioural/temporal factors in beverage preference research.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The dataset analysed in the current study is not currently publicly available. The present dataset is part of a larger dataset, parts of which are currently being prepared for publication in three other manuscripts, including one specific dataset manuscript focusing on the publishing of the data collected in the entire dataset. With the publication of the general coffee dataset, the dataset analysed in the present manuscript will be public and available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code availability
The underlying code for this study is not publicly available but may be made available to qualified researchers on reasonable request from the corresponding author.
References
Sánchez Guerrero, J. A. Top 10 coffee-producing countries in 2024. Coolx. https://coolx.earth/top-10-coffee-producing-countries-in-2024/ (2024).
Triolo, F. A., Figueiredo, B., Martin, D. M. & Farrelly, F. Coffee: a global marketplace icon. Consum. Mark. Cult. 26, 311–320 (2023).
International Coffee Organization. Coffee Market Report: Beyond Coffee – Towards a Circular Coffee Economy. https://www.icocoffee.org/documents/cy2024-25/coffee-development-report-2022-23.pdf (2024).
Barrea, L. et al. Coffee consumption, health benefits and side effects: a narrative review and update for dietitians and nutritionists. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 63, 1238–1261 (2021).
Di Maso, M. et al. Caffeinated coffee consumption and health outcomes in the US population. A dose–response meta-analysis. Adv. Nutr. 12, 1160–1176 (2021).
Wang, X. et al. Coffee drinking timing and mortality in US adults. Eur. Heart J. 46, 749–759 (2025).
Loftfield, E. et al. Coffee drinking is widespread in the United States, but intake varies by demographics. J. Nutr. 146, 1762–1768 (2016).
Khan, W., Sainger, G., Siddiqui, M. S., Mateen, B. Percolating insights: a study on coffee purchase behaviour in an emerging economy. Br. Food J. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-01-2025-0039 (2025).
Samoggia, A. & Riedel, B. Coffee consumption and purchasing behaviour review. Appetite 129, 70–81 (2018).
Spence, C. Explaining diurnal patterns of food consumption. Food Qual. Prefer. 91, 104198 (2021).
Spence, C. Explaining seasonal patterns of food consumption. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 24, 100332 (2021).
Deloitte Switzerland. Coffee Report. https://www.deloitte.com/ch/en/Industries/consumer/perspectives/coffee-study.html (2024).
Wang, M. J., Opoku, E. K. & Tham, A. Exploring Gen-Z consumers’ preference for specialty coffee in Taiwan. Young Consum. 25, 368–382 (2024).
Kent R. Digital food tracking. In Research Methods in Digital Food Studies 143–163 (Routledge, 2021).
Carvalho, F. M. & Spence, C. Cup colour influences consumers’ expectations and experience on tasting specialty coffee. Food Qual. Prefer. 75, 157–169 (2019).
Carvalho, F. M. & Spence, C. Do metallic-coated cups affect the perception of specialty coffees?. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 23, 100285 (2021).
Labbe, D., Rytz, A., Strube, A. & Leloup, V. Impact of mug shape and beverage volume on instant coffee perception. Food Qual. Prefer. 89, 104150 (2021).
Vegro C. L. R., de Almeida L. F. Global coffee market: socio-economic and cultural dynamics. In Coffee Consumption and Industry Strategies in Brazil 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814721-4.00001-9. (Woodhead, 2020).
Kurz, J., Efendić, E. & Goukens, C. Pricey therefore good?. Psychol. Mark. 40, 1115–1129 (2023).
Motoki, K., Takahashi, A. & Spence, C. Tasting atmospherics: Taste associations with coffee shop interiors. Food Qual. Prefer. 94, 104315 (2021).
Okop, K. J. et al. Multi-country citizen-science projects to co-design cardiovascular disease prevention strategies. BMC Public Health 23, 2484 (2023).
Oster, E. Unobservable selection and coefficient stability. J. Bus. Econ. Stat. 37, 187–204 (2017).
Spence C. Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating (Viking Penguin, 2017).
Spence, C. Ginger: The pungent spice. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 33, 100793 (2023).
Spence, C. Nutmeg and mace: The sweet and savoury spices. Int. J. Gastron. Food Sci. 36, 100936 (2024).
