There are only a few truly pleasant smells to wake up to in the morning. It might be the aroma1 of freshly baked bread, or the scent2 of your partner's freshly brushed teeth – but for me, it's the smell of freshly brewed3 coffee. Just a sniff4 of it makes me jump out of bed and rush to the kitchen for a gulp5 of the hot black liquid. But then things quickly go downhill.
If you're a coffee connoisseur6, you'll understand that opening a new packet of coffee releases an amazing smell – fresh, roasted coffee beans. Delicious! And if you've got a nose for the stuff, you'll be able to identify the beans' origin – Colombia, Vietnam or maybe Brazil – the world's biggest coffee producer. Tim Hayward is a food writer and coffee shop owner; he told the BBC that the smell "is absolutely vital, it's the key thing. And when you walk into the coffee shop in the morning and that smell hits you, you're getting physiological7 responses."
I know from experience when I walk into a cafe for my double espresso or flat white, my mouth begins to water in anticipation8. Although it's really the caffeine hit I'm after, it's the smell that makes me feel good.
However, this feeling sometimes turns to disappointment when I actually start drinking my hot beverage9 – the taste just doesn't match the smell. This is particularly the case when I order a coffee to go in a tall paper cup and sip10 the liquid through a hole in the lid. Yes, it's convenient, but is it really the right way to appreciate it?
Tim Hayward describes this process as 'weird11' and 'baffling'. He says, "You walk into the coffee shop, you get the smell, but when you actually take the drink out, you are drinking it from something that is designed to deliver the hot liquid directly past your tongue, but stop any smell coming up to your nose."
As well as eliminating the smell, takeaway coffee cups create a lot of waste and a vast majority of them still don't get recycled. In 2011, it was estimated that 2.5 billion coffee cups were thrown away each year in the UK, and that figure is likely to be higher now. So maybe now is the time to really wake up and smell the coffee by drinking from a cup or mug in a cafe, chatting with friends and saving the planet!
