Background
There have been quite a few cafes sprouting around the Klang Valley lately. It seems to me that KLites enjoy drinking coffee and would not mind paying premium prices for big brand coffees.I decided to put this to the test. Can KLites tell one coffee from another? Are branded coffees better tasting?
Participants
18 people sampled 6 brands of coffees in a double blind method. Rating 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).The Survey
Archana was tasked with filling 7 labelled flasks with 6 types of coffees. Only she knew which flask contained what coffee. Once she poured the coffees for the participants, she left the room.There were 3 premium brands coffees: Coffee Bean, Starbucks and Coffeeology (a premium coffee supplier who sponsored a Costa Rica Blend coffee for us). 2 coffee were off-the-shelf brands: Nescafe and Kapal Api. 1 coffee was bought from a local kopitiam (coffee shop).
Coffee Preparation
The coffees that were bought from Coffee Bean, Starbucks, Coffeeology and kopitiam were prepared by the cafes themselves. Nescafe was the instant type and was prepared according to the directions on the packet. Kapal Api was prepared using an espresso maker.Participants tasted the coffees and rated them between 1 to 5. 1 being lowest while 5 was highest.
Coffee Ranking
- Kapal Api 2.83
- Nescafe Classic 2.66
- Starbucks 2.55
- Coffee Bean 2.38
- Kopitiam 2.33
- Costa Rican Blend 2.22
- Nescafe kaw 2.11
Summary
The expensive brands, Coffee Bean, Starbuck and the Costa Rica Blend rated lowest (1) by frequency (mode) while Nescafe and Kapal Api were highest with above slightly average rating (3).2 participants who indicated they “could tell the difference between coffees” rated (average) the Costa Rica Blend 3.5, Coffee Bean and Starbucks 1.5 respectively. Their top choice was Costa Rica Blend 3.5.
11 participants who indicated they “knew which coffees they liked and disliked” rated the Costa Rica Blend 2, Coffee Bean and Starbucks 2.63. Their top choice was Kapal Api 3.
4 participants who indicated they “could not tell one coffee from another” rated the Costa Rica Blend 1.75, Coffee Bean 1.5 and Starbucks 2.75. Their top choice was Starbucks.
7 participants who indicated they drank coffee daily rated Costa Rica Blend 2.4, Coffee Bean 2 and Starbucks 2.1. They top choice was Nescafe 2.8.