Costanzo, A. Temporal patterns in taste sensitivity. Nutr. Rev. 82, 831–847 (2024).
Nehlig, A. Is caffeine a cognitive enhancer?. J. Alzheimers Dis. 20, 85–94 (2010).
An, R. Weekend-weekday differences in diet among US adults. Ann. Epidemiol. 26, 57–65 (2016).
Forester, G. et al. Time-of-day and day-of-week patterns of binge eating. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 56, 1694–1702 (2023).
Diener, E., Inglehart, R. & Tay, L. Theory and validity of life satisfaction scales. Soc. Indic. Res. 112, 497–527 (2013).
Du, J., Zhu, L., Ma, Y. & Zhang, Y. Beyond weekdays: The impact of the weekend effect on eWOM of hedonic product. J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 77, 103624 (2024).
Martyn, D., Lau, A., Richardson, P. & Roberts, A. Temporal patterns of caffeine intake in the US. Food Chem. Toxicol. 111, 71–83 (2018).
Lüscher, T. F. Start your day with a morning coffee!. Eur. Heart J. 46, 760–762 (2025).
Kanjanakorn, A. & Lee, J. Examining emotions in coffee drinkers in natural environment. s. Food Qual. Prefer. 56, 69–79 (2017).
Olivetta, E. Starbucks from USA to Italy: Not only coffee. Micro & Macro Mark 3, 489–508 (2017).
Barmeyer, C., Mayrhofer, U. & Würfl, K. Informal information flows in organizations: The Italian coffee break. Int. Bus. Rev. 28, 796–801 (2019).
Bertolini, S. & Tosi, S. Distanziamenti e capitale sociale in smart working. Meridiana 104, 101–124 (2022).
Spence, C. Just how much of what we taste derives from smell?. Flavour 4, 30 (2015).
Spence, C. Leading the consumer by the nose: On olfactory design. Flavour 4, 31 (2015).
Jeong, S. & Lee, J. Effects of cultural background on consumer perception and acceptability of foods and drinks: a review of latest cross-cultural studies. Curr. Opin. Food Sci. 42, 248–256 (2021).
Ratcliffe, E., Baxter, W. L. & Martin, N. Consumption rituals relating to food and drink: a review and research agenda. Appetite 134, 86–93 (2019).
Spinelli, S. et al. Investigating preferred coffee consumption contexts using open-ended questions. Food Qual. Prefer. 61, 63–73 (2017).
Li, B., Hayes, J. E. & Ziegler, G. R. Maximizing overall liking: a coffee-flavoured milk case study. Food Qual. Prefer. 42, 27–36 (2015).
Varela, P., Beltrán, J. & Fiszman, S. Uncovering drivers of coffee liking. Food Qual. Prefer. 32, 152–159 (2014).
Cornelis, M. C. & van Dam, R. M. Genetic determinants of liking and intake of bitter foods. Sci. Rep. 11, 23845 (2021).
Li, B., Hayes, J. E. & Ziegler, G. R. Interpreting consumer preferences: physicohedonic and psychohedonic models yield different information in a coffee-flavored dairy beverage. Food Qual. Prefer. 36, 27–32 (2014).
Hadi, R., Rubin, D., Hildebrand, D. & Kramer, T. Flavor fatigue: How cognitive depletion influences consumer enjoyment of complex flavors. J. Consum. Psychol 31, 103–111 (2021).
Li, X. E., Jervis, S. M. & Drake, M. A. Extrinsic factors influencing product acceptance: a review. J. Food Sci. 80, R901–R909 (2015).
Spence, C. Cognitive influence on wine evaluation. Food Res. Int. 187, 114411 (2024).
Souza-Coutinho, M. et al. Consumers associate high-quality wines with complexity and persistence. Foods 9, 452 (2020).
Yeoh, J. P. S. & Spence, C. Music to my lips: effects of musical tempo on coffee drinking. J. Sens. Stud. 40, e70040 (2025).
Schmidt, L. et al. How context alters value: neural links between price cues and taste. Sci. Rep. 7, 8098 (2017).
Convery S. Why are coffee prices going up? The Guardian (7 Jan 2025). https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jan/07/coffee-prices-australia-going-up-cafe-flat-white-cost.
