I loved yesterday’s article in the UK Telegraph that reported on a recent study by Sheffield University psychologist Dr. Tom Stafford concluding that tea really does taste better from your favorite cup! So many times I recall hiding my favorite teacup in the back of the cabinet, so that my Grandma (who also had the same favorite cup!) would be less likely to choose it for her after-dinner tea. Ironically enough, that cup is now my ex-husband’s, and at his house… and still a family favorite. May it live a very long life and continue to be a coveted object for my daughters and their future grandchildren! I went off and designed my own Steeping Cups and Mugs, and now drink from those with my colleagues all the day long – and have a new favorite (but am keeping that choice confidential, lest any of my fellow Tea Spot comedians pull the same trick on me as I used to with my beloved Grandma…)
The Telegraph quoted Dr. Stafford as saying that a person’s brain is trained to believe the daily ritual of making coffee or tea should be done in a certain way in order to derive maximum enjoyment. He said: “Drinking tea and coffee is very ritualistic and people become very addictive to the way they want their brew made. Caffeine is very much a drug of reward and like any addict, people develop passions on how the drug is delivered. Wherever there is drug use then rituals will always develop. The long association with the delivery of a morning cup of coffee or tea people genuinely think it tastes better out of a particular cup. It might be irrational or arbitrary but it’s absolutely true. Your daily brew tastes better from your favourite mug.”
The Telegraph concluded the article by citing the statistic that 65 percent of Brits have a favorite cup or mug they use for their morning cuppa.