Impact of beverage temperature on consumer preferences for black coffee

We recently performed a systematic investigation of consumer preferences for black coffee versus key brewing parameters, including total dissolved solids, extraction yield, and brewing temperature (Cotter et al. in J Food Sci 86(1):194–205, 2021. 10.1111/1750-3841.15561). An experimental goal in that work was for participants to taste the coffee at a beverage temperature of 65 °C, but the large sample size of more than 3000 individual tastings, combined with natural variations in the brewing and cooling processes, meant that coffees were assessed over a normally distributed range of temperatures between 56 and 71 °C. Here we use those data to provide a more detailed analysis of the impact of beverage temperature on consumer acceptance of the coffee, with a key objective of identifying beverage temperatures at which no consumers assess the coffee either as too hot or too cold. Using a 5-point just-about-right (JAR) scale, we find that a majority of consumers (> 50%) assessed the temperature as JAR at all temperatures tested up to 70 °C. A substantial fraction of consumers, approximately 6–12%, assessed the coffee as too cold over the range 56–68 °C. Only above 70 °C did a majority of consumers assess the coffee as too hot and none assessed it as too cold, albeit with 40% still assessing it as JAR. Complementary analyses indicate that beverage temperature over this range had little impact on assessments of the adequacy of flavor intensity, acidity, and mouthfeel, but did correlate slightly with overall liking and purchase intent. Overall, the results suggest that temperatures over the range of 58–66 °C maximize consumer acceptance, and that 68–70 °C is the minimum temperature range at which no consumers will assess black coffee as too cold.