Wood Z. Coffee drinkers face price rises as costs hit record high. The Guardian (11 Dec 2024). https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/dec/10/coffee-drinkers-face-price-rises-as-costs-on-global-markets-hit-record-high.
Bryant M. ‘Fika has become more expensive’: Rising coffee prices affect a Swedish tradition. The Guardian (12 Apr 2025). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/12/fika-sweden-coffee-prices.
EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies Scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA J. 13, 4102 (2015).
Qureshi, F., Stampfer, M., Kubzansky, L. D. & Trudel-Fitzgerald, C. Coffee consumption and psychological well-being. PLoS ONE 17, e0267500 (2022).
Ágoston, C. et al. Morningness–eveningness and caffeine consumption: A path analysis. Chronobiol. Int. 36, 1301–1309 (2019).
Erdfelder, E., Faul, F., Buchner, A. & Lang, A.-G. Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav. Res. Methods 41, 1149–1160 (2009).
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G. & Buchner, A. G. Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav. Res. Methods 39, 175–191 (2007).
Shannon, C. E. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 27, 379–423 (1948).
Shannon, C. E. Prediction and entropy of printed English. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 30, 50–64 (1951).
Wooldridge J. M. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data (MIT Press, 2010).
Lee, C. S. & Conway, C. The role of generalized linear models in handling cost data. Eur. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 21, 392–398 (2022).
Manning W. Dealing with skewed data on costs and expenditures. In Jones A. M. (Ed.) The Elgar Companion to Health Economics 473–480 (Edward Elgar, 2012).
Gallani S., Krishnan R. Applying the fractional response model to survey research. Harvard Bus. Sch. Acct. Mgmt. Unit Working Paper 16-016 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2642854 (2017).
Molenaar, D., Cúri, M. & Bazán, J. L. Zero and one-inflated IRT models for bounded continuous data. J. Educ. Behav. Stat. 47, 693–735 (2022).
Papke, L. E. & Wooldridge, J. M. Econometric methods for fractional response variables. J. Appl. Econ. 11, 619–632 (1996).
Ospina, R. & Ferrari, S. L. P. Inflated beta distributions. Stat Papers 51, 111–126 (2010).
Nappo, N., Fiorillo, D. & Lubrano Lavadera, G. Subjective job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Ital Econ. J. 9, 1153–1179 (2023).
Buis M. L. Analyzing proportions. Eighth German Stata Users Group meeting (Institut für Soziologie Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 2010).
Dangerfield, F. et al. Urban-regional patterns of food purchasing behaviour: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2015–2016 Australian Household Expenditure Survey. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 75, 697–707 (2021).
JASP Team. (2022). JASP (Version 0.16.1) [Computer software].
Watson, N. F. et al. Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult. J. Clin. Sleep Med. 11, 591–592 (2015).
Walch, O. J., Cochran, A. & Forger, D. B. A global quantification of normal sleep schedules using smartphone data. Sci. Adv. 2, e1501705 (2016).
World Bank. World Development Indicators (accessed 2025).
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the many coffee shops that facilitated participant recruitment and would like to thank all participants for their voluntary participation and their sharing of coffee insights. G.J. received funding within the project “City-Focus - City: Future Organisation of Changes in Urbanisation and Sustainability”, project code CF 23/27.07.2023, financed through National Recovery and Resilience Plan for Romania within project call – PNRR-III-C9-2023-I8 PNRR/2023/Component 9/Investment 8. [Financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualisation: G.J., F.C., C.S.; Methodology: G.J.; Data collection: G.J., A.M.A., F.R.C., S.D., V.G., K.M., S.S., C.U., G.V.D., F.C.; Formal analysis and investigation: G.J., D.E.D.; Writing - original draft preparation: G.J., D.E.D., C.S.; Writing - review and editing: G.J., D.E.D., A.M.A., F.R.C., S.D., V.G., K.M., S.S., C.U., G.V.D., F.C., and C.S.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Juravle, G., Diaconașu, D.E., Andrei, AM. et al. A multi-country citizen-science study on what makes us enjoy a cup of coffee. npj Sci Food (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00832-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00832-5
